78 Weeks of Tarot: The Star

[Trogon]

For information on what these threads refer to, see this thread;

 

78 Weeks of Tarot - Informational Thread

 

The above linked thread gives suggested dates for the cards as well as links to the individual topics.

 

Some of us may be working through the study in a different order and using different decks. If you have general questions or comments regarding the 78 Weeks of Tarot study group, please post in the topic in the above link.

 

Have fun.

[Bookworm]

Deck: Fairytale Tarot

 

Card name: The Star

 

First impressions:

 

A young sleeping woman, presumably The Fairy of the Dawn, sits sleeping. She has large relaxed wings. She is dressed all in blue, has pale skin and long blond hair. On her head she wears a large feathered band with a star in the middle of her forehead. She looks like she might be in a trance. Just in front and off to her right side stands a young man, dressed in colorful, perhaps eastern European clothes: blue pants with a high waisted blue sash, light blue shirt with gold buttons and blousy sleeves and a red embroidered vest. He wears a colorful hat with a large peacock feather decoration on one side. He stretches out his arms to the fairy. In his right hand he holds a round red object that may be either a canteen or a purse. At the front of the card, on the other side of the fairy is a stone fountain, with water coming out of the mouths of stone birds on the side. They are all in a beautiful palace room on an upper floor with a view of a starlit night sky; we can see that dawn is arriving through the open air windows. There are flowers and fruit and a gold pitcher on a nearby wrought iron table.

 

There is a feeling of peace, coming from the fairy, and of adoration, coming from the young man.

 

From the book:

 

Keywords and phrases: Healing and recovery; generosity of spirit; peace, calm and acceptance; new life and new hope; the dawn of better and more peaceful times.

 

What makes this story apt is the many references to hope, and we are continually asked to consider the way in which hope overcomes fear, doubt and pessimism.

 

Hope is the most essential meaning of The Star card; the story shows this from various perspectives. At the beginning of the story, the father has no hope, and the two oldest sons quickly give up hope. The youngest son alone doesn’t.

 

Then the story becomes a series of trials for the youngest son; each time the boy simply has to keep going. He focuses on the goal and doesn’t give up. His hope becomes that of restoring sight to his father as well as proving himself capable of kingship.

 

It’s significant that the story begins and ends with the eyes and sight of the father; essentially this is a tale of clear-sightedness and what we mean by that, both physically and in terms of mind and spirit.

 

What the tale tells us is that true love—and the courage that it can fire us with—can achieve many things that were thought impossible. We are reminded about the close linkage between faith, hope and charity.

 

The original story

 

“The Fairy of the Dawn,” from The Violet Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang

 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lfb/vi/vifb19.htm

 

Traditional meanings:

 

Hope, happiness, opportunities, optimism, renewal, spirituality, cosmic blessings, help in all forms, beauty and aesthetics, astrology, astronomy, the heavens, wishing on a star, good health and healing, an inspirational person, a period of tranquility, alternative therapies, feeling hopeless/hopelessness, feeling unwell, disappointments, missed opportunities, refusing an offer of help, refusing to offer help, blocks to renewal/spiritual enlightenment.

 

My impressions of the card/story combination:

 

There is a lot going on in this story. It’s one of the longest I’ve encountered in this project so far. I think of The Star card as showing renewal and hope but not necessarily success. The story works well to illustrate hope because that is crucial to the boy’s ultimate success, but that success also requires him to work really hard. He has to go through many excruciatingly difficult trials, but he just keeps his eyes on the prize – taking water from the fountain of the Fairy of the Dawn back to his father to cure eye problems -- and hangs in there, gaining strength in the process.

 

I’m not sure I’m sold on the card image, which shows our hero in the room with the Fairy of the Dawn and the fountain with the magical water. I understand why it was chosen, since there is only one scene in the story that includes our hero reaching the Fairy of the Dawn, and she makes a good Star. The fountain contributes to the familiar symbolism. But to me the image emphasizes the success of a mission, rather than the hope that came before, which to me is more Star-like. Of course, the mission is not complete and won’t be until he reaches home and delivers the water, so maybe it’s all OK anyway.

 

Also, in the image, the Fairy is having what looks like a restful sleep, which depicts the recovery and healing aspect of The Star. And certainly for our Hero, reaching the land of the Fairy of the Dawn, and especially her room, offers a respite from all the difficulties he has been through up to this point.

 

My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it):

 

I think I would see this as showing the importance of hope – and the actions required to realize it – in a given situation. It is such a restful looking card that I would likely see recovery and healing as well.

 

A major theme of the story -- from the very beginning through every terrifying new situation -- is that you can’t reach your goal without the help of allies and friends. In this image, the ally or friend is asleep and doesn’t even know our hero is there, but maybe that adds something to the meaning of the card. There are allies out there who aren’t even aware of you, but they can offer help nonetheless, as long as you believe in the rightness of your actions and the success of your goal.

[Hemera]

The Star

Everyday Witch Tarot (Llewellyn 2017)

 

Description:

Beautiful silver haired lady is standing in a shallow pond. Her right hand is raised toward the sky and her left hand points to the ground (or pond)

 

What action is going on:

The Star Lady is channelling energy. Stars are twinkling in the sky and in her silver dress.

 

Images and Symbolism:

There is what looks like a dead fish belly up in the pond! That is weird in a card which the book says “has no negative interpretations.” The cat is looking at the dead fish speculatively. You can almost see how it will soon stretch its paw to catch it. -Maybe it is meant to look alive, though. Hard to say. (More below.)

 

Colours:

Silver and bright ultramarine blue. Beautiful pastels in the rays that the Star Woman is channelling.

 

This card encourages:

- Silent growth, slow rhythm of the stars

- To use one’s intuition

- Trust Divine guidance and accept Divine gifts

- Nourish your dreams and creativity; go fishing in the unconsciousness

 

Warns against:

- overanalysing

 

Traditional meanings (J. Bunning):

- Regaining hope; believe, dream, count your blessings

- Be inspired; receive an answer, regain motivation

- Be generous; give and share, open your heart

- Feeling serene; relax, go with the flow, enjoy harmony

 

From the Book:

- If you are fortunate she may grant you a wish

- You will find what you seek.

- Look within as well as without for the answers

 

Sallie Nichols: (in Jung and Tarot. An Archetypal Journey. Weiser 1984)

-Star is an archetypal creature of the deeps, she lives in a timeless world of the planets. She moves beyond time subject only to Nature’s rhythms.

-She is Nature Priestess, uniting human and heavenly, practical and symbolical (just like the role stars play in navigation and astrology)

-The Star should be viewed symbolically as manifestations within the psyche

-The Fish: The pond with its dark water is the collective unconscious and the fish is an archetypal image that comes to the light of day to be seen and analysed. Each fish that is brought up from the pond helps to relieve the density of the dark waters.

Notes:

- She has silvery/grey hair, but she looks young

- The dead fish in the pond is very strange. There is no mention of it in the accompanying book. Okay, maybe it was intended to look alive and maybe it was meant to look like it is swimming and peeking above the surface (and gaping some air?). But I can no longer unsee the dead fish I saw there at first. So, in a reading it could represent an idea/feeling/creation that is surfacing -and intuition will tell whether that thing is dead or alive.

-Fish gaping for air; in real life it often means that the water is too warm and it's running short of oxygen.

 

Quote:

We long to return, and we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.

(Sagan)