What does The Sun mean in tarot?
The Sun represents joy, success, and the radiant energy of spiritual illumination and childlike wonder. In the Rider-Waite deck, a brilliant sun with a human face shines down on a naked child riding a white horse, while sunflowers bloom in a walled garden and red banners wave in celebration. At a glance, The Sun upright indicates triumph, happiness, and the achievement of goals through authentic self-expression, suggesting that your natural talents and positive energy are attracting success and recognition.
The child's nudity symbolizes innocence, authenticity, and freedom from shame, while the white horse represents pure spiritual energy directed toward joy rather than conflict. The sunflowers turning toward the light represent conscious alignment with divine energy, and the brick wall shows that this happiness has solid, lasting foundations. Unlike The Star's gentle hope, The Sun delivers immediate, tangible blessings and the confidence that comes from spiritual clarity.
What does The Sun mean reversed?
When The Sun appears reversed, it suggests temporary setbacks, diminished confidence, or difficulty accessing your natural joy and enthusiasm. This reversal often indicates that external circumstances or internal self-doubt are blocking your ability to shine authentically, but the underlying potential for happiness remains strong.
The reversed Sun can point to delays in achieving goals, creative blocks, or feeling disconnected from your inner child and spontaneous nature. It might suggest that perfectionism or fear of judgment is preventing you from expressing yourself fully and naturally.
Sometimes this reversal indicates that success is coming but not in the timeline or manner you expected, requiring patience and continued faith in your abilities. Unlike The Moon's mysterious confusion, reversed Sun energy involves clarity about what brings joy but temporary obstacles to accessing it.
Is The Sun a yes or a no?
The Sun is one of the strongest yes cards in the tarot, especially for questions about success, happiness, and positive outcomes. This card suggests that conditions are optimal for achieving your goals and that your natural talents and positive attitude will attract favorable results.
The Sun's "yes" comes with confidence and enthusiasm, it encourages bold action, authentic self-expression, and trust that your efforts will be rewarded with recognition and success.
What does The Sun mean for love?
In romantic matters, The Sun represents joyful, harmonious relationships that bring out the best in both partners and feel natural, easy, and celebratory. This card suggests love that enhances your vitality, creativity, and zest for life, where being together feels like coming home to your most authentic self.
For those seeking love, The Sun encourages approaching relationships with optimism, playfulness, and genuine enthusiasm for sharing your life with someone who appreciates your authentic nature. Like The Lovers' divine choice, The Sun suggests that the best relationships feel both deeply meaningful and effortlessly fun.
In existing relationships, The Sun indicates a period of renewed happiness, successful resolution of conflicts, or celebration of relationship milestones such as engagement, marriage, or starting a family. It might suggest that your partnership is entering a golden phase where mutual support allows both of you to shine more brightly.
When reversed in love, The Sun warns against relationships that drain your energy or require you to dim your natural light to avoid threatening your partner's ego. It can indicate temporary relationship difficulties that will resolve with patience, or the need to reconnect with what originally brought joy to your partnership.
FAQs about The Sun tarot card
What does The Sun mean for the future?
The Sun in future positions indicates that remarkable success, recognition, and happiness await you, particularly through expressing your authentic self and sharing your unique gifts with the world. This placement suggests your future holds periods of sustained joy, creative fulfillment, and the achievement of goals that seemed impossible from your current vantage point. You may find yourself in leadership roles, inspiring others through your example, or simply living with such authentic enthusiasm that your presence brightens whatever environment you enter. The future represented by The Sun promises that your natural talents will find their perfect outlet and appreciation.
Is The Sun a good card?
The Sun is universally considered one of the most positive cards in the tarot, representing pure joy, success, vitality, and spiritual illumination. Even when challenges exist in a reading, The Sun's presence suggests that positive outcomes, happiness, and success are not only possible but highly likely. This card celebrates the beauty of authentic self-expression and reminds us that we are meant to shine brightly and share our gifts with the world. Like The Fool's innocent optimism but with the wisdom gained through the entire Major Arcana journey, The Sun represents the mature joy that comes from knowing yourself and living authentically.
What does The Sun mean spiritually?
Spiritually, The Sun represents spiritual enlightenment, divine blessing, and the joy that comes from aligning completely with your soul's purpose and divine will. This card suggests you've integrated the lessons from your spiritual journey and now radiate the light of wisdom, compassion, and authentic power. The Sun embodies Christ consciousness, Buddha nature, and the realization that your true essence is pure love and light. It indicates that you've moved beyond seeking spiritual experiences to becoming a living expression of spiritual truth, inspiring others simply through your presence and authentic way of being in the world.
Where The Moon required navigating mysterious depths and unconscious wisdom, The Sun shows the brilliant clarity and joy that emerge when those depths have been successfully integrated.
Ready to explore what comes after achieving spiritual illumination?
Learn about Judgement and discover how The Sun's radiant self-knowledge naturally leads to the awakening call of spiritual rebirth and higher service.