The Sun: Promise of Light and Hope
Part I: Sunrise, The Suncard
As we experience the light of the sun every day, what does The Sun card mean for us in a Tarot reading? First, the most obvious physical meaning is to remember that we depend on the sun’s continuing light and heat to maintain our existence and the lives of plants and animals on Earth. When we receive this card in a reading, our first thought should be about gratitude. On this Summer Solstice, we acknowledge our gratefulness for the sunrise and continued renewal of daily light and life-force
 |
| Visconti Deck, The Sun |
energy, and again, the opportunity and newness for a fresh start. On another level of The Sun card in Tarot, the term, “I have seen the light!” means looking for a metaphysical interpretation of “The Light”or Enlightenment, symbolic of communications from a higher source—supernatural illumination. In this sense, The Sun card embodies divinity, wisdom and spiritual understanding, filled with inspiration, grace and hope for a better future.
“We awaken to our creativity by the power of the sun when we
identify ourselves with its essence.
Visconti Tarots by Berti and Gonard (Lo Scarabeo, 2022)
In our everyday existence, because of the orbital tilt of earth on its axis, changes in the angle of sunlight cause seasonal fluctuations on Earth, so our daily lives are always changing as different phases of light and heat move us through spring, summer, fall, and winter. In ancient pagan times, seasonal celebrations of early European cultures, observed the death of the sun, and then the return of the sun after a long cold winter, with various rituals venerating the Earth Mother at the Vernal Equinox, and at the Summer Solstice. In spring, seeds for future crops were activated and sprouted as the light of the sun warmed the ground and prompted new life, just as it happens today! Seeds begin to grow and pop up out of the “womb of Earth”—manifesting aliveness—cells are animated, dividing and growing, and filled with the promise of a ripe tomato in the fall, or a great tree in the future. Until recently, in English farming communities, John Barleycorn (Mother Earth’s Consort) was symbolically burned and buried at the end of the year only to be born again in the spring as a bright new king. The sun has returned! (See The Avebury Cycles by Michael Dames, Thames and Hudson, 1977)) At the ancient Megalithic site of New Grange Tomb in Ireland, the sun’s first new rays of the Winter Solstice still pour into the cavity, built over 2,000 years ago, through a carefully pre-arranged slot, revealing enigmatic ancient carvings on the stones of the walls. And today, the sun still rises over the Heel Stone at Stonehenge on Summer Solstice, thrilling a modern-day crowd and those in awe expecting to witness renewal and “the birth of the sun!” In ancient Egyptian Cosmology, RA (Re) means the sun or light:
“Ra personifies the primeval, cosmic force, creative force. The right eye is called the eye of RA symbolizing the sun. The eye is the part of the body able to perceive the light and is therefore a symbol for spiritual ability.”
Egyptian Cosmology by Mustafa Gadalla (Bastet Press, 1997)
Every day, because of radiant sunlight, our eyes see everything in living color. An important quality to nurture is to become intricately aware of nature’s features and pay attention to our crowded, colorful surroundings. How are you perceiving all the glorious colors and beauty around you? What are the beautiful things of nature in your life? How do you express your gratitude for another new day? What is your inspiration for a new endeavor or project?
Impressionist painter, Claude Monet, was enthralled by how moving rays of sunlight kept illuminating nature’s appearances causing different color changes. He was famous for lining up a series of easels and canvases, so he could paint the changing atmospheric moods of color as sunlight hovered over a group of haystacks and the colors changed hour by hour.
“The Sun Flowers represent an operation of this solar force in the organic world. They turn toward the sun, recognizing it as the source of their strength and growth.”
Monet, Haystacks in the Snow
Madona Compton, Archetypes on the Tree of Life (Llewellyn Publishers, 1991).
When awakening with the dawning light of a new day, it’s a fresh start for us and so our daily life adventures begin anew again. “Hope Springs Eternal,” (Alexander Pope). Starting fresh, we hope that the sun will rise and shine again the next day, and every new day. This is a time to ask yourselves: What is your inspiration for the day? What “seeds” have you planted in your imagination to expand new growth and creativity in your life? What do you hope to achieve this new day? How can you brighten the day and bring sunshine into the lives of your friends, colleagues, and loved ones?
