THE SUN🇬🇧en

Correspondences — Element: Fire · Number: 19 · Celestial Body: Sun · Yes–No: Yes

The Card's Image and Symbolism

A mighty sun shines in the sky, with a face, open eyes, surrounded by alternating straight and wavy rays.

Below it, a naked child sits on a white horse, without a saddle, holding a large orange-red flag in their hand, a wreath of flowers on their head, with a single red feather in it. Behind them is a gray wall, and beyond it, four sunflowers lean over.

And notice the most important thing: the sun looks directly at you.

The Sun Shines with Its Own Light

One card earlier, in the night of The Moon, everything was in borrowed light: the moon does not shine, it only reflects the sun's light — which is why everything seemed more frightening.

Here, what gave light to the entire night has arrived.

This card in a single sentence: what was a monster last night is a coat hanger this morning. It's not the thing that changed — the light changed, and now you see it in its own light for the first time.

And notice the two faces: in the moon, there was a profile with closed eyes, which did not look at you, but merely floated above you. The sun's face looks at you head-on, with open eyes. This is the difference between anxiety and joy: one does not look at you, the other does.

The Child Does Not Know They Are Naked

Look at the child: they have nothing on, and it doesn't even occur to them.

On The Star card, someone was also naked, but there it was because The Tower had stripped everything from them. On The Devil, two people were also naked, there with chains and shame.

This child, however, is unaware of their nakedness. They are not brave — but it doesn't even occur to them that they should cover themselves.

This is the gift of this card: not that you overcome shame, but that you suddenly forget to be ashamed of something.

The White Horse

And now look at the horse, because this is the most beautiful return in this deck: a white horse.

On The Death card, this same white horse was treading, slowly, leisurely, with a black armored rider on its back.

The same horse. Someone else is riding it.

This whole journey in one image: you haven't changed your destiny, you haven't received another life — the same horse carries you, only it's no longer the skeleton riding it, but a child. And there's no saddle, no reins: you don't need to control what you trust.

The Red Feather

A single red feather stands in the child's wreath.

The same feather that was in The Fool's hat, on the very first card, when they knew nothing yet, but just set off.

Since then, there has been armor, chains, lightning, night. The feather remained.

This is the most beautiful promise of this card: you will not lose who you were before you were hurt. You just forget it for a while.

The Wall and the Sunflowers

In the background stands a gray wall, and four sunflowers lean over it.

This is important because it conveys that there is a wall behind the joy. There was a garden, there was a fence, there was protection — and this child came out of there.

The sunflowers, however, lean over. They are not looking at the wall: they are looking at the light.

A sunflower cannot explain why it turns that way. It simply turns that way.

The Flag

A large orange-red flag waves in the child's hand.

Death also carried a flag, a black banner with a white rose. Here, there is nothing to proclaim, no message, no symbol: just a large, warm-colored fabric that waves.

There is joy that has nothing to say. It simply is.

Straight and Wavy Rays

Observe the sun's rays, because they are of two kinds: straight and wavy, alternating.

The straight is the light that illuminates, the wavy is the heat that warms — and these two are not the same. There are those who are very bright, and warm no one; and there are those next to whom you didn't become smarter, you just felt better.

This card brings both, and that is what is rare about it: you will understand it, and it will also feel good.

The Nineteen

Straight and Wavy Rays Observe the sun's rays, because they are of two kinds: straight and wavy, alternating.

The straight is the light that illuminates, the wavy is the heat that warms — and these two are not the same. There are those who are very bright, and warm no one; and there are those next to whom you didn't become smarter, you just felt better.

This card brings both, and that is what is rare about it: you will understand it, and it will also feel good.

Nineteen is the number of the sun, and it bears both its signs: the one and the nine — the beginning and the culmination at the same time.

This is not a happy ending. There are two more cards after this. But this is the moment when it becomes clear that it was worth it.

The Shadow

In a reversed position, joy does not disappear, it merely becomes obscured: you have everything you should be joyful about, and you don't feel it. This is not ingratitude, but fatigue.

The second shadow is postponed joy: someone who says, "I'll be happy when I have this, and that, and the other" — and meanwhile the sun is shining.

And the third is shame returning: when someone doesn't dare to experience being well, because they are afraid it will be taken away from them.

If This Card Came to You Now

Don't be ashamed that you are well.

And don't postpone it. Go out into the sun for ten minutes today, look around, and allow yourself to simply feel good.

For those who are now asking how long it will last: the sun is not about that. It doesn't matter how long it lasts. It shines today.