Last time here on Queering the Tarot, we talked about the Moon, our shadow selves, and our subconscious, with some traces of divine feminine magic woven throughout. Following the Moon naturally is The Sun. The Sun, in contrast with the Moon, leaves little to the imagination. It shines brightly, illuminating all in its path. In our secular lives, it’s generally a positive omen in most areas. It’s specifically for creative people, for those looking to start a family, for those who’ve had it rough in general, and questions related to health. This is a truly radiant card, guaranteeing that whatever your question is it is aspected well.

There are some sides to the Sun that are less beautiful that do show up as we begin queering it; I mentioned the Sun leaving little the imagination, so if some element of your life or identity has been lurking in the shadows either of your own mind, or if you’ve been trying to keep it to yourself for awhile, there is an element of either facing that head-on or being outed in this time. No card is flawlessly positive all the time, and if you’re asking about an element of your life or identity that you’re not ready to bring your gender or sexual identity into, having the Sun shine brightly on the issue can be a bad thing. Generally the Sun is a VERY positive time for manifesting and pulling what you want into your life. I often liken it to a “King Midas” card, but that story had a dark side too. You can have too much of a good thing, and it’s important to be careful what you wish for. LGBTQ+ seekers are not any more likely to be attracted to dangerous partners and want to will them into our arms than anyone else, but they are AS likely, and there is a lack of resources for dealing with the fallout to take into account. However, it’s generally just important to note that when queering things, they do take a different shade, so that darker idea of being careful what you wish for has shown up more for queer clients who like the queer-skewed readings I do more frequently than it has for others.

On the neutral side of the Sun, the card deals quite a bit with the divine masculine, and so it often shows up in readings about one’s spiritual path for LGBTQQIAP+ clients who are still steeped in or are finding their way back to a Judeo-Christian version of God or spirituality and trying to reconcile that with any backlash or internalized guilt they may feel for their gender or sexual identities. This is usually positively aspected, but some querents may still have negative associations with such a God or carry guilt from a traditional mindset that is important to take into account. This is still a spiritual path that will ultimately work out well for the seeker, there just may be some emotional pitfalls to deal with along the way.

In questions directly regarding gender or sexual identity, this card does hint at a more masculine being. On its own, I wouldn’t feel comfortable making that call, but if other cards with masculine energy show up, I know to advise the client towards the masculine of center partner, identity, or presentation. I tend to only draw this line in questions where the querent is directly asking about masculinity, but it does come up and reflect this sometimes in a queer reading.

The Sun is most often a “happy” card, and I mentioned earlier that this card is a general good omen for families, and this is especially true for the same-sex couples and poly families I read for. Often there have been a lot of darkness, tough decisions, rough starts, and mishaps on the journey to bringing children into our lives as queer parents, and the Sun does give a promise that those darker days are behind and that family we dream of is coming, and furthermore that the family unit will thrive and grow long after the children in question are safely in your home.

The Sun is a positive indication of physical health and wellness, and while I always give a disclaimer that tarot readings are no substitute for a doctor’s advice, this has come up for queer clients. Particularly in cases where one is worried about the fallout from an unexpected sexual encounter, side effects from hormone treatments, or in some of the family planning situations that are not unique but certainly more widespread in this community, a client will ask a question about how worried they should be or how things are going to turn out. The Sun is a welcome sight, assuring us that our health is well-aspected or improving, and we can focus our concerns in other areas.

In general when looking at queering the tarot, it’s most important to remember that LGBTQQIAP+ querents don’t always walk the same life path and hit the same milestones as those who are straight and cisgender, so the biggest queering of the Sun is just taking that altered path into account when it comes up. A positive omen for a queer seeker could be much harder won than for someone else, and frequently following a time when they were forced into closets, not merely shadows, or trapped in places where they couldn’t shine as brightly because they couldn’t be themselves safely.

The Sun is always a dramatically happy card, but the road to it is often different for gender and sexual minorities. It is not well-advised when sitting with a client who’s been through the queer ringer and asking about coping mechanisms or what they have to look forward to to start chanting “positivity” like one is likely to do otherwise. It’s much hard to zero in on positivity when you’ve spent much of your life fighting to be yourself and are still fighting for full human rights in our society. I see a lot of trauma victims, and just like I wouldn’t tell them “don’t worry, things are going to be fine!” I also wouldn’t say that to someone living through the daily trauma of being marginalized in our society in spite of a super happy card turnout. Instead, I do assure them that things are changing in their personal life and moving towards warmth, optimism, and positivity. I look at the surrounding cards for specific advice, but if it is left to the Sun, I most frequently advise trusting and relying on their chosen family, their spirituality if they have one, or their creative life. This is not explicitly queer advice, but it’s most important to move away from what may sound like empty promises of positive change for queer seekers or imply their lack of optimism is within their control and focus on how those other aspects of that card can bring in some of the card’s sunshine for them.

Be sure to check out the first seventeen parts: Queering the Tarot: The Moon, Queering the Tarot: The Star, Queering the Tarot: The Tower, Queering the Tarot: The Devil, Queering the Tarot: Temperance, Queering the Tarot: Death, Queering the Tarot: The Hanged Man, Queering the Tarot: Justice, Queering the Tarot: The Wheel, Queering The Tarot: The Hermit, Queering The Tarot: Strength, Queering The Tarot: The Chariot, Queering the Tarot: The Lovers, Queering the Tarot: The Hierophant, Queering the Tarot: The Emperor, The Empress, and Archaic Gender Roles, Queering the Tarot: The High Priestess, Queering The Tarot: The Magician, Queering the Tarot, and Queering the Tarot: Let’s Start at the Very Beginning