The Sun
Related material
Images
The Marseilles cards
The Waite-Smith card
Stage I - Portal
Into and through the Sun is the only entry point into the Eye. Its primary attribute is that of a two-way portal of energy and consciousness transfer; all opposites are contained in the Sun, and like Janus, the Roman god of doorways, it is the entry point of the Fool via the transforming breath. It is also the path Universal Spirit takes to flood us with life and with its more subtle influences. This is why Solar gods like Ra, Apollo and Janus himself were so venerated and important. Through the Sun pass light, sound and the subtle vibrations to which we may attune ourselves.
Before every portal stands a Guardian. In this case the Guardian is our own inertia, symbolized by The Devil; he represents our habits and our usual orientation toward the external world and all the phenomena that world holds. If we can summarize Hell as the Devil, then the price for passage is to remove his chains from around our necks. To begin this process only requires a mild change of consciousness that one can readily achieve in meditation: by going inward, we leave the world of outward manifestations behind for a time. But to really do it takes an act of bravery. If we are willing to do this much, however, and keep doing it, we will later receive much assistance.
The Image
The most popular deck in modern times is the Waite/Smith deck. A child is shown atop a horse, holding a red flag. The Sun illuminates them, as well as a row of sunflowers. Unfortunately, Waite had hidden too many meanings in this card. It is accurate in that it depicts a stage of the journey, but one after the journey has been completed. We will come back to Waite’s image when we discuss The Magician, but for now we will look at a much older image for this card that is shown on the Marseilles decks and its derivatives.
The Marseilles card shows two children standing next to each other. Their hands touch each other, showing they are joined in some fashion. The two children suggest the twins in Gemini, the zodiacal sign associated with this card.
The Sun represents spiritual illumination and knowledge; it is the light in the darkness of ignorance. It is the spiritual essence which exists in all material things. This is one reason The Sun begins the Fool’s Journey; it overlights the entire process and helps prevent it from going astray. The idea expressed here describes a condition of duality that carries through the journey until the very end, when it is transcended. There is first a material Sun that provides the heat and light that sustains all life in the solar system. But on a different level of existence lies a spiritual sun; it is said to lie behind, beneath or inside the material Sun. This second Sun is invisible to us and modern, profane science knows nothing about it. It is not visible through a telescope or with ordinary vision. Yet it is the source of the light within us, without which again there would be no life.
There is an exact correspondence between these two suns, the two children depicted on the card, and the two “beings” that co-exist inside each of us: the material self and the spiritual self. Keep in mind as we proceed that it is the Fool’s task to separate these two beings by cleansing one and freeing the other, so that later they may be joined again as one, but now one that is much greater than the conscious being that began the journey.