FACING THE ILLUSIONS OF THE SUN POSITIVITY

Can the Sun card in Tarot truly illuminate both our joys and our shadows? Join me, Alexandra, as I unravel the complexities of The Sun card, traditionally seen as a beacon of vitality, enlightenment, and prosperity. I’ll reveal its often-overlooked darker sides, from the harmful effects of relentless positivity on social media to the pressures of living up to societal and astrological expectations. Through personal stories, I highlight the isolation that can come from being genuine about life's struggles, and the stark contrast between perceived happiness and reality. This episode paints a rich, nuanced picture of human emotions, offering a balanced view that honors both the light and the shadow within us.

Blind optimism can sometimes cloud our judgment, especially in relationships and careers. I discuss the importance of obtaining an unbiased perspective when your emotions are involved in a Tarot reading, and how personal ego can often distort intuition. If you’re seeking honest, objective insights, consider reaching out for a
reading via email tarocchialexandra@gmail.com or Instagram @_alexandravirginia.

Don’t forget to share and subscribe for more thought-provoking episodes. Listen in to explore the dualities of The Sun card and discover the truth behind the façade of constant positivity.

For visual reference I used The Sun card from Jack-O-Lantern Tarot, The Dark Mansion Tarot and Tempest Tarot Deck.

Chapters

• 0:01 Dark Side of the Sun
• 8:10 Seeking Tarot Reader's Objective Opinion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to another episode of Intimate Tarot. I'm your host, alexandra, and today we are going to talk about the Sun. This is not a card I wished to address so soon on this journey as I have not yet experienced a true Sun moment. But today is my solar return and, being a Leo, the Sun is my ruling planet. Therefore it seems appropriate to talk about it. But I am interested in showing you the other side of the sun card, which some may refer to as a reversed meaning.

Speaker 1: 0:27

But let's start from the original significance of the sun as a celestial body. The sun is the life force that enables all things to thrive and grow. As the source of heat, the sun symbolizes vitality, passion and youth. As the source of light, it represents enlightenment. It is also an emblem of royalty and empire. In alchemy, the sun represents gold. All these positive attributes live in the unconscious mind of the collective. When we think of the sun, that is what comes to mind it's an archetype. Now take those meanings of gold, brightness and enlightenment and attach them to the sun card, because that's how tarot works.

Speaker 1: 1:08

Tarot is a collection of images that represent archetypal energies that we all know because they live in our unconscious mind. Let me give you a practical example. In a career, reading the sun as gold promises richness In a relationship. Reading the sun as brightness shows happy times In a self-development. Reading the sun as enlightenment indicates breakthroughs. So what could possibly be the dark side of the sun? Well, for starters, the sunlight is damaging. You can't look straight at the sun but you can look at the moon. Damaging you can't look straight at the sun but you can look at the moon. Too much sun exposure can burn your skin, ruin plants, melt objects. Too much of a good thing can be detrimental, but can too much positivity be detrimental? Yes, it is called toxic positivity and it is my experience on social media. I have two cards in front of me. One is the sun from the jack-o'-lantern tarot and the other is from the dark mansion tarot. In the first we see a naked man on a white horse holding a banner. There are sunflowers on the ground and in the sky there is this giant warm yellow sun full of rays shining. The attention is immediately captivated by the creepiness of the eyes and the smile of the sun. It represents so well the falsity of happiness that most people have to present on social media, me included. I give you this example.

Speaker 1: 2:37

I had a friend. He lives in Amsterdam. I met him in person only once, but we got along straight away as we are both vegans and he's into astrology. So we kept in touch and became online pen pals, basically texting multiple times a day. He liked me because I am a Leo, an Italian. He was very attracted to my positive and passionate side, but every time I opened up with him about my family struggles, he simply ghosted the conversation and proceeded to send me memes the very next day, as if I did not share my emotional state.

Speaker 1: 3:08

And, by the way, to not acknowledge another person's feelings is the most cruel form of disrespect. One day, I had a mental breakdown while I was recording an Instagram story and I cried while narrating the events. It was not scripted, it just happened that I was recording and talking and the tears came down. That day, many people reached out to me. Some were followers that don't know me personally. Others were friends from Italy that I haven't seen in 10 years, but this guy, who has been texting me every single day for three months, never sent a comforting word to me, and I stopped being his friend because he was not mine. This fact gave me confirmation of how people are attracted mostly to the bright side of you, not the sad one, and this is generally speaking.

