Sun on the Death Card

ArcanoMáximo

hey! you are very kind Dulcimer! Thank you!
 

RChMI

The Sun in conjuction with the miter of the Bishop denotes the Egyptian mythos of the crocodile devouring the Sun. Therefore a setting sun, in relation to the conceptual understanding of the Church, in the form of the Bishop, that is devouring the Universal Spirit, in the form of the Sun. And also in relation to the concept of St. John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul. Wherein the soul sinks further into the depth of blackness that is found in XV The Devil, and burns itself free with the light of Spirit in the Athanor of XVI The Tower, before it can ascend onward anew in the form of the XVII The Star.
 

Dulcimer

Methinks

Interesting theory, RChMI, which agrees somewhat with my own interpretation. However, the sun surely rises at Atu XIX rather than Atu XVII, The Star, which represents the flooding of the Nile - which event coincides with the appearance above the horizon of Egypt of the star we call Sirius and was sacred to Isis, who is depicted in the card (traditional and Waite). Hence its appellation of "hope", with the "catharsis of falsehood" (The Tower) behind and the "gestation of new life" (The Moon) ahead.

Without Death there would be no Star, and without The Star there would be no New Sun at Atu XIX.

er....in my opinion.
 

RChMI

Dulcimer said:
.....However, the sun surely rises at Atu XIX rather than Atu XVII, The Star, .....
Ah, but surely the Sun could be be seen as being at its noon zenith in Atu XIX rather than still rising?
 

rash212

:)I have a totaly different theory

Its interesting how everyone had their theories in place, for me there is a totally different theory... i look at it this way "the sun is not rising nor setting" its the mid position on the card... and according to certain religions... the time when the sun sets or rises is suppsoe to be the most powerful hour.. cause at that time the sun cannot be said to have fully risen or have fully set..its the in-between hour/minutes, by the ways these times are most powerful for meditations! So coming back to death card.. death is transformation... and again transformation indicates the in-between moment.. you havent yet been transformed but yet in the process of it.. similarly the sun hasnt yet set or risen but just in-between the transformation:)!!
rash
 

ArcanoMáximo

" Atu " ??????????
Please, excuse my ignorance :D????
 

RChMI

ArcanoMáximo said:
" Atu " ??????????
Please, excuse my ignorance :D????
Mea Culpa...

Atu refers to a Tarot Major card, Atus to the whole Tarot Majors. In French it means Trumps (Atous.) In Egyptian it means Mansion (Aat) and Mansions (Aatus.) It is sometimes refered to as "Key."
 

ArcanoMáximo

oh! Thank you very much for the explanation and excuse the parenthesis :D !!!
 

Dulcimer

RChMI said:
Ah, but surely the Sun could be be seen as being at its noon zenith in Atu XIX rather than still rising?


lol - But I think that the naked Child emerging from the walled garden = birth from the womb, and riding the horse = material world of timeandspace, as indicating New Birth. Hence: Sunrise.

Apologies to ArcanoMáximo. I was using the Atu term to mean a card in its generic sense, i.e. Atu XIX referring to all cards of that position in a standard 78 card deck, whatever it may be called or look like. Alas, I had forgotten that we are in the Rider-Waite-Smith section so it was, in fact, entirely unnecessary. Doh!
 

RChMI

Dulcimer said:
lol - But I think that the naked Child emerging from the walled garden = birth from the womb, and riding the horse = material world of timeandspace, as indicating New Birth. Hence: Sunrise.

.......
Indeed the child is indicative of a new birth, but the countenance of the Sun is more indicative of a set state. One might even say that of the ideal of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. With the Sun as Father, the Child as Son, and the White Horse as Holy Ghost (instead of the image of a white dove.) So the ideal of "rising" could be said to have been transferred from that of the Sun to that of the Child.