The Sun upright meaning
The upright Sun means things are in the light: success, vitality and nothing hidden. Waite's list is "Material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment." That is a plain, earthly list with no warning attached. Wikipedia says the card is "commonly associated with joy, success, vitality, and illumination".
The Golden Dawn kept a shadow for it. Book T opens with "Glory, gain, riches." and then sets a condition: beside very evil cards, the meaning turns to "arrogance, display, vanity". The shine is real, and the old table says it can turn into showing off.
Modern pages keep the light and add people around it. Biddy Tarot's upright keywords are "Positivity, fun, warmth, success, vitality". Labyrinthos writes that the card "represents success, abundance, and radiance". Tarot.com sums it up as "You don't have to dim to be loved. Shine fully."
The Sun reversed: dimmed joy or too much confidence?
Waite gives the reversed Sun six words: "The same in a lesser sense." That is the whole entry, so the card does not turn dark upside down: it stays happiness, with less of it.
The modern pages find two ways to get less. One is joy that is dimmed. Labyrinthos writes, "The Sun still shines, though it may be temporarily blocked out by the clouds right now." Tarot.com says, "Even a cloudy day doesn't cancel the sun." Biddy Tarot lists "Inner child, feeling down, overly optimistic".
The other is confidence with no check on it. The Tarot Guide warns of being "egotistical or arrogant", and Book T's "arrogance, display, vanity" said much the same long before. Ask which fits. If things you used to enjoy feel flat, the dimmed reading is closer. If you are sure of a plan nobody has looked over, the overdone one is. A heavy or lasting low mood belongs with a professional, not a deck.
Is The Sun a yes or no card?
| Position | Answer |
|---|---|
| Upright | Yes |
| Reversed | Yes, with a delay |
Does The Sun mean yes? All three yes or no sources agree. Tarot.com's line for this draw is "the answer is YES." Zenithalign scores both the upright and the reversed card Yes, and TarotAtlas calls the upright answer optimistic.
We answer yes both ways, with a delay on the reversed card. The upright yes fits questions about starting, speaking up or being seen. It cannot say how one particular conversation will go, and Book T's word "display" reminds us that a yes can arrive with more confidence than the facts support.
Upside down, we read a yes with a delay. Zenithalign says the joy may come slightly late; Waite's "The same in a lesser sense" says less of it, not later.
Love and The Sun: couples, singles, feelings, pregnancy questions
In a relationship
Waite's upright list includes "fortunate marriage", so the Sun has been tied to couples since Waite's Pictorial Key of 1911. Tarot.com calls it "a glowing thumbs up". The Tarot Guide adds a twist: because the Sun lights everything, "any hidden issues in your relationship will be highlighted". Light shows the good and the unfinished alike.
Single
Tarot.com tells singles that love is on the horizon and that it starts with being fully yourself. Labyrinthos says it is the time to "step out and let yourself shine". Both pages talk about how you show up. Neither names a person, and neither does Waite, so we read the card as a matter of visibility.
The Sun as feelings
Labyrinthos reads "a radiant warmth in how someone feels about you" when the card is upright. Reversed, it reads a person who "feels a sense of confusion or disappointment regarding their emotions towards you". Both guess at someone else's head. The upright description fits someone who enjoys your company; what they do with that is separate.
Pregnancy questions
Medical questions are outside what a tarot card can answer, and we give no advice on them. We can only report what sites write. The Tarot Guide calls the Sun "one of the main pregnancy indicators in the Tarot deck", and Tarot.com calls it "a strong fertility symbol, both literally and metaphorically". Waite's list has no such word.
The Sun as work and money
A project nobody expected to finish on time ships on a Thursday, and the whole group hears about it Friday. That is the Sun at work: results people can see. Waite's list has no job words, so the work readings are modern. Tarot.com writes, "success, visibility, and positive momentum", and Labyrinthos lists "successful work projects".
Reversed, the pages split as they do in love. The Tarot Guide names "feeling trapped or oppressed by your career", while Labyrinthos lists "over-confidence at work situations, unrealistic beliefs". One is a mood, the other a habit. Neither reading tells you to quit.
The Sun as advice and as a person
The Moon comes right before this card, and it is the card of what you cannot see well. The Tarot Guide calls the Sun "the card of truth". The advice that follows is to say the plain thing you have been circling and let it be seen. Wikipedia sums up Waite's reading as "The conscious mind prevails over the fears and illusions of the unconscious."
Tarot.com adds a guard: "genuine confidence isn't based on ego". As a person, the Sun is warm and easy to be around. Biddy Tarot writes, "People are drawn to you because you can always see the bright side". Book T's "display" is the other half, since this person can start performing the part. That picture is ours.
Symbolism of the Rider–Waite–Smith card
- The sun. Waite first calls it "the glorious sun of earth", then gives it a second meaning: "The sun is that of consciousness in the spirit".
- The child. Waite writes that "The characteristic type of humanity has become a little child". Biddy Tarot reads the nakedness as "a sign he has nothing to hide".
- The white horse. Waite puts the child "on a white horse". Biddy Tarot writes, "The white horse is also a sign of purity and strength."
- The red standard. Waite mentions the child "displaying a red standard". Wikipedia says the child "holds a red flag, representing the blood of renewal".
- The wall and the sunflowers. Biddy Tarot counts "four sunflowers grow tall above a brick wall, representing the four suits of the Minor Arcana and the four elements".
The child and the walled garden: what Waite wrote about the Sun
“Material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment. Reversed: The same in a lesser sense.”
“Glory, gain, riches. With "very" evil cards it means arrogance, display, vanity.”
