The Star ⭐

The Star is one of three major arcana cards named for a celestial body. The other two are The Sun and The Moon. 

It's also the next card in our major arcana series. And it's one of my personal favorites 😉

The Star is about hope for the future. It's an optimistic card, and it deals with themes of thinking creatively and leveraging wisdom to find solutions to the challenges you're facing. It's associated with Aquarius, an air sign co-ruled by Uranus (revolution) and Saturn (responsibility).   So, in essence, revolution is Aquarius' responsibility. And for The Star, this means calling a spade a spade and getting down to the nitty gritty of the situation they're facing so they can problem-solve their way through it. 

That's not the only reason why I like it. I mostly like it because Aquarius is my sun sign ♒

But looking at the card itself, we see a bunch of symbols. Here they are in isolation, courtesy of Tarot Disassembled:

Perhaps the most notable is the naked blonde lady holding a pitcher in each hand as she looks down toward a pool of water. In fact, looking closer, you can see there are a few similarities between The Star and Temperance: 

⭐ Tall central figure standing over a pool of water

⭐ The figure is holding water vessels and pouring water from them

⭐ Both figures are standing in a lush landscape

⭐ Both cards feature mountains along the horizon

We'll probably cover The Star vs. Temperance in a future blog post.

But unlike Temperance, The Star is naked. And she's not standing in the water, she's standing on the water. Why is that?

Think about what water symbolizes in tarot. It's emotion. And while Temperance's foot is submerged, The Star's is just skimming it…there's some distance, however tiny, between the figure and the emotional pool she's pouring water into. Aquarius is famously a bit aloof, even when they're engaged in humanitarian tasks like The Star. The Star cares about people and strives to be the architect of the solution, but wants to do so from a healthy distance. 

Specifically, a healthy distance where she can rely on wisdom and the perspective it provides. That's what the bird up in the tree symbolizes. It's an ibis, a bird known for its ability to think outside the box and use its intellect to figure out ways to sustain itself, even when there's a drought going on.

Let's shift our focus back to the central figure for a moment and specifically, take a look at the water vessels in each of her hands. On the surface level, this is a direct reference to the card's zodiac sign, Aquarius. Looking at it more symbolically, we can read these as our figure choosing to provide emotional support to the greater community over on the left, and over on the right, opting to create new, unique streams that could potentially become large pools someday. She's willing to go along with the mainstream when necessary (big pool on the left) but is also willing to be a bit rebellious and throw some recognition over to the ones who choose to go their own way. She's a revolutionary, after all, and she's here to show support to all the burgeoning movements and the groups whose needs fall outside "the norm."

As an alternative interpretation, some readers interpret the water being poured into the big pool on the left as The Star nourishing her emotional self, while the water poured into the grass is The Star nourishing her physical self. Just like water symbolizes emotion in tarot, earth symbolizes the physical world, including our physical bodies. I like this interpretation too. 

But the more you get to know me, the more you'll see how astrology influences a lot of my interpretations. Every reader creates their own unique style, which is one of the things I love most about tarot 😀 Just know that when you're reading with Omg!, you're reading through an astrology-focused lens. 

Next, let's look at the literal star above her head. There are a total of eight stars, but right now, I'm talking about the big yellow one. That's her guiding light. It's the creative spark she follows as she pours into the collective whole. 

Then there are the seven smaller stars. There are a few interpretations of these, including reading these as the seven classical planets (and Aquarius rules astrology, so that tracks), reading them as the Pleiades, or seven sisters. Personally, I'm a fan of the second interpretation—I like the theme of sisterhood present here; the group stays together and watches out for each other. 

She's also surrounded by lush greenery, flowers and the tree that ibis is perched on. I'd say this is a beautiful representation of the growth and renewal around her 🌱

So! When you pull The Star in a tarot reading, what does it mean? 

It means hope and rejuvenation through creative problem-solving. It's actively striving toward the goal of a brighter, better future by putting forth the effort to make it happen.

Depending on your question, it could mean you need to think outside the box and try something you've never tried before to solve the challenge you're facing. Or it could mean that you need to pull back emotionally a bit and size up the issue logically so you can best see where to direct your solution. It could also speak to your role in the collective, and how you might need to be the one to take up the mantle and make executive decisions that will benefit a larger group—and that in this role, compassion and understanding are non-negotiable. 🌟

Want to learn more about The Star? Listen to this episode of the Omg Tarot! podcast: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/LACSVH6tEJb