The Sun Tarot Card Meaning — Joy and Success

1. About The Sun

The Sun is card 19 of the Major Arcana. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck a large sun with a face shines down on a naked child riding a white horse. The child holds a red banner, and behind them sunflowers rise above a wall.

The Sun is generally the most cheerful card in the deck: joy, vitality, clarity and confidence. After the uncertainty of the Moon, everything is in plain view. Readers often describe it as the card of things being simple, warm and visible.

2. Where The Sun Comes From

• Milan. In the Visconti-Sforza cards a winged child (a putto) moves across the sky on a cloud, holding up a sun-face like the mask of Helios.
• Ferrara. A mid-fifteenth-century Ferrarese version shows Alexander the Great and the philosopher Diogenes, illustrating the anecdote in which Diogenes asks Alexander to stop blocking his sunlight.
• Bologna. The Bolognese tradition shows a seated woman with a distaff and spindle, a design that persisted into the seventeenth century.
• Marseille. From the early seventeenth century the Tarot de Marseille shows two nearly identical children standing before a brick wall under a large sun.
• 1909. The Rider-Waite-Smith card replaces the two children with one child riding a horse away from the walled garden, with sunflowers turned toward the child.

3. Reading the Symbols on the Card

Symbol	Common reading
Sun with a face	Clarity, warmth, life force; nothing hidden.
Naked child	Innocence and honesty; being comfortable as you are.
White horse	Strength carried lightly; often read as purity.
Red banner	Energy and celebration; renewal.
Sunflowers	Growth; turning toward what nourishes you.
Wall behind	A safe place left behind as the child rides out; growth beyond comfort.

4. Upright Meaning by Area of Life

Area	Upright	Reversed
Love	Warmth, openness and enjoying each other's company.	Good feelings dimmed by stress or unrealistic expectations.
Work	Recognition of effort; enthusiasm; clear goals.	Overconfidence; progress slower than hoped.
Money	A comfortable, clearer period.	Expecting too much too quickly.
Personal	Confidence and playfulness.	Temporary low mood or self-doubt.

5. Reversed Sun

Waite's reversed meaning was simply "the same in a lesser sense". Most readers follow that idea: the reversed Sun is still positive, but dimmed, as if partly behind cloud. It can describe enthusiasm that has not yet found an outlet, a delay, or optimism that has tipped into overconfidence.

6. Worked Examples

Example 1: A finished project

Someone who has just completed a long piece of work draws the Sun. A reader would usually describe it as a time to enjoy the achievement and share it, without reading it as a promise of further rewards.

Example 2: A new relationship

Someone in the early stage of a relationship draws the Sun in the present position. The card describes warmth and openness now, which is the part a reading can reasonably speak to.

Example 3: Reversed, as advice

Someone feeling flat draws the Sun reversed. Readers often suggest small, practical sources of energy, such as time outside, rest and contact with friends. If low mood persists, that is something to discuss with a professional rather than a card.

7. The Sun in Different Spread Positions

In the past, the Sun describes a happy or confident period that still supports you. In the present, it describes clarity and good energy. In the future, readers take it as encouraging. As advice, it suggests openness and being visible. Try the three-card spread to see how position changes the reading.

8. Common Card Pairings

• Sun + Moon: clarity after confusion.
• Sun + Fool: a carefree new beginning; both show figures in the open air.
• Sun + World: achievement and completion.
• Sun + Star: hope becoming confidence.

9. Common Misunderstandings

• "The Sun guarantees success." It is read as a positive card, but no card guarantees an outcome.
• "The Sun means pregnancy." Some readers associate the child with children generally, but tarot cannot tell anyone about a pregnancy.
• "The reversed Sun is a bad card." Waite himself called it the same meaning in a lesser sense.
• "Joy means no effort." The child rides out beyond the wall; the card also suggests stepping forward.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

❓ What did Waite write about the Sun?

Upright: "material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment". Reversed: "the same in a lesser sense".

❓ Why does the Marseille Sun show two children?

That is the standard Marseille design: two figures before a wall. The 1909 card changed it to one child on a horse.

❓ Is the Sun a yes card?

Many readers treat it as a strong positive, but it is more useful to read it as clarity and energy than as a fixed yes.

❓ What does the Sun mean for career?

Usually confidence and visible progress. See the career tarot guide.

11. The Sun Among the Three Celestial Cards

The Star, the Moon and the Sun appear one after another (17, 18, 19), and readers often study them as a group. Seeing them side by side makes the Sun's particular meaning clearer.

	The Star (17)	The Moon (18)	The Sun (19)
Light	Distant starlight	Reflected moonlight	Direct sunlight
Main figure	Woman pouring water	Dog, wolf and crayfish	Child on a horse
Key idea	Hope and renewal	Uncertainty and imagination	Clarity and joy
Waite upright (in part)	"hope and bright prospects"	"hidden enemies, danger"	"material happiness, contentment"

Questions to reflect on when the Sun appears

• What in this situation is already going well, and have I acknowledged it?
• Where could I be more open or visible, rather than holding back?
• Is my optimism grounded in what I can see, or in what I hope?
• Who would I like to share this good period with?

12. Final Thoughts

The Sun is the card of warmth and clarity. For context on how the trumps fit together, read Major vs Minor Arcana; for a quick reflection, try a one-card draw. Readings are intended for reflection and entertainment and cannot predict outcomes.

Sources consulted: Wikipedia, The Sun (tarot card); Tarot Heritage, "Il Sole/Le Soleil/The Sun"; A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).

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