No. 22: THE SUN
You're soaking in it
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Writing through the TAROT deck, one card at a time. This is number twenty-two in a 78-week durational project.
QUICK HITS
Glory / A Great Happiness / Bright Light / Optimism / Success / Sudden Enlightenment / Beauty / Newborn / The Centre / Immortal Work / Benevolent Presence / Warm Love / Loving Play / Abundant Blessings / Wealth & Health / New Life After Dark Depression / Stepping Out of Past Pain into Ecstatic Eternal Present / Awakened Consciousness / Courage / Humour / Inspired Leadership / Healthy Ego / Shining Integrity / Wisdom / Emergence of the Inner Child / Direct Experience / Access to Joy / Brilliance / Spontaneous Creativity / Self-Confidence / Assurance / Interior Harmony / Clarity of Expression / Freedom / Elevated Union with Natural World / Delight / Switched-On Open Heart / Dailiness / Embodiment / Vitality / Activation of Radiant Awareness / Nourishment / Released Energy / Expansion / Amplification / Reproduction / Pleasure / Celebration / Positive Mental Attitude / Direct Illumination / Splendor Solis / Reinvention / New Day / You’re Golden /
THE IMAGE
THE SUN is staring straight at us in the Aquarian deck. Kind-eyed, calm, and super jazzy, THE SUN is here to make us feel good. Traditionally, THE SUN is depicted in association to youthful innocence — twin children embrace by a walled stream in the Marseilles deck, and Coleman-Smith/Waite deck features a naked kid on a pony waving a crimson banner in front of a row of sunflowers. THE SUN is a parade, a circus, a party.
THE STORY
In the summer of 2016, on vacation with my family in Nova Scotia, I woke up to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean. I hate waking up early, and I had to wake up around 5AM in order to do this, but I was compelled. I’ve spent my whole life living in or in orbit of cities, and I’d realized on that trip that I’d never seen the sun come up over an unobstructed horizon. I’ve tried to explain to people how intense an experience it is to see the ball of the sun crest the edge of that line — the first time I saw it happen, I audibly gasped. Pure, primordial DRAMA. Since that first time, I’ve dragged myself out of bed every chance I’ve had to see that vision again. I’ve returned to an artist retreat on Toronto Island again and again, in large part because Gibraltar Point faces to the east. Watching THE SUN rise floors me. Always.
I just spent the last week alone working on writing projects at a friend’s empty apartment out in the country. Since I was writing about THE SUN, I decided to wake up before dawn this morning. I didn’t expect to see a big show, because the fields outside my friend’s place are surrounded by hills and trees, but I felt like it was still a good symbolic gesture to not sleep until 9AM. I almost didn’t bother going outside, but I’m so glad that I did. There was fog on the ground and streaks of pink in the sky and then, after not even knowing for sure which way was east, I saw her — that reddish-gold life-giving star lifting above the trees across the field. The mother at the centre of our solar system. It was my first real sunrise for well over a year and a half. Some occult writers associate THE SUN with Tiferet, the central sphere in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which represents Beauty. It truly feels like a gift. Because it is one. Now that the light is receding more and more each day, I’ve made a commitment to wake up before THE SUN throughout the winter. I don’t want to miss a minute of the light.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
What do you hold at the centre of your practice? What image are you circling? Do your beliefs give you life? Does your work keep you warm? What would please the child that lives in your heart? What is ready to be brought into the light?
IDEAS FOR PRACTICE
Identify the core of your work and arrange all of your daily activities in orbit around it. Play.
THE READING
THE SUN (XIX) shows up for us in week twenty-two, which reduces, via the system of numerology (22 = 2 + 2), to the number four, which calls in the energy of the already-solar EMPEROR (IV). This is a very auspicious moment. Appreciate the beauty and use this powerful combination to kick ass in all you do. Act with faith and joy; you will achieve your goals.
