According to 1st-century poet Marcus Manilius in his epic, 8000-verse poem, Astronomica, the Sun, or Sol, is benign and favorable, and presides over the head. It is usually thought to represent the conscious ego, the self, and the principles of creativity, spontaneity, health and vitality—the life force. The Sun is the planetary ruler of Leo.

The Sun is associated with Sunday. Dante Alighieri associated the Sun with the liberal art of geometry.

In Chinese astrology, the Sun represents Yang. In Indian astrology, the Sun is called Surya.

The Sun in the first house takes on a strong identification with your Ascendant, and produces an individual that is very true to the nature of this sign. The Sun here provides a strong sense of identity, abundant vitality, and personal confidence. A first house Sun produces much initiative, self-assurance, and leadership skills that might not be otherwise reflected in the chart. You are a more spontaneous and outgoing person than your signs may generally suggest, because you are such a "together" person. You have a determination to make something of yourself. You aren't easily swayed by the opinions or desires of others, having your own clear view of goals. The radiance of the Sun in first house usually produces abundant energy and excellent recuperative powers which help you overcome physical ailments that may come along. In the first house, the Sun gives you a sense of yourself that makes it important to feel that you are important, and in general, a person of significant distinction. The nature of the Sun in the first house produces optimism and gives you a very "sunny" disposition.

The Sun positioned in the second house focuses energies on resources which surely includes money, wealth and all of the possessions and benefits that this can provide; you have a drive for power especially geared toward personal resources, your personal security, and other material values. It is important for you to have control of your financial affairs and to the "Captain of the Ship" in this regard. The need for this material control and success is strong, as is the drive for financial independence. This position usually provides not only the need, but also the ability to succeed in a material sense. There is a tendency to equate power or prominence with money and possessions. Often, most of the energy goes into making money solely for the sake of spending and enjoying it. Indeed, you may be a free-spender even if you truly lack the assets to do so; it is hard to be conservative when it comes to money. The strongest trait that is shown by this placement is the sense of generosity that it often produces. The use of money to help others may be one of your most attractive attributes.

This placement denotes a drive for power in matters regarding mental or analytical accomplishment. It might be said that this placement actually compells you to want to learn and to broadly expand your understanding of many varied subjects. Accordingly, you are likely to remain involved in continuing education and mental development for many years, if not for your entire life. Travel and study are strongly marked in your nature, and you may become a little impatient if you can't move about freely and receive a constant flow of mental stimulation. This placement produces teachers, writers or persons some way involved with enterprises disseminating information. You always communicate so well that you are one of those people who has a faculty for saying the right thing, at the right time. The ability to express ideas effectively is always important to you. You seem to remain ever optimistic, even when things don't go your way. Do be cautious of becoming intellectually over-confident, as it is easy for one with this position to fall into a pattern of intellectual arrogance, especially when dealing with those less well informed.

The Sun located in the fourth house denotes deep roots in the home and a strong drive for domestic security. Your personal expression in life is aimed toward family matters and the home environment. A fourth house Sun lends powerful instincts to protect and conserve the traditions and institutions with which you identify; the base of your life, the home. Although the early part of your life may have been an uphill struggle in some way, you were strongly marked and profoundly conditioned by your background, family history, or possibly just by your early environment. You are apt to be very proud of you heritage and origins. This is a favorable position for the Sun as it often produces rapidly increasing prosperity and security in the latter half of life, while increasing the vitality and energy during these later years. The Sun in this house guides interests in land, houses, ecology, natural resources and perhaps issues associated with conservation.