XVII - The Star

Description:

Two light-blue abstract figures sit in meditation, mirror images of each other, one figure on top and one below.  A white vertical column connects the heads of the figures to a circle at the center of the card.  The background of the circle is black.  Within the circle is a blue upward-pointing pentagram with tinges of red towards its center.  On top of this pentagram is a 7-pointed yellow star, with tinges of red on its rays. 

Extending from the center of the figures’ chest are 6 white arcs, which curve above the figures.  Glowing around and above the figures is a multicolored nimbus, reminiscent of a nebula or galaxy, with hints of butterfly wings. 

At the bottom center of the card is the astrological symbol for Aquarius and the Hebrew letter Tzaddi.  The background of the card is pitch black.

Symbology:

The two figures mirroring each other depict the aphorism of “as above, so it is below”.  The upper figure represents Spirit and the creative force not yet manifested.  The lower figure represents the reflection of the Spirit realized in Matter. 

The circle at the center of the card that connects the figures is the Sphere of Tiphareth on the Tree of Life, the union of Spirit and Matter.  The five-pointed star represents humanity reaching up towards the stars.  The seven-pointed star is the intersection of the spiritual path (the number 3) and the physical path (the number 4). 

The pitch black background of the card represents the great unknown beyond the abyss, the primal unmanifest.  The glowing nimbus surrounding the figures and the butterfly-like wings are symbolic of the infinite beauty of the heavens as they unfold and evolve.

Divinatory Meaning:
(from "Tarot of the Spirit" companion book, by Pamela Eakins)

• Follow your own star

•  To find your star, meditate upon your own nature

•  At the center of your true self, a great secret will be revealed; the great secret is the key to your creative powers; knowledge of this great secret will answer your question

•  For inspiration, take a walk under the night sky and contemplate your own existence

Personal Reflections:

The Star card shows the joyous beauty of Inspiration by realizing the spirit within.  One needs only to simply look within to realize the spark of Light that has always been part of you, that has always been your guiding Light.  As expressed in The Book of the Law: “Every man and every woman is a star.”  

Spirit realizes itself through the act of creation and the evolutionary return to the Stars from which we are made.   We are indeed Star matter, becoming Star light.