The first Sun in Leo series was the 16th launched, almost 5-years ago, back in September of 2019. While Sol dutifully returns to the Lion’s domain each July and August, it has taken this long to find an election that meets the Gold Standard for Talismanic and Remedial efficacy Sphere + Sundry has become famous for, with the arrival of Golden Sol II — our 51st release.

The Tarot card associated with the Luminary that gathers us here today is The Sun, which features a cherubic nakey-baby upon a white horse, waving a red banner in celebration of his own unabashed, victorious selfhood. This and The Star are the only Rider Waite cards depicting their, *singular human subjects as nude, making a point about stars (which the Sun is… Humanity’s Own) and their lack of — for want of better word — shame. They are 100% themselves, 100% of the time, and unafraid to… display it. Their blessing and their curse, is to shine.

Now imagine The Sun’s same scene… except Lucian typically has a diaper on, he’s waving a rainbow colored play silk, and Austin is the horse. That is the backdrop against which this series has come into the world, as the joys of middle baby-dom are upon House Coppock for the very first time, providing excellent contemplative fuel and lived experience for why The Sun card, the Sun itself, and even the Moon are… the way they are.

This is in stark contrast to Capricorn II — the last launch cycle — which has such little use for children as to literally find care for them elsewhere as a previously unknown “side effect” while it busies its users with worldly labors.

The Sun though, especially in Leo, is famously family-oriented, and legacy-driven. The Creation of Golden Sol II (+ Golden Sol III!) saw the importation of grandparents — from “the Sunshine State!” — to help care for the family’s youngest s☉n while ritual creation took place. That being the halcyon transition between Cap II and Sol, when the benefit of childcare was still upon us.

In the heart of this release cycle, there was no such thing. The angelic soul the middle Decan of Capricorn had brought into our lives a few days a week so mama and dada could get something done became unavailable for the weeks leading up to its debut, which was our blessing and our curse.

The subtitle of this series is Sun Without Sin, for it captures the energy of newborn sunlight at its gentlest, freshest, and most promising. Before the UV index is so high that we have to worry about burns, or shielding the body’s own luminaries with sunglasses. Before the mid-day Sun becomes… oppressive, or as the Vedic’s see it, literally malefic.

Infants — like the one on The Sun card; like the one in the next room — are like this… they can literally do no wrong. They are true Innocents. Sinless in all ways, both literal or metaphorical. And any non-monster who actually connects with one cannot help but love and appreciate it, given enough exposure over time.

It’s cliché (but most clichés are true!), to feel as a mom that you don’t want your baby to grow up. That a portion of the heart’s desire is to keep them safe and pure and innocent forever, no matter how much of a toll parenthood takes. Which is juxtaposed by the hopes you have for their future — that they grow up to be well-formed and healthy / vital and loved and happy — qualities and keywords ripped from the Leo handbook.

Leo is fixed, so it takes the most “forever” out of any of the modes or Fire signs. Our children are babies for an entire year, their childhoods last a decade-plus, and yet we are told by our blessed Elders in retrospect that, it goes by so fast. To savor it — this time in the Sun — for it will be the highlight of one’s life, providing nurturance and cultivation to the next.

And thus, Humanity perpetuates itself, s☉ul-seed by s☉ul-seed, generation after generation.

The other thing this election ended up having to do with, is the Sun’s connection to water. The first ripple was when someone asked in the Client Community in the lead-up to this ritual:

What does “lover of the stream” mean in the Orphic Hymn to Sol?

Which came flooding back to me as the sprinklers began sprinkling during the window of operation, and what was a semi-nebulous “Because waters are life-giving, and the Sun loves life!” came into clearer understanding. It is because without waters — running, moving waters… waters that are transient and mobile, specifically — the Sun does not nurture life at all, but desert.

And therefore, death.

[Sol’s connection to Saturn an article for another day!].

And this is why Leo comes after Cancer — sign of Cardinal (moving) Water, in the Thema Mundi, chart of creation.

In our Sun Without Sin election, Waters are brought forth multiple ways. By the Moon devoting Herself entirely to a conjunction with Sol, and by Venus (conjunct Regulus!) occupying the 1st.

