A Thought About the Star

[FourLeafClover]

The Star is a card that I've had trouble with in almost every deck, so I decided to study it in the RWS deck because that's where most of its imagery seems to come from.

I couldn't understand how it could be a card of receiving new life, or renewal, since the woman in the picture seems to be pouring out her energy instead of recieving something new.

She also seemed to be wasting it, by pouring it into water where it isn't needed, or onto the ground which is already green and where it can't help anyone anymore.

What made me realise what the picture meant was actually in the book for my Sharman-Caselli deck. The water she pours onto the earth divides into five streams, which the S-C says represent the five senses.

So the woman in the Star doesn't represent the Querent at all. She represents the star itself, and she's pouring new life into the querent's body (the earth) and mind (the pool).

I feel much better, having figured that out. Does anyone else have any other interpretations or insights?

[cartarum]

i think that the star is tarots way of describing an issue that is so complex, that it defies description in just one card we are directed
to look to our senses, and trust that our path will lead to our destiny

[Kirranan]

The way I understand 'the star' card is this:

I think the woman is 'the star'. Stars have been used for centuries by travellers to show them the way. They are a reminder of the spiritual plane above our world, that of which is yet to come.

Water one can usually take to signify purity (take christenings for example), and serenity (a calm lake for instance).

Earth, upon which she pours some of the water is nurturing. It is from where all living plants grow and nourish all living things.

The star is balanced between the water and the earth and is pouring the water onto each. The star is between the earth/soil and the pure (spiritual) in the same way that the stars in our sky are between this world and the next plane.

The significance of the water comes from the fact that by putting some of yourself (your knowledge or compassion or something similar) back into your physical life (ie teaching others, healing etc) you and in return you will grow spiritually.

In other words the serenity comes by knowing that you will learn in time and become stronger spiritualy but you must always remember your roots, where you came from and where possible put something back into the earth from whence you came.

So knowledge, but not pompus or high and mighty knowledge, it is a learned and still learning knowledge of both this world and the spiritual. Satisfaction and also destiny are all interpretations I use for this card but I could yet be persuaded to add more!

Kirranan :-)

[Jewel-ry]

I've read that another meaning for this card is 'the calm after a storm'. Your thoughts?

J

[TemperanceAngel]

Originally posted by Jewel-ry
I've read that another meaning for this card is 'the calm after a storm'. Your thoughts?

Absolutely Jewel-ry It comes after the Tower.
It can also be release after imprisonment, freedom and liberation. Illumination. Especially for someone who has just come out a violent and/or abusive relationship. XTAX
Go bak to the Meditating With Tarot - Support Group 1 in Using Tarot Cards, you will find my own and Larks' meditation on the Star. The essence of the meditation is the same

[Jewel-ry]

Thanks TA,

Forgot about the meditation thread, going there now!

J

[noby]

Originally Posted by FourLeafClover

I couldn't understand how it could be a card of receiving new life, or renewal, since the woman in the picture seems to be pouring out her energy instead of recieving something new.

She also seemed to be wasting it, by pouring it into water where it isn't needed, or onto the ground which is already green and where it can't help anyone anymore.

In Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack writes of the Magician card,

The life force that fills the universe is not gentle or benign. It must be discharged, grounded in something real, because our bodies, our selves, are not meant to contain it, but only pass it on...

We function best as a channel for energy. Unless we follow the path of the High Priestess in withdrawing from the world, we live our lives most fully when we create or are active. 'Create' does not mean simply art, but any activity that produces something real and valuable outside ourselves.

Many people experience feelings of being powerful so infrequently they try to hold on to them. By doing nothing they hope to preserve their magic moments. But we can really hold on to power in our lives only by constantly discharging it. By releasing creative power we open ourselves up to receive a further flow. However, by trying to hold on to it, we block the channels and the sense of power, which is really life itself, withers within us. The spectator at the football game, even the possessed church-goer, will find their excitement gone after the event that triggered it has ended. But the craftsman or scientist or teacher - or, for that matter, the Tarot reader - will find the power increase over the years the more they discharge it into physical reality.

