Sun

From Sol Invictus, the central source of light and life: in every ancient culture, the sovereign principle.

The conscious self — who you are becoming, the vital principle that organizes the personality. Its sign is the story you spend a life learning to embody.

In Roman mythology the Sun was personified as Sol, the charioteer who drove his flaming horses across the sky each day. The Greeks called him Helios. Virtually every ancient culture developed a solar deity, reflecting the Sun's central role in regulating life, seasons, and time. Apollo, Helios, Ra, Surya: the names differ, but the archetype is universal -- a radiant, all-seeing force that banishes darkness and sustains the world.

In Western astrology the Sun represents the core self: conscious identity, willpower, and the drive to express oneself in the world. It describes the qualities a person actively cultivates and projects, as opposed to the instinctive responses of the Moon. The sign and house of the natal Sun indicate where vitality is focused and how one seeks recognition and meaning.