Tarot of the Day
The Sun
Major Arcana XIX · Leo · Upright
The Bright Sun Shining Softly in the Sky with Her Gentle Face · The Naked Child Riding the White Horse Holding the Red Banner Streaming Gently in the Bright Air · The Sunflowers Blooming Behind the Stone Wall in the Actual Lived Garden · The Body's Natural Radiance Fully Emerged Into the Visible World Through the Long Faithful Elemental Arc · The Soft Bright Carrying That Emerges When the Body Has, Faithfully, Performed the Long Developmental Work and Now Becomes the Embodied Vessel Through Which the New Cycle's Bright Starlight Is Carried Forward
A bright sun shines softly in the sky on the rare contemplative morning of the new lunar cycle's seventh day — the first quarter has, faithfully, risen overnight in Virgo's earth-temple at 50% illumination, the moon now at Virgo 14°, while today the Sun himself ingresses out of Gemini into Cancer 0° for the summer solstice, the longest day of the solar year. The sun in the traditional tarot image shines softly above, a radiant yellow disc with a gentle face — the great patroness of the body's natural radiance peering kindly down with the soft features of one who knows that the deepest light is the natural inner light that emerges when the long elemental arc has, faithfully, been performed. The sun's beams radiate outward in alternating straight and wavy rays — the soft architecture of natural light, the straight rays of the body's clear emerged radiance and the wavy rays of the body's gentle warmth flowing through her own actual lived form. The light is bright but not harsh. The face is luminous but not dramatic. The radiance is full but not performed. Below the bright sun, a naked child rides a white horse. The naked child is one of the most quietly powerful symbols in the entire major arcana. He is the body's inner child, the soul's natural form before any cultural achievement-costume, the small bright body who has, faithfully, emerged from the long elemental arc as the body's own actual carried radiance. The child is naked because the body has, faithfully, set down every cultural performance-costume — the achievement uniform, the productivity armor, the dramatic outward radiance-mask — and now rides forth in the body's own actual natural form. The white horse is the soul's natural vitality, the bright steed of the body's own actual emerged life, the pure carrying-creature who bears the inner child forward through the bright air of the longest day. The child rides without saddle, without armor, without harsh equipment — just the small bright body riding the white horse in the soft natural light of the brightest day of the year. The child holds a large red banner streaming gently in the bright air. The red banner is the body's natural celebration, the soft outward expression of the inner light made visible without dramatic performance. The banner is red — the color of the body's emerged life-force, the warm blood, the actual lived passion that has, faithfully, gathered through the seven-day elemental arc. The banner streams gently — not snapped urgently in dramatic wind, not held rigidly in formal display, but flowing softly in the bright air with the natural movement of the body's own actual carried celebration. The banner is held by the small body of the naked child, the body's own inner radiance carrying the banner of her own actual emerged life forward through the bright air. Behind the child and horse, a stone wall rises. The stone wall is the body's actual lived ground — the existing chapter the body has, faithfully, built across the previous arcs, the embodied container of the body's current actual life. The wall stands solidly, gently, behind the figure of the inner child on the white horse — the lived ground from which the bright emergence naturally rises, the steady embodied foundation that holds the body who has, faithfully, performed the long developmental work. Above the wall, tall sunflowers bloom. The sunflowers are the body's natural radiance made manifest in the actual lived garden of her current life — the bright florals of the embodied solar life, the tall stems rising softly from the body's actual lived ground, the bright open flower-faces turned toward the sun above. The sunflowers are not arranged for display. They grow naturally in the lived garden of the body's current actual life — the bright open emergence of the body's own actual radiance, blooming in the very ground the body has, faithfully, been tending across the previous arcs. The Sun is one of the most quietly profound cards in the entire major arcana. She is the nineteenth major arcana — the great patroness of the body's bright inner radiance, the figure who teaches that the body who has, faithfully, performed the full elemental arc through the soft Moon-recognition (Major Arcana XVIII) and the embodied trust (Two of Wands) now becomes, herself, the carrier of the new cycle's bright inner light. On the seventh morning of the new lunar cycle, with the first quarter now in Virgo at 14° and 50% illumination, the Sun ingressing today into Cancer for the summer solstice, Jupiter remaining exalted in the great motherly waters the Sun has just entered, and the rare convergence of two great astrological thresholds (the first major lunar phase checkpoint and the longest day of the solar year) meeting on this single contemplative morning, the Sun tarot arrives at exactly her right hour. She arrives, faithfully, on the rare mornings when the body who has heard the first quiet word, felt the first quiet feeling, offered her first quiet yes, softly kindled the small heart-fire, softly recognized the shape of her returning, and softly trusted what the Moon already