This card is something of a return home. The Sun of this card was there at the beginning of the road, in The Fool card, where it began to illuminate the path like a seed of consciousness. It supported the traveller in The Lovers card, shone behind the head of The Hanged Man giving him a new perspective, stood above the mountains in Temperance and passed through rebirth in The Star card. Now it is here in all its glory, shining, free of sorrow and liberated from the chains of the ego described in the Death card, but without the easygoing foolishness of The Fool card. The Sun in the Rider-Waite tarot deck seems very distant and serious, which adds to its evident neutrality and maturity.
On the card
Apart from the Sun, which is the central motif of the card, the first thing we see is a naked child. The nudity immediately suggests a return to a more open-hearted state of being, closer to nature and to our real selves. There are no more lies or misapprehensions to hide in; the light of The Sun clears them all away. As in The Chariot card, there is a wall in the background, a strong indication of well-defined boundaries. But the wall is not very high: the boundary between the conscious and the subconscious can now be overcome. Thus the conscious mind can prevail over fear and illusion. Alternatively, we can interpret the wall as a partial revelation of the truth, the part we can experience through the material senses, a level that has now been surpassed. This card shows that we can remove restrictions from our mind and liberate ourselves from categorizing people and situations. The child rides a white horse, another symbol of consciousness leading the subconscious. The child carries a red banner of renewal, indicating that if we are to renew ourselves, we must become as pure as children. The Sun in the first card, The Fool, is white, signifying the Great Central Sun, the source of all life. In this card the Sun is yellow, signifying our Sun and solar system. Occultists have long considered a human being to be a separate micro solar system, and the Sun a living reflection of our true Self. The Sun is deemed a living, breathing organism, possessed of its own consciousness and great spiritual power. There are strong hints of that idea in this card: the Sun is anthropomorphized, with a human face. We can also see the rays coming out of the Sun; some rays seem to be vibrating, describing the nature of the energy that is sent to the Earth: life equals vibration, movement. Our Sun gathers and directs the energy we use on this planet. That is clearly depicted through the four sunflowers, which represent the manifestations on Earth: mankind, animals, plants and the mineral kingdom. The sunflowers are turned not towards the Sun but towards the child, as if they were trying to tell us that when we reach this level, we are masters of the material world.
Upright
Probably the best card in the tarot in terms of success and enterprises in general, The Sun almost exclusively foretells good times, holidays, the resolution of problems, success and happy endings.
Reversed
Negative associations of this card can be delay, misjudgement and a strong ego that gets in the way of success. But overall it is a very good card; The Sun is the giver of life, after all.