Meaning and interpretation Star

Mesopotamian and Egyptian roots: The celestial woman

The woman pouring water in the Star card most likely represents a fusion of several ancient goddesses. In Mesopotamia, the eight-pointed star was the sacred symbol of the goddess Inanna (Sumerian) or Ishtar (Akkadian), a deity associated with love, war, and the planet Venus. This goddess was later assimilated to the classical goddess Aphrodite/Venus during the Hellenistic period.

In the Egyptian tradition, similarly, the goddess Sothis was specifically associated with the star Sirius, whose heliacal rising (appearance of the star just before sunrise) in the east announced the annual flooding of the Nile, a vital phenomenon for Egyptian civilization. This figure was later assimilated to Isis in Greco-Egyptian mythology, especially during the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BCE).

The representation of stars

The eight-pointed star has been associated with the goddess of love since Mesopotamian representations of Inanna/Ishtar on artifacts dating back to the 4th millennium BCE. But during this period, all planets were commonly represented with stars having six to twelve rays, without any systematic correlation between the planet Venus and a specifically octagonal star.

In 16th century astrological engravings, Venus generally appears accompanied by the symbols of Taurus and Libra (the zodiac signs she rules according to traditional astrology), and often topped with a six-pointed star. This variation in the number of branches raises important questions about the definitive identification of the card with the planet Venus. Especially since in classical mythological iconography, Venus/Aphrodite is rarely depicted in the act of pouring water.

Aquarius: Privileged astrological connection

The most obvious and historically documented correspondence is that established between the Star card and the astrological sign of Aquarius, the eleventh sign of the zodiac. Traditionally, Aquarius (Aquarius in Latin) is represented by a male figure pouring water from a jar, an iconography dating back to Babylonian astrologers who identified this constellation as "the Great One" or "the Water Bearer".

In medieval tradition, particularly in illuminated manuscripts and early printed almanacs of the 15th century, significant iconographic variations appear. Notably, there are female representations of Aquarius pouring water from two distinct containers. This duality in gender representation could explain the feminization of the figure in the tarot card during its codification in the 17th century.

The Pleiades: Seven celestial sisters

Another constellation associated with this card is the Pleiades, the star cluster visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Taurus. In Greek mythology, the Pleiades are the seven water nymphs, daughters of the titan Atlas and the oceanid Pleione. Their myth tells how the giant Orion pursued them relentlessly until Artemis, goddess of the hunt, intervened to protect them by first transforming them into seven doves, then into seven stars.

The bird perched in the tree on the Star card could be a subtle reference to their temporary transformation into doves, creating a symbolic link between heaven and earth. The eighth star, larger and central in the traditional iconography of the Marseille Tarot, would represent according to certain esoteric interpretations of the 18th century their father Atlas, a titanic figure condemned by Zeus to stand at the western edge of Gaia (Earth) to support the celestial vault on his shoulders.

This attribution nevertheless poses a significant conceptual problem: Atlas is not a star in classical mythology, but a character generally represented in Western art as a man bent under the weight of the celestial globe. This shows how tarot can be over-interpreted by mixing various mythological traditions.

The female figure pouring water: Naiads and sacred springs

Representations of naked women pouring water from two jars remain relatively rare in European art of the 15th and 16th centuries. A particularly relevant example can be found in the frescoes of Palazzo Te in Mantua, a pleasure residence built between 1525 and 1535 for Federico II Gonzaga. These frescoes, created by Giulio Romano and his workshop, present a Naiad in a posture surprisingly similar to that of our card.

Naiads, in Greek mythology, are aquatic nymphs specifically associated with springs, fountains, streams, and other freshwater sources. Daughters of Zeus according to some traditions, they personified the purity of waters and their regenerative power. During the Italian Renaissance, in the context of the rediscovery of ancient texts and Plato, these pagan figures were reintroduced into artistic iconography, especially in aristocratic residences as symbols of abundance and fertility.

This figure of the Naiad, combining femininity, nudity, and water, is part of a long symbolic tradition where poured water represents both spiritual purification and transmission of sacred knowledge.

The Star of Bethlehem: Christian Dimension

In the Christian tradition, the quintessential guiding star is the Star of Bethlehem or Christmas Star, a celestial sign that, according to the Gospel of Matthew, announced to the Magi from the East the birth of Christ and guided them to Jerusalem and then Bethlehem. This miraculous star constitutes a powerful symbol of hope and divine guidance in Western Christian iconography. Nativity scenes and Christmas trees are traditionally adorned with a star, perpetuating this symbolism even in our contemporary traditions.

