Download The Sun - Tarotmoon Press

2.13 ☉ The Sun
The Sun is the heavenly body that most affects the seasons and climate of the earth,
brings us warmth and energy, and gives rise to life. The Sun in our astrological chart represents
our conscious perception of our own essence and character. It represents our central identity,
our will and conscious direction in life. Like the Earth, it represents the energy we work best
with and what makes us grow. The Sun represents what motivates us and how we interact with
the world. For example, if your Sun is in an Air sign, thought, communication, and learning may
be important to you. In popular astrology, the Sun sign is considered the most important of all
the planetary signs in your chart, as it is a reflection of your fundamental character.
Your Sun sign and core identity may or may not be obviously expressed to others. Your
Ascendant (or Rising Sign), which is not a planet but the sign that is rising on the horizon when
you are born, reflects how your personality is projected to others. This may be quite different
from your personal self as represented by your Sun sign. For example, my mother has a Cancer
Sun and a Gemini Ascendant. Her true personality reflects her psychic, creative abilities, values
around home and family, and emotional, loving nature. Yet she is also involved in many social
activities and in writing or Internet projects, where others perceive her more like a Gemini –
talkative, communicative, and able to do many things at once.
Unlike the other planets, the Sun and the Moon never go retrograde. Because the Moon
orbits the Earth, and the Earth orbits the Sun, the motion of the Sun and Moon with respect to
the Earth always appears direct. A good thing too, since these bodies are the most intimately
tied to our conscious and emotional personalities. The Sun requires one full year to travel
through your chart and return to the exact location where it was at your birth. This will be near
your birthday, but not always at the exact time. Like your birthday, this is a good time to reflect
on the past year and see what energies the coming year brings by casting a Solar Return chart.
This type of chart shows the positions of the planets at the time your Sun returns to where it
was when you were born, and gives an indication of what you can expect in the coming year.
The Sun in Tarot
Unlike many of the other planets, the associations of the Sun with tarot are very
straight-forward – whether in modern or Renaissance systems, the astrological Sun is always
associated with the Sun card. However, the Sun in tarot and the Sun in astrology do not have
entirely the same meaning. In the modern tarot, The Sun is the culmination of a long spiritual or
psychological journey, resulting in wholeness after the trials and tribulations of the Devil,
Tower, and Moon cards. In part, it represents the integration of the shadow self with the
conscious self, all parts working together in harmony, and the overcoming of any obstacles,
internal or otherwise. In the Renaissance era, the Sun represented the pure masculine essence,
which when combined in alchemy with the female essence (represented by the Moon), would
give the perfect metal or Philosopher’s Stone.
The perfection of the conscious mind or spirit and the positive outcome of a long
journey or project are aspects of the Sun in tarot that are not necessarily represented in
astrology. The Sun in astrology is the essential person, whether perfect or not, and as born, not
as created or perfected. It represents the energies with which a person is most comfortable
working and living, and the means by which one normally expresses oneself. It is not so much
1
the conscious mind vs. unconscious or the masculine vs. feminine (as with the Sun and Moon in
tarot), but can apply equally to a man or a woman and their whole primary personality.
One way in which the concepts of the Sun in tarot and astrology are similar is the idea
that understanding one’s entire self leads to beneficial outcomes. Learning to use the energies
best suited to one’s abilities in positive ways leads to greater personal strength. Understanding
your own strengths and weaknesses as described by your basic identity allows you to actively
work on life lessons, make best use of your gifts and overcome challenges presented to you.
This may require a journey through the Moon, dealing with the personal subconscious,
instincts, illusions, and shadow self, and learning to work productively with these aspects of the
personality, integrating them into the conscious self. This leads to the outcome depicted in the
Sun card, where a person is in harmony with himself and where he has come to in life and is
able to relax and recharge in the Sun’s rays, and shine in the outer world.
The Sun as a Masculine Energy
In terms of our personal identity, everyone has a Sun sign, and it is not necessarily
applied differently for men and women. However, as in tarot, planets in astrology can represent
not only oneself, but other people. In this case, the Sun is strongly gender-identified. The Sun
represents father figures, husbands, authority figures, and anyone who is associated with
connecting you to the outer world. Historically, women were mostly connected with the larger
society through their husbands and fathers, hence the origins of these associations. In modern
astrology, the Sun can represent the more authoritative parent or dominant partner, whether
male or female.
In tarot also, the Sun card has definite masculine attributes, and in Renaissance decks is
often associated with the male sun god Apollo. In Greek mythology, Apollo is depicted as a
perfect man, beautiful of form and face, appropriate to the expression of the Sun near the end
of the Trump cycle. The Sun plays a dual role in tarot just as it does in astrology. In one sense, it
is the perfection and personification of masculine or yang energy, and in another sense, it is the
integration of the whole personality and its outward expression.
2