Speaker 1: 3:55

But on a personal level, I feel the pressure even more because I am spiritual. Therefore, I should feel blessed daily and above the drama of the 3D world. I am Italian, thus I should be friendly and smile in front of everyone, and I'm a Leo, so I am expected to act sexy and in control at all times. Which brings me to the second card. Here we see two children in what looks like a museum, staring at the poster of the sun, as if this was a grandiose thing that they can only admire from afar and dream about it. It's a poster, it's a static image, it's an idea. It's not real. And it speaks to me because I am not in that happy, bubbly place. Yet At the moment of recording this, I'm still unemployed. Listen to the Tower episode to know how I got suddenly fired from my office job and my only earnings right now come from the tarot readings I offer. But to get clients, I need to display myself on social media like a happy, bright poster of myself, the socially approved version of who I am supposed to be. Because who would want a spiritual guidance from someone who can't guide herself out of her own darkness, right as if tarot readers or spiritual people in general would never experience hardship in life.

Speaker 1: 5:07

And it's funny if you consider that there is a lot of complaints at the moment, in this early stage of digital revolution, about creators using AI to generate content. The audience demands honesty, yet when you are genuine and show a full range of emotions, they criticize you because you don't fit in that small box with a label that they put you in or they ghost you. And I give you one more example. On the false sun facade that you have to present if you want to stay in business, I posted on Instagram story a game where I asked my followers to name a fictional character they associate me with, and the first reply I got was for your loneliness, bella, in New Moon looking outside the window. This answer came from a friend, by the way, so this teaches me that I cannot tell anyone about my loneliness, either in private or in public. Otherwise I will be stigmatized as the lonely girl, and it's not good for business nor for friendship.

Speaker 1: 6:05

So when this card appears in a reading, ask yourself am I really joyful or is it an act. Is this happy version of myself a reflection of how I truly feel, or am I serving the expectations of others? And if indeed I am pretending, what can I do to get to that real state of happiness? Because I'm thinking now of the sun card from the Tempest Tarot, where the sun is depicted as the lighthouse. Happiness is still the goal. You should want to reach that joy level.

Speaker 1: 6:37

So if you're not feeling it but you draw this card, perhaps it's an invitation to ask how can I grow and thrive? How can I be a more positive version of myself for myself? What light do I bring to others? I want to give you a food for thought in comparing the sunlight to the moonlight. During the day, all is bright, you can see everything. Therefore, metaphorically, when the sun card shows up in a reading, it means you have a full deck of possibilities. But this can be overwhelming, because how would you even choose which one is the best? But when it's night, in the moonlight of the moon card, you can see only the narrow path in front of you, and so you take it, because you have no other choice than go straight in that one direction. This is to say that sometimes the sun card could signify blindness and confusion.

Speaker 1: 7:31

In a love reading could say that you are way too optimistic on the relationship and see a full spectrum of things that could happen. But it's with the moon card that you see the truth, because there is only one way to see how things are actually going. Obviously, it's important to see the cards around in the spread to have the full picture. But for sake of argument, let's say you asked a one card question have they cheated on me? And you drew the sun. Your first reaction would be no, because at the surface this is a generally accepted positive card. But what if it means yes, they acted childish, meaning they cheated?

Speaker 1: 8:10

Having blind optimism is not serving you well here, by the way. This is why, for important matters like relationship status or work progress, I advise you to get the opinion of another tarot reader. You cannot always read for yourself, because you will tend to see what you want to see. Your ego will get in the way of your own intuition when you are too emotionally invested in the reading. Whenever you need an unbiased opinion, you can reach out to me via email at tarocchialexandra at gmailcom, or find me on Instagram at underscore Alexandra Virginia, and I will offer you a truthful, objective tarot reading to get to the bottom of the issue. And I will offer you a truthful objective tarot reading to get to the bottom of the issue. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please share and subscribe to the podcast. I'll catch you on the next one. Ciao for now.