knows now becomes, naturally, the embodied vessel through which the new cycle's bright inner light is softly carried forward. The deeper teaching of the card is that the body's true radiance is not, faithfully, the dramatic outward performance the achievement culture demands. The Sun does not, today, ask the body for bold outward radiance-declaration or formal solstice-ceremony. She offers the body, instead, the rare gift of the soft inner light fully emerged — the bright inner radiance the body has, faithfully, been gathering through the elemental arc, now naturally available as the body's own carried starlight. The naked child rides the white horse without armor or costume — the body's natural radiance offered without performance. The red banner streams gently in the bright air — the body's natural celebration without dramatic outward declaration. The sunflowers bloom behind the stone wall in the actual lived garden of the body's current life — the natural radiance made manifest in the actual lived form of the body's existing chapter rather than in some distant performance arena. The deeper teaching unfolds in specific quiet ways. The bright sun shining softly above with her gentle face is the great patron of natural radiance. The sun does not, faithfully, scorch or perform dramatic celestial display. She shines softly — the gentle face of natural light, the soft radiance that emerges when the body has, faithfully, completed the long developmental work. The body who can recognize that her own bright inner light shines softly — not dramatically, not performatively, simply with the natural radiance of one who has, faithfully, arrived — becomes the body for whom the deepest light naturally deepens at her own faithful pace. The naked child riding the white horse is the body's inner child in her natural form. The child is naked because the body has, faithfully, set down every cultural performance-costume. The white horse is the soul's natural vitality bearing the inner child forward. The body who can allow her own inner child to ride forth without armor, without costume, without achievement-uniform — simply the small bright body of natural radiance riding the white horse through the bright air — becomes the body for whom the deepest joy emerges through the inner child's natural emergence rather than through any dramatic outward performance. The red banner streaming gently in the bright air is the body's natural celebration without dramatic outward declaration. The banner is held softly in the small body's hand. The banner streams gently in the bright air of the longest day. The body's natural celebration is offered without theatrical performance, without formal declaration-ceremony, simply the soft outward expression of the inner light made gently visible. The sunflowers blooming behind the stone wall in the actual lived garden are the body's natural radiance made manifest in her own existing life. The sunflowers grow in the actual lived garden of the body's current chapter — not in some distant fantasy garden, not in some idealized performance arena, but in the very ground the body has, faithfully, been tending across the previous arcs. The body's emerged radiance becomes, faithfully, visible in the actual lived garden of her own current existing life. And underneath all the imagery, the deeper teaching arrives: The Sun is the card of the body's bright inner radiance fully emerged through the long faithful elemental arc — the rare embodied skill of becoming she who carries the new cycle's bright starlight at her own faithful pace, through the gentle stewardship of the natural radiance the long developmental work has, all along, been faithfully gathering. The first quarter rises, faithfully, in Virgo's earth-temple. The Sun ingresses into Cancer for the summer solstice. Jupiter exalted in Cancer continues to pour the doubled blessing through the watery sanctuary the Sun has now entered. And the body who heard the first clear word in the airy sanctuary on Day 1, felt the first clear feeling in the watery sanctuary on Day 2, offered her first quiet yes through soft directed will on Day 3, softly kindled the small heart-fire on Day 4, softly recognized the shape of her returning through the Moon's quiet night sanctuary on Day 5, and softly trusted what the Moon already knows on Day 6 now becomes, today, on the seventh morning of the new cycle on the rare convergence of first quarter and summer solstice, the embodied vessel through which the new cycle's bright inner light is softly carried forward. The bright sun shines softly above. The naked child rides the white horse without armor or costume. The red banner streams gently in the bright air. The sunflowers bloom behind the stone wall in the actual lived garden of the body's current life. And the only remaining work required of the body who heard, felt, said yes, softly kindled, softly recognized, softly trusted, and now becomes she who carries starlight is the rare embodied skill of soft bright carrying — the gentle stewardship of the natural radiance the long elemental arc has, all along, been faithfully gathering, the soft inner light emerging through the body's actual lived form, the tender becoming of the body who carries the new cycle's bright starlight forward at her own faithful pace. So much happiness is, faithfully, difficult to know what to do with. The bright inner light is, faithfully, the body's own actual carried starlight. The soft bright carrying is enough. Today is the body's natural radiance fully emerged. Today is the soft bright carrying. Today is the becoming of she who carries the new cycle's bright inner light forward into the brightest day of the solar year.
