The Sun (Tarot Triptych)
Name: The Sun
Number: XIX
Astrology: Sun
Qabalah: Resh
Chris Gabriel January 11, 2025
In many ways, The Sun is the central axis of the tarot, just as it is the center of our solar system. It is through this card that we relate to the stars and planets that make up both the deck and our universe.
In Rider, we see a naked child riding upon a white horse and bearing a red flag. In the background, a wall is covered in sunflowers and the Sun looks down upon him.
In Thoth, we find two butterfly winged cherubs rejoicing in front of a green hill, encircled by a wall. A central flowery sun shines, and around the border we see the full Zodiac.
In Marseille, we are given two young brothers, standing before a wall. One guides the other, who is struggling. The Sun looks straight ahead at us.
In each card, we are presented with the great masculine force of consciousness and new life. The Sun is the father of life, and the babes depicted are expressions of all new life. The “cycle of life” is the cycle of the Sun, and it emanates from and into the wheel of creatures that make up the Zodiac. The Zodiac is the cyclical track which our Sun follows month by month.
The Egyptians believed the Sun died each night and was reborn again each morning, and that this cycle occurred not only daily, but yearly, with the Sunborn in the Spring, and dieing in the Winter. They represented the morning sun with a baby, Harpocrates, or the child Horus.
With this card we see the joy of the newborn Sun, and his future power as the midday Sun.
As we follow the cycle of the sun, our lives are a mirror to its own, rising from our beds each day and then laying down each night. Being born, living, and then fading and dying. Nearly all religions begin as Sun cults. Whether we view this cycle as a blessing, or a curse depends on us.
Is life a Sisyphean task? We roll the solar stone up and down day by day, month by month, year by year until we die. Or is this a playground in which we can dance and move freely? Are we the child stumbling and struggling, or the child helping his brother?
The Sun represents our consciousness, in opposition to the Unconsciousness of the Moon. It illuminates what is dark and hidden, it is said Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and this is certainly true in our lives and minds.
The path of the Sun is certain, its rising and falling is unending. And as the bible tells us in Luke 12:3 “Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”
When we pull this card, we will be brought into the light. Our time within the cycle will be illuminated, and nothing will hide in the darkness. This is a joy if you have done well, and a curse if you’ve been up to no good. Therefore let us rejoice in the light of consciousness, express ourselves and be seen clearly!
