Thoth Star

rachelcat

Hello. I'm going to start a new Star thread as a general study thread, NOT about Star/Emperor stuff. (Well, not EXCLUSIVELY about that, but it would be fine to MENTION it in a study post!)

So here's my IDS study for the Star.

This is the goddess Nuith, who is also the Empress, and the Sky in Aeon, and Binah, the great mother of the third Sephiroth, and Babalon of Lust. The large globe in the background is the celestial sphere, so she is outside/above the created universe. She pours spirit from her golden cup and life from her silver cup. She is also Venus, the star that is highlighted on the globe (because of its 7 points). The star outside the globe is also 7-pointed. It is the symbol of Babalon. So we might think there is some kind of hierarchy of goddesses here:

Binah, the Great Mother or Great Sea, a sephiroth above the abyss
Star, outside the celestial sphere (and on the hey path crossing the abyss)
Nuit, the sky on Aeon, the sky we see from earth
Empress, the loving earth herself (but on a path completely above the abyss!)
Lust/Babalon, an earthy, sexy goddess who looks like she’s underground on her card
Queens and Princesses, personifications of the letter hey, also, like the Star

BUT—here is Babalon’s seal outside the celestial sphere, high above the Star. Does that mean the goddesses are interchangeable? I’m pretty sure these are all just aspects of the same Goddess, anyway. Just trying to make sense of it all . . .

Crowley points out that everything here is a spiral except the emanations from the lower cup. Life DOES seem to follow a straight line. We’re born, we live, we die. But we all know life is more spiral than most things—we’re born, we give birth, etc. He says Zoaster said God has a spiral force.

Most of Crowley's chapter on the Star is a quote from the end of the first chapter of the Book of Law. So I guess a trip over to the BofL study threads is in order. The quote is mostly about how to worship and welcome the Goddess into your life. Basically, "All rites of pleasure are my rites." Which is interesting for such a seemingly virginal, etherial card.

What’s with the tiny butterflies and roses? Life and rebirth, of course, but I don’t really associate that with the Star. More with the upcoming Aeon. And crystals grow, too, as mentioned in the Priestess card. I guess the Star is the beginning of the process of life and rebirth, which will come to fruition in the Aeon.

Snuffin explains about the City of the Pyramids in Binah, the dwelling place of adepts who have crossed the abyss. Good to know. I wondered why there are mountains outside the celestial sphere. Now I know they are pyramids on Binah. But it looks like there is an ocean between the pyramids and the Star. That must be the abyss.

Crystals: Snuffin says there are 7 20-sided crystals. That means they’re icosahedra, symbolic of water. Maybe they are above-the-abyss water of heaven?

What is the connection to Aquarius? “The individualist, the wise fool, bringing innovation to the world. I know that I don’t know anything.”

In a reading: The free gift of the universe to you. You will be blessed and uplifted. The goodness of spirit and life will be poured out for you.
 

thorhammer

I re-read Crowley on Atu XVII today on the train, and was thunderstruck at this line from the Book of the Law:
Aiwass said:
58. I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.
(bold mine)

Years ago I read a book called "Devil Water" by Anya Seton. The family around whom the story centred had a motto: "To hope is to fear", and that has always stayed with me because I believe it to be exactly so - that faith and hope ARE NOT THE SAME THING. Faith is the certainty or belief that the desired outcome will come about; hope leaves room for doubt. I think that the distinction between the two is a fundamental expression of the differences between the Aeons of Osiris and Horus; the one characterised by worship of and fealty to higher powers with attendant religious dogma and externalisation of the spiritualisation of an individual, the other characterised by certainty and faith in oneself as the potential perfect expression of one's own divinity and the necessary wherewithall to follow through on that belief.

For this reason, the old chestnut of The Star meaning "Hope" has always rankled at me and I've always searched for a deeper, more profound meaning that is more choice-centred and doesn't give over the power of a situation to another. This reclaiming of personal power, IMO, goes to the heart of this Atu.

\m/ Kat
 

rachelcat

I'm sorry I haven't replied. But I just didn't know what to say except I agree. My husband goes on about how he doesn't believe in Hope. He has the same idea you do. And I agree that it has to do with externalization of the spiritual. Which has done so much harm in our world.

People create God in their own image and then bow down and worship him and give up all their power to him--(sometimes nothing more than a mental construct of unlimited power)!

The dichotomy between salvation by works or by faith is a false one. We know works alone doesn't work because mind/spirit/intent have to be right, too. But faith as in total dependence on an external being isn't the solution.

I guess that's why I'm a Buddhist! I can have faith in the Buddha (and boddhisattvas) in that I have the feeling they know what they're talking about, and maybe they can even step in and help me when I need it, but the Buddha said don't do anything just because I said so, try it for yourself and see what works for you.

And to bring it back to the Star!, the Goddess (Life, the Universe, and Everything) is pouring out spirit and life constantly. All we have to do is realize we already have this bountiful gift and make a beautiful existance from it!
 

Beira

THOTH STAR

Hello everyone!
I am starting my very first Opening of the Key spread with the Thoth deck.
It will be a study more than a reading beacuse I am still studying the deck, and I will put my insight from the cards in this forum.
Let's start!

1ST OPERATION

YOD/ACTIONS/FIRE DECK

ATU XVII THE STAR
ELEMENT: Air
ZODIAC ATTRIBUTION: Acquarius

Despite this being my favourite card, in the prominent position for the actions deck, it looks to me altogether too dreamy.
The design is all in violet and blue/indigo, both colours attributed to the highest chacra connected with the third eye and the higher self. Concept more resonating with contemplation and inner search than with actions.
Especially in the Thoth, the woman is lost in contemplation of the water she is pouring on herself with her right hand. While coming down, the water doesn't move with its natural ease, it gets slowed down in angular swirling that today really look like slow-motion to me.
Her body itself, is little more than a wawe, reminding of mermaids and their evanescence.
And she has very good reasons to get deramy! Look at the sky at her back, she can easily get lost in the spirals of this giant moon, that nearly takes away from her the main scene...
The moon again represent the inconscious, contact with the inner self, lack of clarity and resolution..
I can see myself in this card, always in search of spiritual nourishment in these late times, and lost in my toughts, quite uninterested in reality.
A scary detail: the water at her feet looks crystalized, like ice. All this inner search and withdrawal from real world bears no fertility and can get to extreme coldness.
Strangely enough, inner search is not the right direction to get back in touch with my emotions.
Or, can be part of the trip but not the only part. I need to get living to be able to recognize and nurture emotions again.
And on the opposite side, the teaching about learning meditation from Crowley say that we must part from emotions. I think we should learn to take them aside in certain moments of life, or if we engage in certain types of magic workings, but definitely not cut them off altogether.
Nothing could be worth it.
Back to my card, i see its meaning as:
Do nurture hope and self knowledge and research, but don't get too slowed down by it. Its place in the fire deck is strong, but it is a passive card. So don't overindulge in contemplations when action is required. Watch out because that will be your natural tendence so you must consciously work against it to be active enough.