The Sun. Birth, joy, the new, clarity. This is one of the only cards in the tarot which appears on its surface to have no shadow. Many call it the happiest card in the deck. It comes after The Moon in the Major Arcana and symbolizes light and truth. With Solstice coming next week, on Thursday June 20th to be exact, The Sun reminds us we have the capacity to live and love. The child riding the white horse gives us the sense that rebirth is possible, innocence, trust, connection with others, liberation, and freedom.
But…
Every card in the tarot has a shadow and The Sun is no exception. My tarot mentor Laurie Blackwell reminded me of this last week. The next day I remembered recently watching Eric, the new series on Netflix, in which Benedict Cumberbatch plays the creator of a wildly popular kid’s TV puppet show called Good Day Sunshine. The name comes from the 1966 album Revolver, a record which brings some new ideas from the Beatles, an interest in Indian philosophy (mainly Harrison), drugs, politics, and the transitory nature of love and life. Good Day Sunshine is one of the only songs which is just pure joy, happiness, love (McCartney). In Eric we are faced with the consequences of facade, pretending everything is going well when it just isn’t. In fact for Cumberbatch’s character Vincent, he is killing himself with drinking and losing everyone he loves. The puppets are an amazing metaphor for this false presentation of self.
The Sun makes me think about exposure. We have a Korean Day Spa in Seattle, where nudity is de rigeur. There are soaking pools and heated rooms, and scrubs and it is one of my favorite places. For first timers this can be a bit anxiety producing. The fear of being seen in all their perceived imperfections is alarming. I’ve been going for over twenty years and I love that it takes newbies about five minutes to relax and accept that we all come as we are, in all shapes and sizes, with tattoos and scars, and it doesn’t matter.
The Sun casts shadows of different angles and shapes at different times of the day. Sometimes the Sun is blocked by clouds. The sun warms and it can also burn. But more than anything I think the Sun is about telling the truth, about honesty about who we are, which can be painful. On this Father’s Day I think about Vincent’s relationship with his son Edgar. It can only be saved by truth telling. Familial relationships are hard by design. My own relationship with my father is the best it has ever been, but it took some truth telling to get there. Chris’ relationships with his sons are different and a work in progress.
The Sun, and fatherhood, and good shows on Netflix, and the Beatles. I’ll leave it there.
Have a good day and allow the sunshine to give you clarity, casting shadows and exposing the truths that do in fact liberate and set you free (John 8:32). Sometimes the Bible does get it right.
Happy Summer Solstice!
xo Hanna