THE SUN

A naked child rides a white horse and holds a red banner aloft. The horse is solar energy, which he now controls without saddle or bridle.
He represents perfect control between the conscious and the unconscious.

His red banner signifies action and vibration, as do the rays of the Sun — so different from the quiet, reflected light of the Moon.

He carries the banner in his left hand to indicate that control has now passed from the conscious (right hand) into the subconscious (left hand) — just as, while we are learning to play the piano or ride a bicycle, we use the conscious part of our minds, but when we have learned, we pass control over to the subconscious.

The expert pianist can carry on a conversation while playing an intricate piece, and the youthful bicyclist shouts, “Look, Ma, no hands.”

The walled garden behind the child is the cultivated garden of Man, which he has left behind him.

There are four sunflowers looking toward him for their full development, instead of toward the sun.
They represent the four elements—Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.

The child is fair, like the Fool, and, like the Fool, he wears a wreath and a red feather.

His nakedness indicates that he no longer has anything to hide. Here the Fool has gained spiritual victory over the lower aspects of his nature — a very different triumph from that which he was demonstrating as the Charioteer in Key 7, when his conquest was only over his own will.

The number 19 is associated in mythology and legends as the number of the Sun. One who has attained to 19 becomes a Sun initiate, ready to accomplish for humanity on the inner planes what the Sun accomplishes in giving light and warmth to the earth.

Divinatory Meaning:
Material happiness, success, attainment. A good marriage. Happy reunions.
Achievements in the arts, science, and agriculture. Studies completed; liberation. Pleasure in the simple life.

Reversed:
Future plans clouded, trouble in marriage, a broken engagement, possible loss of a job or home.

Dascent Deck