
Do you want to go deeper into the Tarot but don’t have the time or energy to dig into all those books on your shelf?
Let’s face it – Tarot can be overwhelming and overcomplicated, but it doesn’t have to be.
I am of the belief that the most powerful way to access Tarot is through creative tasks such as visualisation, journalling, and art – not through reading about it in a book. However, there are times when a little bookwork is needed for the guidance and inspiration to take things further.
This month I am starting a series of short blog posts that will explore the deeper meaning and symbolism of the cards in simple terms, starting with the Major Arcana. It’s my aim to break down and summarise the central ideas of the cards by finding overlaps in famous Tarot texts. On my quest for meaning, I’ll be trudging through the writings of A.E. Waite, Aleister Crowley, Paul Foster Case, Israel Regardie and others so that you don’t have to.
Join me in looking at our card for October 2024: The Sun.
The Sun: Meaning
The Sun embodies a state of revelation in which you may truly recognise the divine energy within you, the consciousness of the universe, and the synergy between the spiritual and the physical.
The Divine Sun

‘There is no visible thing, in all the world, more worthy to serve as a symbol of God than the sun, which illuminates with visible life, first itself, then all the celestial and mundane bodies.’ Dante [1]
In many ages and cultures, the sun has been looked up to as divine, which is logical given that the sun is necessary to sustain life, and that it sits at the centre of our solar system, an authoritative force around which all things revolve, and on which all things rely for survival. [1]
According to the book of Genesis, creation begins with God’s utterance, ‘Let there be light.’ [2]. The Hebrew word for light (אוֹר) means both visible light – like that of the sun – and understanding, linking to the meaning of The Sun card in that it signifies an experience of enlightenment, of seeing the light. [3]
The sun looks down on us, watching the Earth revolve and all human life play out on its surface. Therefore, the sun is a perfect symbol of God’s omniscience (knowledge of all) and omnipresence (eternal presence). As it is said in the writings of the Golden Dawn: ‘the sun embraces the whole creation in its rays’. [4]
A.E. Waite, co-creator of the famous RWS Tarot, describes The Sun as representing ‘the great holy light which goes before the endless procession of humanity’, at once recognising the sun as a symbol for God’s presence in the world – the holy spirit – but also the eternal nature of the divine. [5]
The sun also appears on other cards in the Tarot. Right from the start, it is there in The Fool, again symbolising the presence of the divine in all aspects of our lives.
At its core, The Sun card represents your recognition of the true nature of God, and, as sunflowers are said to turn towards the sun, your choice to embrace the divine nature of the universe.
Duality and Synergy
‘Under the sun everything becomes simple, joyous and physical. The light of the unconscious brought into daily life.’ Rachel Pollack [6]
In some cultures, the sun is seen as an embodiment of masculine energy, in others, feminine, highlighting its dual nature. [1]
Duality is central to The Sun card because to recognise the nature of the divine, you must recognise the duality of creation: light and dark, good and evil, male and female, hot and cold, night and day – the list goes on. As Paul Foster Case puts it, ‘the sun causes all growth, but it also makes deserts’. [7]
In the artwork of The Sun card, duality is often symbolised through the sun’s rays (which alternate between wavy and straight), and a male and female figure. However, the revelation of this card is not the separate, binary nature of these dualities, but the interconnectedness of them. Case describes the experience of The Sun as the need ‘to assemble, to bring together, to combine, to unify, to embody, to synthesise’. [7]
While this synergy can be taken as a call to evaluate our personal perceptions and beliefs, it can also be viewed on a grander scale, inviting us to recognise the divinity within ourselves.
In Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack explores the idea that we each carry a divine spark, a small part of God’s light within us, and that it is humanity’s mission to unify that light by acting as one. [6]. This idea is also communicated in the Bible: ‘Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV). [8]
Western spirituality often encourages us look outside of ourselves for answers, to look up to the sky in search for a God who exists beyond our world. The Sun reminds us that we exist within creation, and that the divine encompasses everything, including ourselves. Therefore, to recognise and understand the divine, we need only see the beauty that surrounds us, and that which exists within us.
The World to Come
‘Mankind has ‘landed [itself] in the most dreadful mire of psycho-pathology and psycho-analysis […] It must be the task of the pioneers of the new Aeon to put this right.’ Aleister Crowley [9]
The Sun is a card of unwavering optimism. It recognises the possibility of personal growth and enlightenment, but also the possibilities of humanity’s growth in the future. Aleister Crowley writes of ‘the next stage which is to be attained by mankind’ [9], and A.E. Waite describes The Sun as a symbol for ‘the restored world’. [5]
The Sun invites us to imagine what the next stages of our evolution might look like, whether that is emotional, moral, spiritual, or physical. It is the hope that we may move beyond this scientific, technological age which, for many of us, ultimately lacks meaning. It asks if we will ever be able to stop questioning, and to start accepting. The Sun is aspirational: it is the vision of a time in our future when we may return to a state of oneness with the universe of which we are intrinsically a part.
Suggested Tasks
Spend some time meditating on the meaning and imagery of The Sun, journalling any thoughts which arise.
Try making your own version of the card using different symbolism. What imagery could you use to capture the meaning of The Sun in an original way?
Lay out the Major Arcana cards in numerical order and consider the meaning of The Sun in relation to the sequence of The Fool’s Journey.
Reading List – Shop on Amazon
References
[1] An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J.C. Cooper, Thames & Hudson, London, 2021, pages 162-164
[4] The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic, Israel Regardie, New Falcon Publications, Arizona, 1990, page 14
[5] The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, A.E. Waite, University Press, New York, 1959, pages 144-147
[6] Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot, Rachel Pollack, Thorsons, London, 1997, pages 130-133
[7] The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages, Paul Foster Case, The Banton Press, Arran, 1993, pages 180-186
[8] Read the Bible online. A free Bible on your phone, tablet, and computer. | The Bible App | Bible.com
[9] The Book of Thoth (Egyptian Tarot), Aleister Crowley, Weiser, Maine, 1983, pages 113-115
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