The Sun, ☉, is the central luminary of our system, and in alchemy it represents the highest state of metallic perfection: gold. It is the principle of light, life, and consciousness, the source of all vitality and the goal of the Great Work. The symbol itself is a circle with a central point, signifying spirit manifesting in matter, the seed of divinity within the material world.

Position on the Tree of Life

On the Alchemical Tree of Life, the Sun is placed at the fifth Sephirah, Geburah (Severity). This is a seemingly paradoxical placement, as Geburah is the sphere of Mars, of force, war, and judgment. However, in the alchemical schema, this indicates that the perfection of the Sun is not a passive state but an active, dynamic, and even destructive force. The Sun's rays burn and purify, separating the fixed from the volatile. The gold of the Sun, achieved through the red stage of the Work, is the result of the severest trials and the most intense fire, mirroring the harsh, corrective energy of Geburah.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

Astrologically, the Sun is the ruler of Leo, the heart of the zodiac. Its nature is hot and dry, corresponding to the element of Fire. It is the giver of life, the source of the soul's individual identity and will. In alchemical planetary magic, the Sun is associated with the metal gold, the ruby, the lion, and the phoenix. Its day is Sunday, and its angelic order is the Hashmallim, the shining ones.

Historical context

The Sun has been a central symbol in alchemy since its earliest recorded expressions. In the Physika kai Mystika of Pseudo-Democritus (c. 1st century CE), the Sun is already identified with gold and the goal of the work. The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus states, "Its father is the Sun; its mother is the Moon," establishing the Sun as the active, masculine principle of generation. In the works of Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber, 8th century), the Sun is the source of all metallic perfection, and the alchemist's task is to ripen base metals into this solar state. Later, in the Rosarium Philosophorum (16th century), the Sun is the King, the Red Man, who must be united with the Moon (the Queen, the White Woman) in the Chemical Wedding to produce the Philosopher's Stone. Paracelsus (16th century) linked the Sun to the vital force or archeus, the inner alchemist of the body. The Sun is not merely a metal but a living, spiritual principle, the Lapis Philosophorum in its most exalted form.

In the table of Liber 777, at the step of Geburah on the Alchemical Tree of Life, the Sun (☉) stands as the perfected result of the severest alchemical operation, the fixed gold that has been tested by fire and found worthy.