© 2011 Bruce Johnson – Reprinted with permission from Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore Newsletter Apr 2011.
by Bruce Johnson
Jesus taught in John 3:3 that to see the Kingdom of God, a person must be born again. He then refers to a birth of the flesh, or our birth onto Earth, and a birth of the Spirit, called the second birth. The second birth of the ancient mystery religions related to the regeneration the soul experienced as a result of inner illumination and spiritual initiation. Jesus, as mystery school initiate himself and teacher of the Ancient Wisdom spoke this truth of soul rebirth in a way that those who have eyes and ears to see and hear would understand.
The Sun card of the tarot symbolizes the rebirth of the soul described in the Book of John. The naked child is the soul, the” Child of the Sun”, reborn into a natural, innocent, and joyous condition. The child holds its arms outstretched and forms the five- pointed Star of Initiation with its body. A flowered wreath of spiritual achievement crowns the head of the child, along with the feather of truth pointing toward the life- giving and immortal Sun in the background.
The victorious divine child carries an unfurled orange banner signifying the triumph and conquest of light over darkness. The banner represents the unfolding of the soul’s dharma, which is rooted in the positive character qualities contained within the traveling bag of the spiritual seeker shown in 0, The Fool card.
The Sun card shows the soul riding the White Horse of the Sun, like Vishnu of the Hindu trinity, Sosiosh the Persian redeemer, the goddess Kwan Yin, Buddha, and the Savior in the Book of Revelations. The white horse is an ancient symbol for the purified lower nature that has become attuned to, and a vehicle for, the illumined intelligence of the God Self.
The Sun card shows the soul beginning a new stage of the divine journey, leaving the walled garden of human experience and limitation behind. The four sunflowers represent the Sun’s spiritual energy manifesting in the world of tangible physical matter. The sunflowers follow the movement of the solar-child revealing it to be a miniature manifestation of that great Cosmic Life represented by the Sun above.
Bruce Johnson has over 30 years of study in the fields of Ancient Wisdom and occultism. He has taught classes on a wide range of topics, from Atlantis to mediums to Zoroaster. He is also a spiritualist minister, with a background in spiritual astrology. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their cat.