The Star of Bethlehem is also a flower as can be seen opposite. Its white flowers in the shape of a 6-pointed star appear from April to June and have the peculiarity of opening in the morning and closing in the evening, hence its common name "Eleven o'clock Lady."

The Cary Sheet is a rare document dating from around 1500, presenting an uncut sheet of tarot cards. This historical piece is particularly valuable for understanding the iconographic evolution of tarot through the centuries.

This sheet represents an essential link in the history of tarot, illustrating the transition toward the imagery found in the Tarot of Marseille.

The main innovation of this version is the appearance of a kneeling character pouring water from two pitchers into a body of water, an element that will become characteristic of later versions.

The gendered identity of this figure remains subject to debate among specialists. This ambiguity could be intentional, reflecting the hermetic currents of the time where androgyny symbolized a form of primordial perfection.

The card features an imposing eight-pointed star accompanied by four smaller stars. A notable detail is the presence of a wand or rod ending with a star held by the character, an element that will disappear in subsequent versions. This object could represent a magical attribute or a simplified astronomical instrument.

This representation marks a significant evolution: earlier versions often featured astronomers observing the sky, while here aquatic elements are added. This transformation testifies to the influence of Neoplatonic currents that associated stars with celestial influences and water with their transmission to the earthly world.

The Cary Sheet thus reveals the gradual fusion of astronomical and aquatic symbols that shaped the enduring iconography of the Star card as we know it today.

When tarot spread to France in the 16th century, the Star card underwent an unexpected change: the image of the astronomer or astrologer returned to the foreground. In the anonymous Paris Tarot, we find a scholar sitting at his desk pointing a measuring instrument called a caliper toward the sky. Similarly, the tarot created by Jacques Viéville features an astronomer seated near a tower with the same instrument.

This representation of the astronomer became the standard version of the Star in the "Rouen-Brussels" tarot model, very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries in northern France and present-day Belgium. This choice to keep the astronomer as a central figure reflects the rise of astronomical sciences during the Renaissance, a time when discoveries by Copernicus and later Galileo were profoundly transforming our vision of the universe.

An interesting element to note is that the number of rays of the main star and the number of small stars surrounding it vary greatly from one version to another. This variation is not anecdotal: it corresponds to the different ways stars were represented in astrology and astronomy works of this period. Contrary to what some modern interpretations of tarot suggest, the number of rays or stars did not have a strictly codified meaning - these variations were more related to artistic choices or technical constraints linked to engraving.

Oswald Wirth (1860-1943), a Swiss Freemason, revolutionized tarot imagery with his "Tarot of the Medieval Imagemakers" (1927). His version of the Star introduced several important symbolic innovations: he replaced the traditional bird with a butterfly representing Psyche (the immortal soul transformed after trials) and associated it with a rose, evoking the myth of Eros and Psyche as an allegory of the union between the human soul and divine Love.

Wirth also added an acacia branch, a Masonic symbol of immortality and spiritual rebirth. In his alchemical vision, the liquids poured by the woman had a precise meaning: from the golden vessel sprang an ardent liquid (active/sulfuric principle) revitalizing stagnant water, while from the silver vessel flowed pure water (passive/mercurial principle) nourishing nature - representing the necessary combination of complementary principles in the alchemical work.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, contrary to Lévi, associated the Star with the Hebrew letter Tzaddi (צ) and the sign of Aquarius, reinforcing the link between the water-pouring figure and the archetype of the celestial Water Bearer. In their system, the card was named "The Daughter of the Firmament" and represented with seven-pointed stars, symbolizing the seven traditional planets. The Golden Dawn considered this card as a guide for meditation and connection to inner wisdom after spiritual upheavals.

Arthur Edward Waite, influenced by Christian mysticism, saw tarot as a system of spiritual symbolism rather than a simple divinatory tool. In his version of the Star, he returned to the eight-pointed stars of the French tradition and introduced an ibis (sacred bird of the Egyptian god Thoth) perched on an acacia (tree symbolizing resurrection in the Masonic tradition). Waite interpreted the woman of the Star as representing both "eternal beauty" and the kabbalistic Great Mother of Binah, reflecting his desire to synthesize various esoteric traditions into a coherent vision.