Major Arcana · Mirror of the Arcana
XIX · ArcanumThe Sun
The Sun in tarot is a card of joy, clarity and warmth.
Key meanings
- joy
- clarity
- warmth
- success
- vitality
The Sun upright
Joy, clarity, and warmth. Your light shines openly and alive.
The shadow side
Hiding your joy and your light so you won't be too visible.
The Sun reversed
Dimmed joy, light behind a cloud, a life you keep putting off until 'later.'
The Sun as the card of the day
Today the sun rises inside you too. Don't hide your light behind the clouds of other people's expectations, what gladdens your own soul is the true path today. Let yourself feel a simple, clear joy.
The question this card asks
What gives you simple, clear joy, and when did you last let yourself feel it?
The Sun: yes or no?
yes
The Sun shines at full strength. The cleanest yes in the whole deck.
Here arcanum XIX gives yes, which is a direction of travel and never a promise about the outcome.
One card only leans on a closed question, and here it leans through its theme of joy. Pull your own card →
Every card is a mirror, not a verdict. Walk the other arcana and listen to what they say together.
✦ See all 22 Major ArcanaFAQ
Would you call The Sun (XIX) a good card or a bad one?
Tarot has no plainly bad cards. It carries joy and clarity, and whether that reads warm or difficult is decided by your question and by the position. Scaring you is not my job.
Where in the deck does The Sun sit, among the majors or the minors?
Major, arcanum XIX of twenty-two. The twenty-two majors hold the turning points and the fifty-six minors the daily ones, and XIX belongs to the first group.
What are the cards either side of The Sun?
Its neighbours are The Moon before and Judgement after. Arcanum XIX borrows part of its tone from both of them.
What does The Sun (XIX) mean upright and reversed?
In the upright position joy and clarity come to the front with nothing holding them back. Reversed the volume changes and the theme stays, so arcanum XIX sounds like the same story running against itself.