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3. The 22 Major Arcana
4. The Sun

By ModUpdated 1 Nov 2026

Upright meaning

Reversed meaning

Imagery and symbols

• A great sun with a faceThe source of life, truth and warmth; straight and wavy rays alternate — power both ordered and alive.
• A naked child on a white horseInnocence regained consciously, nothing to hide, being oneself sincerely.
• Arms spread wideEmbracing life fully and confidence that needs no reins: the child rides without controlling.
• The red bannerVitality and celebration; the banner that was black in Death is red here.
• Four sunflowersThe four elements growing and turning toward the light.
• The brick wallProtection and stable structure. The child is in front of the wall, stepping out of the safe garden into the wide world.
• A red feather on the child's headThe Fool's feather: the journey returns to innocence, now with wisdom.

Details most readers miss

• The child is the Fool reborn; both wear a red feather, but the Fool stands at a cliff edge while the child sits securely on a horse in full light.
• The Sun is one of the most positive cards in the deck; even reversed it usually means joy delayed or dimmed slightly, not suffering.
• 19 reduces to 10 and then 1, linking it with the Wheel and the Magician: the Sun's success is will combined with life's timing.

History and origins

In the Marseille deck the Sun shows two children — often read as twins — before a wall under a sun with a face, drops of light falling. The Visconti deck shows a winged child holding up the sun's head.

Smith redrew it as a naked child on a white horse with a red banner, before a wall with sunflowers. The Golden Dawn gave the card the Sun and Resh (head): fully awakened consciousness. Its path joins Hod (intellect) and Yesod (the unconscious) — thought and the unconscious reconciled in the light.

The story of the card

After the night of fear in the Moon, the Fool wakes in sunlight. Everything is clear; he understands himself and the world and is joyful like a child again — but now with innocence that has lived through experience.

From this clarity he hears the call of the next card, Judgement, to rise to a higher level of life.

Element and elemental dignities

This card belongs to Fire, the energy of drive, courage and action.

Under the Golden Dawn rules of elemental dignities, Fire is friendly with Air and opposed to Water. Beside cards of the same or a friendly element this card grows stronger; beside an opposing element it weakens or shows its harder side.

When Fire dominates a spread: heat, haste and acting before thinking — watch for conflict and burnout. When it is missing: Add Fire by taking one small action now, setting a challenging goal and moving your body.

Sign, planet and timing

This card is ruled by Sun ☉, the planet of identity, success, recognition, vitality. In the Golden Dawn system the seven classical planets belong to seven Major Arcana cards, matching the seven Hebrew "double" letters that have two pronunciations.

Sun also rules 5 decans in the Minor Arcana: Three of Wands, Six of Cups, Ten of Swords, Four of Pentacles, Eight of Pentacles. Those cards show the same planetary energy working in specific areas of life.

Key of Life: number, birth cards and quintessence

The card's number 19 reduces to 1, so it belongs to constellation 1 together with The Magician, Wheel of Fortune. This group is the initiator who creates by their own will. If your birth-date total is 19, this is your Personality card and card 1 is your Soul card.

To find your birth cards with Mary K. Greer's method, add your birth day, month and year, then add the digits until the result is 22 or less. Born 14 June 1990: 14 + 6 + 1990 = 2010 → 2 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 3, the Empress.

The same card can also be a "year card" when you use the current year instead of your birth year, and the "quintessence" of a reading when the numbers of all cards in the spread reduce to 19.

Path on the Tree of Life

The 22 Major Arcana are the 22 paths (numbered 11–32) linking the ten sephiroth of the Tree of Life. This card is path 30, joining Hod · Splendour (intellect, logic, communication) with Yesod · Foundation (the subconscious, dreams, inner images), and the Hebrew letter ר Resh, meaning "head".

Read as a journey of the mind, the path teaches how to bring the power of Hod down into Yesod, or how to climb from below to above. It crosses between the pillars, so it works to reconcile two forces.

Uranian astrology connection

Uranian astrology (the Hamburg School) uses eight hypothetical points beyond Neptune alongside the real planets. This card resonates with Apollon and Kronos.

• Apollon (Apo)Apollon, the first of Friedrich Sieggrün's points, means multiplication and spread: knowledge, trade, reputation and success that reaches beyond oneself. Keywords: expansion, multiplicity, science, commerce, success, fame
• Kronos (Kro)Kronos is the top of the hierarchy: rulers, experts and the ability to stand alone. It reads as rank, credibility and decisions made from above. Keywords: authority, high office, expertise, law, independence

The Sun is success and recognition everyone can see, Apollon; Kronos is radiance from the highest point.

This correspondence is TarotMod's own synthesis from the meanings of the Hamburg School factors; it is not part of traditional tarot. Cast your Uranian chart

Related cards

• The MagicianSame constellation
• Wheel of FortuneSame constellation
• Three of WandsSun decan
• Six of CupsSun decan
• Ten of SwordsSun decan
• Four of PentaclesSun decan
• Eight of PentaclesSun decan

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