Welcome to Tarot Thursdays! This week we will be exploring The Sun and how it can be used as a prompt or brainstorming in our writing.

Tarot is an interesting thing. It’s based upon symbolism and metaphors through imagery. With these images the subconscious mind is tapped into through the story provided. Not everyone gets the same thing from a piece of art. Each piece will influence each person in a slightly different way.

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Introduction of the Card

The Sun is card number 19 in the deck and the twentieth card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

Let’s take a look at the following examples of this card below.

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Card Examples

 

 

Notice the similarities between them and take note of their differences. Do any of these move you more than the others? Take your time and allow these cards to tell you their story.

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My Analysis of These Cards

The Mythic Tarot depicts the Greek god, Apollo, here for this card. This should come as no surprise. He’s got his lyre and bow against a lush backdrop full of greenery as he stands beneath the golden archway.

In the Dragon Tarot card, the imagery is more complex and busy. The dragon is clutching a yin-yang symbol and appears to be blessed with the spirit of a lion beneath a pair of suns. Nested in its wings is the zodiac wheel, which I assume suggests the power of time here. There are sunflowers and mountains, and in the lower right hand corner of the card there seems to be a Stonehenge-like structure there being struck or powered by lightening. So much is going on here, and I don’t know if I fully understand the meaning of it all, but it feels so alive to me.

Next is the Universal Tarot card and it’s clear to me that this is an image celebrating the joys of life in general. We have a little boy riding a white horse under the sun along a wall lined with sunflowers. And there’s this fluttering red cloth in the air. I have sons of my own so I can just imagine that this cloth was intended to keep this kid covered, but he had other plans for the day and just tossed it aside. That’s what it looks to me. Any parent that has gone through raising a toddler phase knows how hard it is to keep one dressed.

Finally we have the Tarot of Dream card with the sun personified as a man surrounded by the other planets with a sun dial below him. The imagery is pretty simple and straightforward like the Mythic Tarot card.

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Themes of the Card

Each card has a set of keywords associated with it that serve as themes for its image. These keywords will vary somewhat depending on who you ask.

According to the Learning the Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

• ENLIGHTENMENT
• GREATNESS
• VITALITY
• ASSURANCE

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

According to the Biddy Tarot website, the keywords associated with the card are:

• FUN
• WARMTH
• SUCCESS
• POSITIVITY
• VITALITY

You can learn more about what this site has to say about this card here.

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What this Card Means to Me

If The Moon is the realm of The High Priestess, then the Sun can be seen as the destination of The Hermit.

I say this because the High Priestess is comfortable in wandering within the subconscious mind indefinitely, but the Hermit aims to not only find enlightenment but also to share his knowledge. You can’t do that if you remain in darkness. At some point you must come out into the light.

The sun banishes the darkness and reveals everything. Whether or not we understand these things is another matter. If we don’t understand, it requires another journey. It’s just that simple.

But for the time being, one most certainly can enjoy making it through the darkness and bask in the light before delving back into another journey.

The keyword I choose for this card is: ENLIGHTENMENT.

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Music Playlist

In this spirit of all this, these are the songs I have picked out for this card.

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The Writing Exercise

This exercise is a free write. Permit yourself to write whatever comes to mind based upon the theme of this card. Choose a keyword or key phrase and run with it to see what you come up with.

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I would love it if you linked or pinged back what you wrote so I could see where you went with this.

Happy writing!

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Mythic Tarot by Liz Greene (Author), Juliet Sharman-Burke (Author), Tricia Newell (Illustrator) © 1989
Dragon Tarot by Terry Donaldson (Author), Peter Pracownik (Author) © 1996
Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo (Author), R. De Angelis (Illustrator), A. E. Waite (Designer) © 2001
Tarot of Dreams by Ciro Marchetti (Author), Lee Bursten (Author) © 2015