It seems fitting that a deck with origins in New Zealand should contain some works that represent New Zealand’s Maori culture.
Traditional meanings of The Sun card include: joy, happiness, success, satisfaction, accomplishment, triumph, confidence and vitality.
In Maui and the Sun, a traditional Maori folk tale, each one of these qualities is realised.
The tale goes that Maui and his brothers were keen to go fishing. As the sun rose, they made for the ocean, but no sooner had they set their lines, than the sun went down. In a hurry to get back to bed, the lazy sun rose, raced across the sky and set again, all too quickly.
Maui, frustrated by the lack of daylight decided he would slow the sun down. His brothers and the rest of the villagers were in total disbelief - the sun was far too powerful a force to be tamed.
But Maui was determined so he ordered his brothers to work collecting huge piles of flax. He showed them how to plait the flax into rope and after many hours they had made the biggest, strongest net the villagers had ever seen.
Maui and his brothers carried the net to the eastern mountains. As the sun slept they covered the mouth of his cave with the large net and waited.
Many hours passed but eventually there came a glimmer of light from deep within the cave. The light grew stronger and the frightened brothers believed they would be killed at once by the stifling heat. But as the sun appeared through the mouth of the cave, Maui ordered his brothers to pull. “Pull as hard as you can”’ he cried. As the sun rose, it was caught in the net. He struggled and fought, angry that he had been trapped. But the brothers fought harder.
Maui knew that they couldn’t hold the sun for long and that he had to do something more so he ran at the sun, beating him with his magic axe. The sun bellowed even louder. “What are you doing? I have done nothing to harm you,” he roared.
“You don’t understand,” replied Maui. “I am not trying to kill you, but you travel too quickly across the sky and we do not have enough daylight to get things done. We need more time in your light so we can hunt and fish, and build shelter for our village. If we release you will you slow down your journey across the sky?” The sun, weakened by his struggle agreed and Maui ordered his brothers to cut the ropes.
To this very day, the sun travels slowly across the sky giving us many more hours of daylight than he ever used to.