Sun, happiness, awareness, the obvious, confidence
About the meaning:
The first dimension of the Sun's meaning is literal. I rarely find it useful in actual readings. The meanings I describe in the paragraphs following it have turned out more applicable, for me. They basically are all figurative translations of the literal attributes of the sun.
Sun / light / warmth: As mentioned above this first dimension of the Sun's meaning is literal. The card can represent the sun itself, the sun's light or light in general, as well as warmth or even heat. Some people interpret the Sun as a significator for the light-flooded, warm time of the year, late spring and summer. And finally, in direct opposition to the Moon which can stand for nighttime, the Sun may represent daytime; the times when we are awake.
Happiness / joy / celebration: One of the most obvious figurative translations of the combination of warmth and light is "happiness". So the Sun stands for happiness, mirth, and joy, and for optimism. The Sun can represent celebration and festivity, and any other type of enjoyment. In some readings, the Sun represents a rather general sense of ease; a light state of being. Especially in combination with the Ship it might also suggest a vacation.
Waking state / awareness / consciousness: While we are awake, as opposed to when we are sleeping, we are aware. We can process our surroundings consciously. Thus, the Sun doesn't just represent a waking state, and conscious processes, but also awareness. It can for example indicate the awareness of certain facts, or be saying that someone is doing something fully conscious of the implications.
The obvious / superficiality: Things which are illuminated are clearly visible. Thus, the Sun represents that which we can see, and especially that which is conspicuous, obvious, evident. On the flip side, when something is brightly lit, we tend to look at only that, and overlook what's hidden in the shadows. Thus, the Sun can also stand for a superficial glance at things. It can mean that we're too easily satisfied with appearances, not looking further. In that sense, the Sun may indicate shallowness, a lack of depth. It is because of this aspect of the Sun's meaning why the card sometimes seems to suggest that a neighbouring card's "negative" implications (e.g. the grief of the Coffin) don't go very deep.
Charisma / success / confidence: The Sun radiates light and warmth so strongly that its presence is immediately picked up by our senses. The Sun can thus represent a person who is a great broadcaster, neutrally speaking - for example, someone who broadcasts their feelings very strongly. And it could also, positively connoted, represent someone who has charisma. Taking a similar (and popular) line, the Sun can stand for success, popularity, even fame. These, I personally find not very useful. To me the Sun much more often seems to suggest extroversion, an enterprising spirit, and confidence, especially. Sometimes, I take the card as the valuable hint not to hide one's light under a bushel.
About the Image:
If you are familiar with the Anna.K Tarot, you'll have noticed that my Tarot's Sun and my Lenormand's Sun follow the same concept. This isn't due to laziness! When I first started sketching I intended to develop a very different design, and even finished one. But it didn't work for me. What I produced was quite good, but it was second best. After all, the Suns in Tarot and in Lenormand have very, very similar meanings. And my Tarot's Sun felt like the perfect expression of both. The light and heat the design radiated were almost tangible. The sunflowers, with their bright yellow and warm brown hues, spoke of summer, and joy. So I ended up discarding the new design and returned to the original Tarot design. I did adjust it, to the slightly different style of my Lenormand, but I kept the basic concept. Hopefully, it is as obvious to you as it was to me why this simple concept is just perfect to deliver the Lenormand Sun's meaning, too.