And as pointed out by Edwin Martinez Rodriguez (directory member; magical practitioner; astrologer; makeup artist extraordinario!), the chart also brings to bear Marsilio Ficino’s Three Graces combination — the entire point of which is bringing hydration to the Sun — by way of Jupiter’s aspect to the SoliLunar conjunction on the Ascendant, and co-presence of Venus.

Austin Coppock, electional architect, elaborates:

The chart for this creation focuses on the simple power of the Sun rising in its own sign, on its own day, and in its own hour. The Moon is with the Sun, the two still entwined in their monthly syzygy.

This is a time for perfect beginnings. The operation began at the first minute that the Sun broke the horizon, initiating the day. This being Sunday, the first day of the week (for at least half the planet). The Moon is also with the Sun, only a degree past their conjunction, making it also the beginning of the Lunar Month.

If only the Sun were a few degrees later, at 15° Leo, it would replicate the Sun’s position in the Thema Mundi, the chart for the moment of creation. But because of the Moon’s relationship to the Sun, the Part of Fortune happens to fall at exactly that point on the Ascendant, further rooting this election in brilliant beginnings both Great and smoll.

It is worth noting that this auspicious seed falls in the soil of the second decan of Leo, the most fortunate of the three. This face is Jupiter-ruled, and a place of overcoming, triumph, and success.

Though the Sun’s greatness at this moment is sufficient in and of itself, both benefics are present to offer gifts to the newborn light. Both the Sun and Moon apply to a sextile with bountiful Jupiter, providing benevolence of spirit and  favor of fortune. Venus is in Leo with the Sun, tucked just beneath the horizon with the royal star Regulus, supporting Sol with a dazzle of splendor, vitality, and charm.

The Moon so close to the Sun would be unacceptable for many elections, as the Sun consumes the power of any planet too close. And yet here, a Sun full with the Moon’s power is exactly what is called for— the rebis, the self-begetting Sol which is mother, father, and child to itself.

Thus the joyful and victorious child rides a horse through the SUN XIX card, proclaiming for all to hear:

The Great Beginning is Ever-Present
The Incorruptible Gold of First Light
Gleams at Dawn each day!

Drink deep the fragrant
Elixir of First Light
and Begin again

The First Minute of the Perfect Day
The First Hour of the Perfect Month
The First Day of the Perfect Year

This series is, quite obviously, great for beginnings, as the Sun rises each day with a newborn opportunity to begin afresh. It is unburdened by what has been, mindful and demure like that, with an eye toward what is good, and life-giving, and whole-making.

It is gracious, gentle, and generous, each mouthwatering whiff of Golden Sol II a sense that life itself is smiling upon you, inviting one back (if we were but to notice!)

Has it been doing that the whole time?

It is centering, composed, and capable of undivided focus, bringing vitality, joy, warmth, and congruence to the Body, Mind and Spirit.

It opens the Heart, and encourages self-reflection, being on the introverted, temperate side of Solar expression.

This election in particular cares more about where we’re at with *ourselves* than what is exterior to us, begging the questions:

What are we shining the light of our attention on?

How is the illumination we cast influencing the shadows seen in the world around us?

How does shifting the torch we bear alter the terrain as we perceive it?

Golden Sol II is for the inner work that creates exterior results, rather than the other way ’round (— for the most magically manifest purposes, pair with Luna in Cancer, Moon in Taurus, Thema Mundi, and/ or Cap II!).

At the same time, the glory of new beginnings is their sheer simplicity.

There is no need to overthink it, as consistent passive application of Sun Without Sin will do most of the heavy lifting for you (aside from the subset, which is for therapeutic meditation / contemplation, and not for casual application at all!).

The main influence is almost universal in its approachability, and how GD great it feels. The Sun in Leo should be — in my humble opinion! — part of everyone’s magical medicine cabinet. Perhaps its Water and Kolonía especially! (Always great ways to get your feet wet with a new series!)

For further reading on the Sun in Leo’s influence, please see the sections on Kintsugi / Golden Repair, the noblest of metals, and the Immortal S☉ul from the first write-up. Despite its iteration being long-sold out, it is worth the generous reader’s time.

The theme song that has presented itself for Golden Sol II is, fittingly,
AEIOU by PNAU x The Empire of the Sun.