Sunlight brings the figures forward
An enormous golden sun fills the upper half of the card. Its face looks straight out, with alternating straight and wavy rays spreading around it. Below, a naked child sits on a white horse, wearing a floral crown with one red feather. Both arms extend outwards. A large red banner on the right billows in curves. The horse faces the viewer; neither reins nor a saddle are visible.
Behind horse and child stands a grey brick wall, with four sunflowers rising above it. The wall remains, but does not stand between the figures and us. Sun, red banner and outstretched arms keep drawing the eye from the background into the foreground. The child’s nakedness can suggest openness and ease, but the picture cannot establish that being completely unguarded is always safe. View the Sun.
Direct light and a child’s simplicity
In Part II, Waite contrasts the Sun’s direct light with reflected light. Through the child, he discusses simplicity, innocence and renewed consciousness. His account has a distinctly spiritual context and cannot be reduced to “luck in achieving success”. Waite on the Sun.
The upright entry in Part III includes material happiness and contentment. The reversal carries those same meanings in a lesser degree. This offers a useful lesson: a reversal need not overturn the upright meaning. Brightness may simply be diminished for a time. Waite’s original meanings.
Recognise progress and its limits
DestinyPixel reads the upright card as greater clarity and a willingness to participate in life. Something has been talked through, effort has received a response, or you finally acknowledge something you have accomplished. It can be a good moment to share results, express needs plainly, and enjoy happiness already present. The brightness invites you to see fully; it does not require painting every unresolved issue gold.
Reversed, tiredness may mute pleasure, or fear of judgement may make you reluctant to show your work. It can also suggest overconfidence and a rush to declare victory. These situations need different responses. One calls for time to take good news in; the other calls for another look at details and other people’s feedback. Recognising the actual situation is more useful than memorising “the Sun has turned bad”.
In everyday situations
Learning. In a presentation, you finally explain something you had struggled with. Celebrate, and note which practice helped, so that the progress remains useful later.
Relationships. Both of you talk through a misunderstanding, and you no longer have to guess what the other person means. Enjoy the relief, while carrying your new agreements into everyday interactions.
A team. The result receives praise, but someone still does not understand how to use it. Reversed, the card can suggest pausing the celebration to check the instructions. Equally, one remaining improvement does not cancel everything the team has achieved.
Try it for yourself
Record one thing that has genuinely improved today, give the evidence, and finish the sentence “What helped this happen was…”. Consider thanking someone involved. Give happiness a concrete focus, and preserve the method that worked.
Common misreadings
The child is not a pregnancy indicator, and the Sun does not guarantee success in an exam, marriage or project. Joy need not borrow from the future. Using this card to illuminate progress already made is enough.
Read these cards together
- The Moon: Compare guessing in unclear circumstances with information and expression becoming clearer.
- The Star: Distinguish gradually rebuilding hope from expressing vitality and joy.
- The World: Compare a bright stretch of progress with the completion of a defined stage.
Sources and further reading
- A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Part II, XIX: English text
- The same book, Part III, Section 3, entry 19: original upright and reversed meanings
- Pamela Colman Smith, RWS card: Commons image and version history
The English transcription is dated 1911; the image page identifies the card as Pam-A, 1910. The visual description follows the downloaded Commons JPG. The modern quick takes and exercises are DestinyPixel's original interpretations. Sources checked: 2026-10-07.