The Sun. Tarot Card 19, Major Arcana. Symbols, Meaning & Interpretations

NJ Solomon
5 min readAug 4, 2024

Introduction

The Sun card is number 19 in the Major Arcana of the tarot deck. It is a card filled with positive symbolism, often associated with joy, success, and enlightenment.

Symbols, Meaning & Interpretations

Below is a detailed list of the primary symbols found in The Sun card and their interpretations:

The Sun Card (Number 19)

The Sun

  • Meaning: Vitality, enlightenment, and positivity.
  • Interpretation: The sun itself represents life force, clarity, and energy. It symbolizes enlightenment, bringing everything into the light of understanding, and it signifies positivity, warmth, and success.

Radiant Rays

  • Meaning: Illumination and divine influence.
  • Interpretation: The sun’s radiant rays signify the spread of enlightenment and positive energy. They suggest that divine influence is at work, illuminating the path ahead with clarity and insight.

Child on a White Horse

  • Meaning: Innocence, purity, and new beginnings.
  • Interpretation: The child represents innocence, purity, and the joy of new beginnings. Riding a white horse, which symbolizes purity and strength, the child suggests a fresh start filled with confidence and enthusiasm.

Nakedness of the Child

  • Meaning: Vulnerability and authenticity.
  • Interpretation: The nakedness of the child signifies vulnerability, openness, and the absence of pretense. It represents being true to oneself and living authentically without fear or shame.

White Horse

  • Meaning: Purity, strength, and spiritual journey.
  • Interpretation: The white horse symbolizes purity and strength, indicating a journey that is both spiritual and pure in intent. It suggests that the path ahead is one of integrity and truth.

Red Feather on the Child’s Head

  • Meaning: Vitality and life force.
  • Interpretation: The red feather represents vitality and life force, emphasizing the energy and vibrancy of the scene. It suggests that the child is full of life and ready to embrace the world.

Sunflowers

  • Meaning: Growth, life, and happiness.
  • Interpretation: The sunflowers symbolize growth, life, and happiness. They represent the flourishing of positive energy and the joy that comes from living in harmony with oneself and the world.

Wall

  • Meaning: Protection and boundary.
  • Interpretation: The wall in the background signifies protection and the establishment of boundaries. It suggests a safe space where growth and joy can flourish without external interference.

Blue Sky

  • Meaning: Clarity and optimism.
  • Interpretation: The blue sky represents clarity and optimism, indicating a clear path ahead and the absence of obstacles. It signifies a time of unclouded vision and positive outlook.

Banner or Flag

  • Meaning: Victory and celebration.
  • Interpretation: The banner or flag held by the child symbolizes victory and celebration. It represents triumph over challenges and the joy that comes from achieving one’s goals.

Number 19

  • Meaning: Fulfillment and realization.
  • Interpretation: The number 19 is associated with fulfillment and the realization of one’s aspirations. It signifies a period of success and completion, where efforts are rewarded, and dreams come to fruition.

Bright Light

  • Meaning: Enlightenment and truth.
  • Interpretation: The bright light of the sun indicates enlightenment and the revealing of truth. It suggests that everything is seen clearly and understood deeply, leading to a state of awareness and knowledge.

Conclusion

These symbols collectively emphasize themes of joy, success, enlightenment, and positivity. The Sun card encourages the seeker to embrace the light within themselves, to celebrate their achievements, and to approach life with confidence and optimism. It serves as a reminder that after periods of darkness or challenge, the sun always rises, bringing clarity, warmth, and new opportunities for growth and happiness.

The Platonic Solids

In the name of the Most Gracious, Most Merciful, embark upon the journey of the Sun, traversing through the celestial harmony of divine geometry, from the solid Cube to the golden Unity in the spiral of existence.

The Sun, standing in the place of the Cube, corresponds to the Earth element. This symbolizes the soul’s illumination, a radiant awakening to the light of divine truth. It is the echo of divine music that resounds with joy and clarity, grounding the seeker in the brilliance of enlightened understanding.

Progressing towards the Octahedron, an embodiment of Air, the soul feels the uplifting breeze of divine inspiration, lifting it beyond the material confines of the Cube. The Sun, with its life-giving light, guides the seeker to internalize this illumination, this breath from the Divine, which fills the soul with vibrant energy.

The seeker transitions again to the Octahedron, reinforcing the lessons of Air. This repetition is the rhythm of divine Zikr, a joyous remembrance that vibrates in the heart, allowing the winds of enlightenment to sweep away any remaining shadows within the self.

Moving towards the Tetrahedron, the symbol of Fire, the Sun guides the soul to the transformative flame of divine love. This fire, vibrant and purifying, burns away the remnants of ignorance, refining the soul, preparing it for its ascent into higher realms of consciousness.

The soul’s journey through this gate involves expressions of unity and celebration: solo dances, communal gatherings, and grand cosmic symphonies, all under the radiant light of the Divine. As it is said, “When you are together, I will always be with you.” All harmonics align into a higher resonance, amplifying the soul’s joyous vibration.

The journey takes the seeker to the Icosahedron, representing Water, where the flowing currents of emotion and the wisdom of the heart merge. The Sun, like a celestial navigator, steers the soul through these sparkling waters, teaching the balance of love and joy, of compassion and ecstatic union.

Transitioning to the Dodecahedron, representing Spirit and the universe, the Sun leads the soul to the realization of universal harmony, the unity in multiplicity, as symbolized by the twelve faces of the Dodecahedron, reflecting the cycles of the cosmos. Here, the soul witnesses the divine beauty in all creation, understanding the radiant harmony of the universe.

The journey moves once again to the Icosahedron and then back to the Dodecahedron, signifying the rhythmic flow of life, the pulse of existence that moves between the seen and the unseen, the individual drop and the boundless ocean, guided by the Sun.

Finally, the journey culminates in Unity, represented by the endless fall into the golden spiral. The Sun, having led the soul through its transformative illumination, now points towards the Divine, towards the unity of all existence.

The golden spiral, an embodiment of divine harmony and proportion, mirrors the soul’s return to its origin, to its unity with the Divine. It is a homecoming, the return to the eternal garden, the Garden of Eden.

This journey of the soul, as guided by the Sun through the mystic dance of the Platonic solids, embodies the Sufi path — a path that starts from the self, purifies the self, and eventually transcends the self, merging into the One Beloved.

As in the “Conference of the Birds” by Attar, it is in the reflection of the Spirit in the waters that the true Self is revealed, and in the heavens, the ultimate Self is seen.

Such is the divine love story, the sacred dance of existence, revealed through the Sun.

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NJ Solomon

Healthcare writer, philosophy, spirituality and cosmology. Retired psychiatrist. Photographer, author, journalist, husband, father, brother, son, Freemason ...