Without a doubt, the Star (Major Arcana 17) is one of the
most welcoming cards in Tarot. In most decks the image is depicted by a young,
beautiful, naked maiden filling and emptying her vessels of water in the backdrop
of a calm and invigorating pool of water.
The image of the Star suggests a peaceful, contented and
hopeful realization of our deepest dreams. For this reason, nearly everyone
likes to see the Star show up in their readings.
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| The Star - Legacy of the Divine |
However, what most people fail to realize is that the Star
follows the Tower card – which depicts the complete and utter destruction of
the ego and ego-based thinking. The Star represents truth, clarity and purity
of intention. That is why the woman in the image is naked. She is no longer
restricted by the cloak of earthly fears.
In fairness, it is easy to miss this connection because most
Tarot decks depict the Star in a scene that looks only like the calm after the
storm and omits any previous experiences that led us to this point.
My favorite version of the Star is by Ciro Marchetti,
creator of The Legacy of the Divine Tarot. In this version, we see our
young maiden being propelled from the rubble of the Tower like a phoenix rising
from the ashes. No longer restricted by a limited ego-existence, the young
woman is free to move forward confidently in the direction of her dreams.
It is an absolutely beautiful rendition because as she rises
above the destruction of the Tower, we catch her glancing back at the mess with
a look that can almost be described as gratitude. It is as if she is thanking
the Universe for the cataclysmic events that freed her from her spiritual
slumber.
And that leads us to one of the most important messages of
the Star.
Despite our wishes, the freedom and promise offered by the
Star comes only after we have faced our deepest fears and have had the courage
to go beyond them. The rewards we seek that are represented by the Star come to
us only when we have courageously faced down our biggest fears, stood up to our
harshest critics (both in and outer), and persevered faithfully in the
direction of our deepest truths.
In reality, the gift offered by the Star is not an outer
one. Rather it is a completeness of soul and purpose that comes after facing the
uncertainty of following frightening, but vaguely familiar paths and having the
faith in ourselves to move forward on them when we can’t even imagine how we
will ever be successful.
