Each tarot card is infused with symbols, philosophies and meanings – giving the cards a limitless intrigue. In the Life Lessons :: Tarot Card Meanings series, I will explore one card and some of the lessons it has to offer. Each card has a wide spectrum of meanings, so this post is not meant to be all inclusive!
The Sun Tarot Card Meanings keywords:
- Freedom
- Vitality
- Clarity
On a walk this week, I passed by an elementary school. I happened to walk by at noon, when the sun was high in the sky, & I witnessed every kid’s favorite part of the day: RECESS!
Behind the fence that separates them from the outside world, I saw kids hooting, hollering, running, chasing, skipping, laughing, and flinging their arms out with joy. As I smiled to myself, taking in the scene, I realized it bore a striking resemblance to the scene on the Sun card.
Do you remember being a kid at recess? Recess was a brief suspension of the drudgery of multiplication charts & spelling tests. During recess, you were free. You were limitless. You were protected from outside influences, allowed to completely fill up with fun. Even though the playground was walled-in, it felt infinite.
In Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey, Sallie Nichols points out that in the Sun Tarot card, “the children play in a walled enclosure, insuring that the insights available here will not be flooded or swept away by an invasion from the unconscious.”
The paradox is this:
Being within the confines of a wall creates the space to be unconfined.
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The wall separates the realm of the Sun from uncertainties, responsibilities, fears and self-consciousness. The wall creates a safe space, allowing the child in the card to open up to life & soak in the glorious light.
When we become adults, we somehow think we need to leave the inhibition-free realm of the Sun behind. We worry what people think about us, we become obsessed with being responsible & mature. When all the while, deep down, we are aching for that long-lost feeling of a walled-in space where we can be free. The experience of the Sun is necessary to our well-being – even as adults.
When you were a kid, playing was non-negotiable. There was always time & energy to romp around. Even if we tell ourselves that we want to be freer & more playful as adults, we tend to resist. This is something I’ve experienced strongly in my own life. If I want to play, I have to put play in my schedule and commit to it!
Try creating your own walled-in space to play. It doesn’t need to be a literal space – it might just be a frame of mind. Give yourself permission to spend a set amount of time – even just twenty minutes – doing something fun. Set a timer, and commit to being ‘walled-in’ for this brief amount of time. It’s grown up recess time, baby!
Remember what being walled-in means – you are free. You are expansive. You have no responsibilities aside from throwing your arms out & feeling alive. You are sheltered from judgement. You can shred your self-consciousness.
Try it. Put recess in your schedule. Just for twenty minutes. Allow yourself to be immersed, safe & free. Soon enough the bell will ring & you’ll have to go back to school. But for now? For now, you are expansive & free in your very own walled-in enclosure.
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I'm a tarot reader and mentor. 