This dynamic flow of energy is what I see as the message of , even moreso than the Magician. To me, the biggest keyword for the card is FLOW. After the Tower dismantled the walls of ego and concept that fenced one in, tore apart the protective armor one used to shield oneself from the world's danger and pain, one is left naked, one's vulnerabilities exposed, like the lady in the card. Yet this lady is not afraid or self-conscious of her exposure. She is totally at peace because there is no energy block for her. Her heart is not hardened by past hurt. She has let it go. She is as comfortable in the world as a young child.

The woman on is strong because she has unhindered access to sources of energy and power. What are those sources? Everything around her! How does she draw from everything around her? By giving freely of herself. When giving and receiving are in dynamic balance, one is in a state of equilibrium. In this state of equilibrium, energy flows freely because it is not restrained, dammed, or blocked anywhere. The point is not where, to what, or to whom she gives, but that she gives. The meaning and purpose is in the act itself. It is what keeps us connected and open to the world, and thus gives us energy and inspiration.

The woman on reflects to me the person who has realized the Tao, the natural way of things. She does not try to grasp on to things, or push them away. She does not fight against life's constant flux, its impermanence. She gives naturally, knowing how and when to give based on her own intuition and understanding of her resources and energy. She is empowered precisely because she is receptive and open, unguarded. When we begin to try to hoard, or to resist things we don't like, we become disconnected from the energy sources available to us.

The posture of the Star lady calls to mind the central figure of the Six of Pentacles. But there is a distinct difference. The giving in the Six of Pentacles is measured, the giver making sure of precisely such things as whether what he is giving is really needed. The man on the Six of Pentacles would say, "Why pour water where there is already water? I should pour water on plants dying of thirst, or give it to a thirsty animal." There is nothing wrong with this approach, and it is even necessary at times. But such an approach can lead to blocked energy. The Star is more like the figures on the Six of Cups, giving for the pure, innocent joy of giving. She gives simply because she has it to give, and as such, energy flows through her constantly, and she, like a child, is receptive to all the wonder in the world.

[poivre]

I find The Star card the most peaceful in the deck.
Hope and Faith
Unexpected Blessings
Peace within your heart

If you follow your own star with hope and faith you will be blessed.

I read once this card represents the story of Noah and the Arc. Noah
knew God would send a message when the storm was over. He never
gave up in his faith. The bird was sent with the tree branch and Noah
knew that was the message from God that there was dry land somewhere.
(there is a bird in a tree in this card also)
Through his belief a blessing or message occurred.
Also the Three Wise Men followed a star.

One thing about this card that bothered me was that I find it a peaceful
card but not as a number.
#1 and #7
1 is first & direct, social
7 is inner work, seeking knowledge, aloneness


So outer & inner work ~ if you follow your star 1 & 7 balances intuition.
The Stars come out at night so the naked truth would be the confusion through the Moon to get to The Sun with trust in our hearts.

Something like this anyway!

[Flavio]

Have noticed her right foot isn't sunk into the water...

[noby]

Originally Posted by Flavio

Have noticed her right foot isn't sunk into the water...

Seems I'm quickly becoming a mouthpiece for Rachel Pollack, unfortunately (unfortunately because the world doesn't need more sheep and parrots, not because of anything having to do with Pollack herself, of course), but she does have an interesting observation on that visual detail:

The maiden's foot does not penetrate the water. The collective unconscious has not been entered, but only stirred up.

This would explain the progression from the to the . If the trumps are seen as a journey, how could the bewilderment and illusion of come after the serenity and clarity of ? Because has stirred up the subconscious, and in order to become completely clear and purified, we must experience the uprising of forces, images, and memories from our subconscious well and sort through them, the work of . When we have cleaned out our mental closets and basements of the demons and creepy crawlers we have locked in them, the process depicted in , we can move from the gentle illumination of to the brilliant light of .