ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STUDY GROUP - XIX Sun

Moongold

This is a card of great fortune. Two children stand together, their arms around each other. I loved Barrett’s observation that the young girl wears a head dress of daisies (day’s eye). This image indeed heralds a new day. In the distance is the primal mound of creation, a common theme throughout the deck, and behind the children is a circular wall with painted images of the Gods Amun (Creator God) , Osiris, Ra, Horus and Set – all major Gods of the journey to this point. Under the children’s feet is a rainbow ring created by the 12 colours of the zodiac through which the Sun passes every year. The Sun itself hangs brightly in an orange sky. Those of you accustomed to early rising will be familiar with this incredible colour orange. I can’t resist giving you a link to a sun rise I experience this past summer. The orange sky and its ascendance was magical. Look at the similarities betwee the Sun in this picture and the Sun in Barrett's card. I feel quite humbled and moved by the fact that the Sun which the Egyptians worshipped provides warmth and light to me each day as well.

Orange is the colour of solar energy. It is the colour of determination and creativity, confidence and spirituality. I never realized the power of the colour orange and now know why some eastern religious orders wear the colour as a matter of course. Its energy is ours to use as well.

This is such a celebratory card. The Sun was born on the primaeval mound through the cosmic egg and its daily journey is a constant symbol of the triumph of life over death. By day the Sun rules and allows everything that is necessary for the survival of man to occur. In the night the Sun travels through the trials of the underworld, emerging triumphant each day, bringing life to the earth. The Sun has many manifestations and is associated with many Gods. There are so many symbols. In the Hanged Man we see the Sun in a great barque, supported by the God Nut as it heads into the night. In fact the Sun’s journey through the night is a critical part of Egyptian spirituality. Throughout the days and nights are spun the stories of great struggles

But this card symbolizes the end of the journey. The two children have crossed the line to the other side. I don’t get the sense that these children represent Isis or Osiris or any other God – simply us as human beings, born again and renewed from our journey as our nakedness shows. Our life story might occur through the myths of the Gods but here we are simply as ourselves.
 

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SweetIsTheTruth

I see the children as being outside the wall, having escaped what "fenced" them in previously. I love this card.
 

Rosanne

This is a great depiction of the 19th Arcana. I would like to talk about the symbol of the Sun as seen from what we know of the ancient Egyptians.
The Sun with its living giving force to us here on Earth was worshipped as a God who appeared in many forms. Atum was an old man leaning on a stick- the setting Sun; Re was the Hawk-the noonday Sun and Khepri was a scarab beetle- the rising Sun. Aten was the sun disc itself-no human or animal form. Re was the most important God form until Akhenaten, Re was the creator of life and sailed his boat across the day sky, down into the underworld shedding his light as he went.
Akhenaten is thought to be the first Monotheist(one God) in written History. The Sun poured down its blessings and love upon Egypt depicted as rays and ending in hand like ankhs which showed the Sun was infusing them with life. You can see this fertile Earth concept in the primal mound and in the Desert Roses(the Sun also creates deserts) at the edge of the Rainbow colour Zodiac. The Naked Children are joyful and I see in them the result of being open to each other- Happiness! and without the Sun we would not survive nor have future generations on Earth. Notice how the children stand at the centre of the zodiac-just like our Sun. ~Rosanne
 

SweetIsTheTruth

Rosanne said:
Atum was an old man leaning on a stick- the setting Sun; Re was the Hawk-the noonday Sun and Khepri was a scarab beetle- the rising Sun.

I know many trinities existed in Egypt, particularly depending on location or city, but this is the first time anyone has pointed out the idea of a solar trinity, with similarity to pagan lunar trinities, a la maiden, mother and crone. Thanks Rosanne.
 

rwcarter

After the illusion/delusion/distraction of the Moon, we see the sunrise, which represents the illumination that both leads man out of ignorance and lights the way.

Just as the Moon comes before the Sun in the tarot, the uncertainty of darkness must come before the clarity of sunlight, which burns away both convention and accepted ideas from the past. As it dispels the darkness, sunlight promotes clear thinking, which leads to freedom and liberation. Those who haven't experienced this illumination will fear the changes that this advancement brings.

The children represent mankind without the guilt or hatred. Their nudity shows their innocence and pure spirit. Children represent spontaneity and innocence as well as beginnings and abundant possibilities. A boy may symbolize the higher transformation of the individual as the self transmuted and reborn into perfection. (As Osiris passed through the columns in the Moon, he was transformed and reborn as the god of the dead.) The daisies in the girl's hair represent innocence and purity.

The green hill in the background is the primal mound that we first encountered in the Fool. It represents fertility and is enclosed by the circular wall. The children have escaped the confines of this wall, leaving behind the constraints and limitations of humanity (including clothing!).

The color orange broadens the mind and suggests fruitful endeavors.

Just as the sun's light brings illumination and success, it can also blind, burn, destroy and even kill. Deserts are created by an abundance of sun and no moisture.

Rodney

ETA: According to "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols" by J.C. Cooper, Horus was the rising sun, Ra was the sun at its zenith and Osiris was the setting sun.