The Wild Unknown - XIX The Sun

inanna_tarot

I have been doing a lot of 'hermetic' thinking about the Sun recently, so I thought I would study this card to be a more grounding and real feeling of this card.

This sun has its rays shining, bursting but, as though it is the Primal Spark that has burst the universe into being.
The colours on this card are so simple and yet so incredibly evocative, in that further from the central burning heat of the sun, are the gentle warming rays of the sun.

Get too close to the centre and you will perhaps be burnt, but at the right distance there is warmth and light and space to fly. Many stories related to the Sun speak of its duel nature - on one hand it gives life, it gives light, it is the first and last thing which makes our earth work. And yet there is the difficulty in something so life giving can be life destroying by burning us and causing drought and withered death, or cold and darkness. The Sun has to be balanced... we have to be balanced.

What is interesting is that where the doves are in the corners, the rays of the sun's light turn from yellow to blue. I'm not sure what I feel the significance of this is, but Id like to hear what it means to other people.
 

lark

Balance is so right inanna...without it there is no life, with too much of it there is no life.

Visually this card has a push me pull you affect...I can see the rays of the sun coming at me, but I can also feel myself falling into the middle of the universe.

I can never think about the Sun for very long...the thought that we are floating around and dependent on a burning star...boggles my mind....and makes me feel kind of queasy.
So the birds ground me....they add the essence of reality to this card.
They bring the Suns rays to the earth for our use...to warm us, grow crops, offer day and night, for rest and work....we don't have to know all the mysteries of how it works we can just enjoy the magic of it, the balance as you put it so well.
We can revel in it, and marvel at the grand design that created it all.
 

inanna_tarot

I can never think about the Sun for very long...the thought that we are floating around and dependent on a burning star...boggles my mind....and makes me feel kind of queasy.
So the birds ground me....they add the essence of reality to this card.
They bring the Suns rays to the earth for our use...to warm us, grow crops, offer day and night, for rest and work....we don't have to know all the mysteries of how it works we can just enjoy the magic of it, the balance as you put it so well.

I love that Lark (being a birdy person yourself!) I can see how the birds help ground this idea.

It almost brings to my mind of how on earth can be comprehend the vastness of the Divine unless we can visualise it, see it, feel it and then add that to our understanding of the Divine. Think of how delicate those Birds are, how they have to balance their bodies and needs for life and at the same time light enough to fly. But I have always been inspired by the argument of an Divine Creator, the watchmaker theory
 

ladybird

Bullet-point rundown from the book:

"Imagine for a moment that you are soaking in the warm rays of the sun. It feels nourishing & healing, like all your aches & pains just fade away." ~ Kim Krans

keywords vitality, enlightenment

*vitality & health
*feeling confidence & clarity
*spend extra time outside
*being grateful for the sun & everything it gives to all creatures

Here's an example, IMO, where the definition in the book is not just expanding on traditional RWS meanings. I enjoyed reading her entry on the Sun card.
 

lark

I love that Lark (being a birdy person yourself!) I can see how the birds help ground this idea.
LOL...First thing I noticed about the birds was that they form a frame of sorts for the picture.
So that gave me a grounded feeling.

The book does have some nice fresh meanings for the card.
She writes well and gets her points across in a few powerful words.
 

ladybird

inanna_tarot., it feels like the blue lines where the doves fly represent the sky. The Sun is shining so brightly and warm on a beautiful blue-sky day.

I can feel the opportunity! The doves are flying in the sky with what feels to me like rapture. I'm feeling this because the drizzly weather (a gray blanket hanging low overhead for months here) feels oppressive and this card is so joyous and radiant, like in the traditional meaning of the card.
 

Sulis

I love the way the sun is depicted here.. It really gives a sense of being the starting point, the source, the essence, the origin of all life, the central, focus point of everything... You really get a sense of the sun being too bright to look at with this card. There is a feeling of it being so bright that it's blinding. It's almost like one of those optical illusion pictures where the rays look as if they are moving and make you feel slightly nauseous if you look at them for too long.
It illuminates things and brings them into focus.

I like what's been said about the doves having a grounding effect too... I'm really getting that.
 

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jcwirish

I really like and appreciate what all of you have said here. One thing I particularly love about this card is that the focus is the sun itself. In so many decks, you aren't really focussed on the sun, but whatever is beneath it in the card (a child on a horse, etc..).

I love what Sulis has said about this card conjuring the idea of the beginning, the source. That is what I get from this card as well. We are confronted with the incredible power of the sun here. It is life giving, life affirming. The vitality and energy is everywhere in this card, and the doves seem to be carrying this energy with them to the four corners of the world. To me this is indicative of how we all absorb and carry this energy with us, and how we can, if willing to recognize it, utilize it to grow and expand our own awareness. The positive energy of this card reminds us to be grateful for all the wonderful things we have in our lives, and the importance of sharing this positive, healing energy with those around us. we can spread it around, much in the way the doves carry it across the universe. Is that sappy? :)
 

ladybird

The positive energy of this card reminds us to be grateful for all the wonderful things we have in our lives, and the importance of sharing this positive, healing energy with those around us. we can spread it around, much in the way the doves carry it across the universe. Is that sappy? :)

Not at all! I love what you are saying about the doves helping to spread the sunshine around! That resonates beautifully.
 

jcwirish

Not at all! I love what you are saying about the doves helping to spread the sunshine around! That resonates beautifully.

Lol! Oh good. This card gets me a little emotional. It's like a hug from the universe.