Waite sends the light out of a garden. In Part II he calls the child's light "the great and holy light which goes before the endless procession of humanity, coming out from the walled garden of the sensitive life". Then he turns the card over: the last allusion, he writes, is "the key to a different form or aspect of the symbolism". The second sun is "the direct as the antithesis of the reflected light". The garden image is worth keeping: the later pages mention the wall and the sunflowers, but none of them reads the wall as a garden the light is coming out of.
The sources pull two ways. Its Book T title is "The Lord of the Fire of the World", with the letter Resh, and the meanings are gain and riches. Waite's Part III says "Material happiness", while his Part II speaks of consciousness and a child. Wikipedia adds that Waite "suggested that this card is associated with attained knowledge". A reader can take the worldly card or the spiritual one, and Waite wrote both.
The Sun and the Sun: the card's planet
| Number | 19 (XIX), Major Arcana |
|---|---|
| Planet | the Sun |
| Signs the Sun rules | ♌︎ Leo |
| Hebrew letter | Resh ר |
| Golden Dawn title | The Lord of the Fire of the World |
Attributions from Book T (Golden Dawn, c. 1892; printed 1912).
Under Book T rules the card is the planet Sun, with no sign of its own. Wikipedia says the card is "associated with the zodiac sign Leo". That differs from Book T, where Leo, the Sun's own sign, belongs to Strength (VIII). A Leo birthday does not point to this card in the Golden Dawn table, though Wikipedia draws the line anyway.
The Sun governs five decans: the Three of Wands (Established Strength) in Aries, the Ten of Swords (Ruin) in Gemini, the Eight of Pentacles (Prudence) in Virgo, the Six of Cups (Pleasure) in Scorpio and the Four of Pentacles (Earthly Power) in Capricorn.
The 5 minor arcana cards ruled by the Sun
In Book T, the Sun rules one ten-degree slice (a decan) in 5 signs; each slice has its numbered card.
| Part of the zodiac | Card | Book T title |
|---|---|---|
| 10° to 20° Aries | Three of Wands | Lord of Established Strength |
| 20° to 30° Gemini | Ten of Swords | Lord of Ruin |
| 0° to 10° Virgo | Eight of Pentacles | Lord of Prudence |
| 10° to 20° Scorpio | Six of Cups | Lord of Pleasure |
| 20° to 30° Capricorn | Four of Pentacles | Lord of Earthly Power |
Today the Sun is in Scorpio at 2°. It enters Sagittarius on November 22 (US Eastern date).
Type a birth date into the tool below to see the Sun's sign, degree and matching minor card. Birth time matters only near a sign change. Across the 35,064 dates in our table, one for each day of 1930 through 2025, the Sun changed sign within a day on 3.3%.
Where was the Sun when you were born?
Enter your birth date. We show the Sun's sign and degree that day, whether it was retrograde, and which of its Book T minor cards that degree falls in.
Example below: November 11, 1985, Eastern time. Enter your own date above.
☉ The Sun on November 11, 1985: ♏︎ Scorpio, 18°–19°
Eastern time. Your Sun sign: Sun in Scorpio. The Sun is in Scorpio on 8.2% of dates from 1930 to 2025.
In the Golden Dawn's decan scheme, your Sun falls in the Six of Cups (Book T: "Lord of Pleasure", 10° to 20° Scorpio, ruled by the Sun). That slice is ruled by the Sun itself: one of the 5 cards in the table above.
Every planet, angle and house from your birth time: birth chart calculator.
Questions about The Sun
Which number does The Sun carry?
Nineteen (XIX), after The Moon (XVIII) and before Judgement (XX). Book T numbers it 19 as well.
Which sign or planet does The Sun belong to?
In Book T it is the planet Sun, with the Hebrew letter Resh. Leo, the Sun's own sign, belongs to Strength there. Wikipedia links the card to Leo.
Should you read The Sun as yes?
All three sites answer yes upright, and Zenithalign scores it Yes reversed too. Tarot.com says "the answer is YES."
How is The Sun read in love?
Warmth, openness and fun. Tarot.com calls it "a glowing thumbs up". It also lights up problems, and it names no person.
How does The Sun read as feelings?
Labyrinthos reads "a radiant warmth in how someone feels about you". That guesses at another head, so treat it as a reason to talk.
What does The Sun reversed mean?
Waite writes "The same in a lesser sense." The sites read dimmed joy or too much confidence, and Biddy Tarot says the Sun "is never a negative card".
Is The Sun a good card?
Yes. Labyrinthos writes, "The Sun is always a positive card, whether upright or reversed". Book T adds one limit: beside very evil cards it means "arrogance, display, vanity".
Sources
- Astronomy Engine: the open-source ephemeris library behind our planet positions, dates and statistics
- A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), Wikisource: the divinatory meanings we quote, upright and reversed
- Book T (Golden Dawn), as printed in The Equinox I:8, 1912: the zodiac sign, Hebrew letter, title and short meaning of each card
- Wikimedia Commons: Rider–Waite–Smith tarot deck: Pamela Colman Smith's 1910 card drawings, public domain
- How we create our readings: our own calculation of sign dates, positions and the 1930 to 2025 statistics
Next to The Sun
In the Major Arcana: The Moon (18) ← The Sun (19) → Judgement (20).
The Sun on this site: Sun sign calculator · Aries · Taurus · Gemini · Cancer · Leo · Virgo · Libra · Scorpio · Sagittarius · Capricorn · Aquarius · Pisces · your full birth chart.
All 22 cards with their signs and planets: tarot card meanings.
Written by The Zodiac Atlas editorial team with the help of AI and edited by a person. Quotations are from Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot and the Golden Dawn's Book T, both in the public domain; the card picture is a 1910 printing of Pamela Colman Smith's drawing for the 1909 deck. Sign dates and planet positions come from the astronomy-engine ephemeris (tropical zodiac). Tarot and astrology are symbolic traditions; they do not predict events.