Part II: The Sun card reversed
Now on a different note, with the “death of the sun” in winter, let’s look at the doom and gloom aspect of a reversed Sun card in a reading as it applies to what is going on in the world today. Traditional Tarot interpretations considered the disorder and chaos it symbolized in such human terms as: “Vanity … hypocrisy, egotism … darkness … incomprehension, insurmountable difficulties, unhappiness.” “Delayed success or success achieved with much suffering” (Visconti Tarots, Berti & Gonard, Lo Scarabeo, 2002).But now, in a larger sense, we will see something startlingly different in a current reading more in tune with the times. This concerns 2024 and the catastrophic wars and atrocities occurring around the world right now and how these unending wars will affect not only you, but the whole Earth in the future
According to a recent article in Scientific American, “Exploring the Sun,” (March 2024), scientists view the sun as a nuclear furnace where hydrogen fuels the inner core in the process of nuclear fusion and temperatures are over a million degrees.
During WWII, the atomic bomb was developed during the “Manhattan Project” in the USA, based on nuclear fission. This was followed by the military production of massive rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads, all in order to “deter the enemy.” Some of us remember when we practiced hiding under our desks at school when these so-called rockets and nuclear warheads were brought to Cuba by the Soviets in the 1960’s, right under the noses of our US military. Today, as you are reading this in 2024, war and bombing continues unabated in the Middle East, killing thousands of civilians and innocent people (Israel and Gaza, Syria) and the same chaos is going on in Ukraine with Russia. Civil wars, insurrection and uprisings, are ongoing in Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. Bloody warfare and armed conflict is still unending in certain areas of North Africa, displacing thousands of people.
Development of nuclear power plants for the production of electricity for “peaceful purposes” followed in the wake of making nuclear weapons for war. But this didn’t go as many had hoped. Dangerous massive accidents have occurred at several nuclear power plants, much to the world’s dismay —Three Mile Island, USA (1979); Chernobyl, Ukraine (1986); and Fukushima, Japan (2011). Their production nuclear reactor cores melted down and released untold amounts of radiation. What has happened in the aftermath?
The answer comes along in the scariest book I have ever read by M.I T. historian, Kate Brown: “Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future” (W.W. Norton, 2019). It describes ongoing research about what happened to the people and wildlife exposed to the fallout of radiation after the nuclear explosion and meltdown at Chernobyl and Fukushima. It covers stories of ignorance of radiation damage, whitewash; incompetent leaders lying and cover-ups; obfuscation, and extreme secrecy (Chernobyl, which was revealed later by the Swedish government).It was shown that the R B M K reactor at Chernobyl had fatal flaws and was hard to control and there were no adequate safety systems, no monitoring. In the Fukushima Daiichi accident during the 2011 tsunami, the leaders responded similarly, infuriating its neighbor, South Korea.
Rupert Sheldrake, in his book, Rebirth of Nature, (Inner Traditions, 1994) he stated that the Ukrainian word Chernobyl means “wormwood.” Where have we heard that term before? This opens the door to a Pandora’s box of “End of the World Predictions.” We hear of extremist views of Doomsayers and Doomsday Preppers and conspiracy theorists, who are preparing for the so-called “End-times,” and of looking for biblical answers such as Revelation 8:10, which by the way, specifically describes a star whose name was “wormwood,” falling to Earth and poisoning the waters and killing people, sometime in the future. Are these “whispers” from the past conveying shades of nuclear bombs, nuclear accidents and nuclear destruction, and the possibility of a “nuclear winter”? Are we on the brink of a mass extinction? A lot of people need to be held accountable for all the chaos and destruction happening now.
What hopes do we have for a peaceful future in the midst of this “nuclear madness”? (As Helen Caldicott calls it.) One can hope that uncovering the truth about the extreme dangers of nuclear power and nuclear bombs will assuage hubris, expose any cover-ups and corrupt practices in the future operation and possible development of nuclear power plants and production of weapons of “mass destruction.” Many anti-nuclear activist groups have been established over the years and are working in opposition against any further development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. Groups like Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and Clamshell Alliance, are among some of the most known. Concerned people like former Vice president, Al Gore, Helen Caldicott, M.D., and Amory Lovins, are well-known anti-nuclear advocates who have written volumes on the subject.
What are your thoughts about what should be done to put an end to this insane march toward oblivion created by misuse of knowledge of the sun’s power—nuclear fission. What can you do and how can you join or support the participants in the “save the Earth” movement”? What positive action can you take to prevent something worse ever happening to Earth and all its passengers?
.
