The Sun
The Sun is major arcanum XIX of the tarot. It represents clarity, fullness, authentic joy, deserved success, vitality and truth without shadows. It is one of the most positive cards in the deck. Associated with the Sun planet, it embodies the conscious light that illuminates everything.
Origin and symbolism
In traditional decks, The Sun shows two naked children playing in a garden under a radiant sun. In the Rider-Waite-Smith, A.E. Waite simplified the image: a naked child crowned with flowers, riding a white horse, holding a red banner, under an anthropomorphic radiant sun. Sunflowers behind the wall complete the composition.
The child represents the recovered innocent joy: after the journey through the dark night (The Moon), the soul returns to the light but already transformed. It is not the ignorant innocence of The Fool at the start of the journey — it is the reconquered, wise innocence. The white horse is dominated purity; the sunflowers, connection with the solar principle. The red banner, the heart's victory.
Meaning in a spread
Appearance in a reading: clear success, authentic joy, fullness, vitality, health, mental clarity, luminous stage, pregnancy or birth (literal or metaphorical), public recognition, deserved triumph, realistic optimism. It is one of the most positive cards: when it appears, it usually announces the sun rises in your life after the night.
In shadow (rare): solar excess (vanity, shining aggressively), naive optimism that denies real problems, exhibitionism, ego inflated by recent success. The Sun's trap is to confuse light with self-spotlight: solar light illuminates without needing to be admired.
Also known as
- Le Soleil
- The Sun
- The Radiant Sun