She asks: If the first quarter rises in Virgo today on the day the Sun ingresses into Cancer for the summer solstice — and if the bright sun shines softly above with her gentle face while the naked child rides the white horse with the red banner streaming in the bright air — what would change about how you greet this rare seventh morning if you, finally, allowed yourself to become she who carries the new cycle's bright starlight at her own faithful pace, without the chronic urgent demand to immediately perform the bright inner light in dramatic outward radiance-declaration or formal solstice-ceremony?
A Mini Ritual
The taking up of the soft bright carryingfive quiet minutes of allowing yourself to become the embodied vessel through which the new cycle's bright inner light is softly carried forward, with the bright sun shining softly above, the naked child riding the white horse, the red banner streaming gently in the bright air, and the rare embodied skill of soft bright carrying as the deepest radiance-work any new arrival ever performs
The Sun does not ask for elaborate ceremony today. She asks for five unhurried minutes of the rare practice she, herself, embodies: becoming, for one quiet contemplative morning, the embodied vessel through which the new cycle's bright inner light is softly carried forward — the body who has, finally, learned that the bright sun shines softly above with her gentle face, that the naked child rides the white horse without armor or costume, that the red banner streams gently in the bright air, that the sunflowers bloom behind the stone wall in the actual lived garden of the body's current life, and that the rare embodied skill of soft bright carrying is the deepest radiance-work any new arrival ever performs. This is the seventh practice of the new lunar cycle — the tender soft bright carrying, the body's gentle emergence as she who carries the new cycle's bright inner light through her own actual lived form. The previous days' first quiet word, feeling, yes, warmth, recognition, and soft trust now deepen, faithfully, into today's soft bright carrying. The first quarter rises, faithfully, in Virgo's earth-temple; the Sun ingresses into Cancer for the summer solstice, the longest day of the solar year; Jupiter remains exalted in the watery sanctuary the Sun has now entered, pouring the doubled blessing through every body who has, today, faithfully arrived at the embodied carrying of her own actual emerged starlight. Today, the rare contemplative morning of taking up the Sun's eternal soft bright radiance — the bright sun, the naked child, the white horse, the red banner, the sunflowers behind the stone wall, the body's own actual emerged natural light.
i
Find a quiet space at the soft seventh morning where natural light gently touches the body — a sunlit window, an open doorway to the bright air, a small spot outside in the soft early or late daylight of the longest day. Sit or stand quietly with the body fully held by the natural light. Take three slow breaths. You are taking up the rare practice of the Sun's soft bright radiance: the body softly received by the natural light of the longest day, the soft embodied stance of one who has, faithfully, performed the seven-day elemental arc and now becomes the embodied vessel through which the new cycle's bright inner light is softly carried forward. The posture does not require any performance — only the soft embodied receiving of the body's actual lived form in the gentle natural light of the brightest day of the year.
ii
Picture, in your inner eye, the bright sun shining softly above with her gentle face — the great patroness of natural light peering kindly down, the soft beams radiating outward in alternating straight and wavy rays, the light bright but not harsh, the face luminous but not dramatic. Not metaphorically. Specifically. The bright sun is, faithfully, the natural light of the longest day touching the body's actual lived form right now. The gentle face is, faithfully, the soft kindness of the natural light. Let your body settle into the soft bright receiving of one who has, faithfully, allowed the bright inner light to emerge through the long elemental arc.
iii
Now feel, in your imagination, the naked child riding the white horse below the bright sun — the body's inner child, the soul's natural form before any cultural achievement-costume, the small bright body riding the white horse without armor or saddle or harsh equipment, simply the natural body in the soft natural light. The child is naked. The horse is white. The riding is gentle. The inner child is the body's own actual natural radiance riding forth in her natural form. Speak softly, aloud or silently: "I have set down every cultural performance-costume. My inner child rides forth in her natural form. The body's own actual radiance is, faithfully, here in the soft natural light. I am the small bright body riding the white horse in the bright air of the longest day."
