The Sun in Depth
A Child, a White Horse, and a Wall
A naked child rides a white horse bareback, with no bridle and no saddle, carrying a large orange banner. Behind them stands a grey brick wall with four sunflowers growing above it, all turned toward the viewer rather than toward the sun. The sun itself has a human face and alternating straight and wavy rays.
The wall is the detail worth pausing on. There is a boundary in this card, and the child is on the near side of it, out in the open. Something was left behind. That is why the Sun reads so strongly as a card of relief following difficulty rather than as untroubled good fortune. The child's arms are open and the horse is calm. Nothing is being controlled and nothing needs to be.
By Position
As advice, the Sun asks for visibility and plainness. Say what you want directly, take the credit, be seen enjoying something without hedging it. That is harder for most people than it sounds. In a present position it marks a genuinely good stretch and is worth confirming clearly, since people often need permission to believe it.
In an outcome position it is the most straightforwardly positive card in the deck, and it can be read that way without qualification. In a past position it often points to childhood or to a period of ease that shapes what you compare everything else against.
Pairs
After the Moon it reads as clarity arriving after a period of confusion, and the sequence in the Majors supports that directly. With the Ten of Cups or the Four of Wands, the reading turns celebratory and often literal: a wedding, a home, a public gathering.
With the Devil or the Ten of Swords, the Sun promises the situation genuinely does improve, which is one of the few times a reader can say so without hedging. With the Two of Wands the success is real and the next question is what to do with it.
The One Caution
The Sun exposes everything. In readings involving secrets, that is not always welcome. Things come to light under this card, and if the surrounding cards involve concealment, the honest reading is that whatever is hidden will not stay hidden, and the outcome is still likely to be better than the concealment was.
Its only real shadow is naivety, the child riding out with no reins because it has not occurred to them that the horse might bolt. In a spread about a risk or a new venture, that is worth a sentence, though only one. Confidence is warranted here. The card simply does not verify anything on your behalf, and the sunflowers are facing you rather than the light.