Usually, an astrologer's interpretation of the Sun is in relation to its Sun Sign or the Constellation it is in. The term Sun Sign is common and one you are all familiar with. You relate the Sun to being the central theme of your personality - I am a Gemini, I am an Aries, I am a Virgo. And lots of you are quite content to fit a mold. But do you really comprehend the full concept of the Sun within you? A few major questions you will be asking yourself are "Does the Sun shine through me and do I take on the full traits of the Sun in my life?"
Symbology
The pictogram of the Sun is symbolic, as are all astrological symbols. The outer circle stands for the infinity of creation, the never-ending cycle of life. A circle also represents a spiritual sense of wholeness. The center point stands for the source of that creation. All things manifested from this point and all things will be reabsorbed back into that point at the end of time. Like an in-breath and out-breath, you can see the beginning and end of creation stemming from this one central dot.
Because the Sun contains the element of all that is creation, you can be excused for thinking that it is only the Sun that you need to take notice of in your chart. Perhaps this is the reason Sun Signs are given so much press and other heavenly bodies get zilch. The Moon and all planets that influence you are a reflection of the Sun. Each planet is specialized in a particular function or influence and there is nothing found in those planets that is not in the Sun. Remember the circle is an emanation of that central dot.
If you were enlightened you could say the Sun shines through you and you have become the embodiment of all the forces of life. Primarily astrology is a language to communicate the influences of planetary forces in your life. The Sun is the king of our solar system and all planets could be seen as an emanation of the Sun. The Sun as a divine source is mentioned in many esoteric texts including Christianity. Ra is the solar God of Egypt, Surya is the deity of the Sun in the Hindu tradition, and the Christian tradition sees the Sun not as a god, but the light of God Himself, or can I say itself to be consistent with my own understanding of creation? Interestingly though the Sun is a yang principle so there is a relation to the masculine that I can't avoid for the purposes of esoteric correctness!
Take the whole pie, not just a piece
So why not leave astrology to just the Sun Sign? The human condition is a fallen one. We no longer enjoy the blissful state of being One with a divine source. Seems the more we questioned ourselves, the more we fell from the grace of that divinity. We ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Our pure state kept falling to a point, it seems, where we fell further and further away from the core of the Sun and the core of our own divine selves. We are wearing the blueprints of all the influences of the solar system in what appears a more gross state. Think of primordial chaos as coming after the purity of that dot and we are still in a compost-like soup trying to clean up our act so we can get back to being the pure dot again. We are looking at spiritual Alchemy here.
It is misleading to say the other planets are a fallen emanation of the Sun, but isn't everything fallen? Depends on your standpoint. I'll leave that up to you as to how you decipher creation. The Moon and planets have their own individual influences on us. Within the series, I'll be passing information to you on these astral influences or forces and you will be able to see them in your own chart.
Back to the Sun in you. Because we live in a world of polarities all influences have a positive and negative influence. The Sun is no different. It has a high state and a fallen state as do the other planets.
If you are hooking into the positive traits these are the qualities and features you will notice:
-A sense of dignity, you have a noble nature and a sense of honor
-Self-respect, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-trust
-Purpose, ambition, and determination
-Authority, leadership, and organization skills
-Direct, sincere, truthful
-Hope and Joy and a clear sense of unconditional love.
The negative traits or pitfalls:
-Have a high opinion of oneself. Pride
-Selfishness
-Arrogance
-A preoccupation with being number one.
-Dictatorial and wanting control of everything
-Easily fired into anger.
Either way, you look at these Sun traits, they show a fullness of Sun energies good and bad - that's the polarity we live in.
There is a third state which could be seen as a syndrome and this is an emptiness of Sun energy. These traits are commonly seen as:
-Unsure of oneself
-Lots of self-doubt
-Whatever is done, it's done wrong.
-Easily down or depressed
-Appear humble but it's a forced humility based on self-denigration.
-Makes excuses for oneself: "Hope I'm not disturbing you or intruding."
-Not feeling one has a place in the universe.
Can you relate to these traits? What can you see in yourself? I'm sure you know people who have an emptiness of Sun.
In order to get back to the dot, self-awareness is needed. We have to see and know where we have fallen so we can restructure ourselves. Remember from part one in this series, astrology is a language for our psyche, a tool to help us know and understand our personality traits. Self-awareness is key in a path of transformation. We first must know what to transform and we also need to see what parts of us are laying idle or latent within us.
We have an innate wanting to become whole again. We yearn for it, we kill for it, we love for it, and we do all sorts of crazy things to get back to that divine dot. Putting transformation aside, let's face it not everyone is going to go there - the road less traveled may not be your thing this time around, but to get what you want in life it helps to be using your Sun force. You want to shine and be the best you can be. It's what blows your hair back, makes you feel good, makes you smile, and attracts people to smile at you.
Jules is currently taking clients for personal astrology readings including natal, transits, and karma readings. Please note that Karma reports are often not suitable unless you have a comprehension of your natal chart and an awareness of the forces affecting you. Karma reports are suitable if you are undertaking transformation work that includes self-knowledge.