iv
Now feel, in your imagination, the red banner streaming gently in the bright air — held softly in the small body's hand, the soft outward expression of the inner light made gently visible, the natural celebration without dramatic outward declaration. The banner is red — the body's emerged life-force, the warm blood, the actual lived passion that has, faithfully, gathered through the seven-day elemental arc. The banner streams gently — not snapped urgently in dramatic wind, simply flowing softly in the bright air with the natural movement of the body's own carried celebration. Speak softly: "I carry the red banner of my own actual emerged life. The banner streams gently in the bright air, without dramatic outward declaration. My natural celebration is, faithfully, offered softly through my own actual lived form."
v
Close with both hands resting gently on your heart, naming the body as she who carries starlight forward, the sunflowers blooming behind the stone wall in the actual lived garden of your current life — eyes closed for one final slow breath. Speak softly: "I am the body who heard the first quiet word in the airy sanctuary on Day 1, felt the first quiet feeling in the watery sanctuary on Day 2, offered her first quiet yes through soft directed will on Day 3, softly kindled the small heart-fire on Day 4, softly recognized the shape of her returning through the Moon's quiet night sanctuary on Day 5, softly trusted what the Moon already knows on Day 6, and now becomes, today, on the seventh morning of the new cycle, she who carries the new cycle's bright starlight. The bright sun shines softly above me. The naked child rides the white horse in the soft natural light. The red banner streams gently in the bright air. The sunflowers bloom behind the stone wall in the actual lived garden of my current life. The first quarter has, faithfully, risen in Virgo's earth-temple. The Sun has, faithfully, ingressed into Cancer for the summer solstice — the longest day of the solar year. Jupiter exalted in Cancer continues to pour the doubled blessing through the watery sanctuary the Sun has now entered. The bright inner light has, faithfully, emerged through the seven-day elemental arc — word, feeling, yes, warmth, recognition, trust, and now bright carrying. The rare embodied skill of soft bright carrying is the entire holy work — and the body who can offer the tender soft starlight her own faithful time becomes the body for whom the new cycle quietly deepens as the welcomed bright carrying the soft inner radiance has, all along, been preparing. So much happiness is, faithfully, difficult to know what to do with. The bright inner light is enough."
The Sun promises: the body who has heard the first quiet word, felt the first quiet feeling, offered her first quiet yes, softly kindled the first quiet warmth, softly recognized the shape of her returning, and softly trusted what the Moon already knows now becomes, naturally, the embodied vessel through which the new cycle's bright inner light is softly carried forward — and the rare embodied skill of soft bright carrying is the deepest radiance-work any new arrival ever performs. The single act of one soft finding of natural light at the seventh morning, one moment of picturing the bright sun shining softly above with her gentle face, one moment of feeling the naked child riding the white horse, one moment of allowing the red banner streaming gently in the bright air, and one closing with hands on the heart naming the body as she who carries starlight is almost nothing. The repeated practice of allowing every subsequent soft bright carrying her own faithful pace across many lunar arcs is everything. The bright sun shines softly above with her gentle face. The naked child rides the white horse without armor or costume. The red banner streams gently in the bright air. The sunflowers bloom behind the stone wall in the actual lived garden of the body's current life. The body's actual lived form becomes, faithfully, the embodied vessel through which the new cycle's bright starlight is softly carried forward. The Sun shining softly above is not somewhere else. She is, faithfully, the natural light touching the body you are, today, in your own actual embodied life — and the body who has, today, taken up the eternal soft bright carrying becomes the body whose every subsequent radiance proceeds from the depth of one who knows, finally, that the deepest light is the natural inner light that emerges when the long elemental arc has, faithfully, been performed, rather than the dramatic outward radiance the achievement culture demands. The first quarter rises in Virgo's earth-temple. The Sun arrives in Cancer for the summer solstice. Jupiter exalted in Cancer continues to pour the doubled blessing through the watery sanctuary the Sun has now entered. The soft bright carrying emerges softly at her own faithful pace — and the body who can, today, allow the tender soft starlight her own faithful time is the body for whom the next chapter quietly unfolds as the welcomed radiance the soft bright carrying has, all along, been preparing. So much happiness is, faithfully, difficult to know what to do with. The bright inner light is, faithfully, the body's own actual carried starlight. The soft bright carrying is enough.