My favourite part of the Christian Nativity story has always been the bit about the star guiding the Three Magi to Bethlehem to visit the newborn child Jesus, the symbol of light returning to the world. So, on Christmas Eve, I thought I might write about the meaning of the Star card in Tarot.
In most modern Tarot decks the picture for the Star shows a woman kneeling on the bank of a pool or river, dipping one foot into it. She holds two jugs and is pouring liquid from one onto the land and from the other into the water. Above her shine the stars in the night sky - one of them is usually much brighter than the rest. In older decks, the woman is often shown gesturing at a large star above her head (you can see an example of the Star from the Bacchus Tarot in the left in the row of cards at the top).
The card is a symbol of optimism and is often interpreted as representing the a renewal of hope for the future after troubled times. In the picture the land represents the material world while the water represents the subconscious. The woman stands on both, while the pitchers represent integration of the elements.
The star itself is a small light in the darkness, and it can guide us to greater spiritual awareness as well as to emotional happiness and also material success. If we choose to follow our star, wherever it may lead us, we can be sure we will eventually find the goal of our journey even though the path is not yet completely clear and what we find at the end may not be exactly what we expect.
This is a perfect card to represent the time just after the Winter Solstice, when the nights are still long, but the days are slowly lengthening. Hope - and a new springtime - lie ahead.
The cards in the picture are from the Tarot Flamand,
also known as the Bacchus Tarot and which was designed in the 18th Century, the Robin Wood Tarot,
a Tarot deck from the early 1970s produced by Reiss Games and The Crystal Tarot.Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/10/review-crystal-tarot.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/05/review-angel-tarot-cards-by-doreen.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/07/tarot-moon-symbolism-and-meanings.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/06/tarot-sun-symbolism-and-summer-solstice.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/08/review-wildwood-tarot.html
Robin Wood Tarot Deck
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