Shining a light: The Star revisited

Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article tells you how to use the spread. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc

By Sarah Taylor

Although I didn’t participate in the comments on Nov. 17, when I handed The Star over to you, the readers, for discussion, I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. The level of insight — both from those with a theoretical and/or astrological knowledge of the card, and from those who took a purely intuitive approach — was engaging; and I want to thank each of you who helped hold the fort in my absence.

The Star - Crowley-Harris (left) and Rider-Waite Smith (right) Tarot decks.
The Star from the Crowley-Harris (left) and Rider-Waite Smith (right) Tarot decks.

As I mentioned in my short preamble to that article, I love The Star. It holds personal significance for me, not least because it corresponds to the sign of Aquarius, which, as a Leo, I consider to be my astrological mirror.

From an artistic point of view, I am particularly drawn to the Crowley-Harris (or Thoth Tarot) version of The Star, on the left. That is not to say that I don’t like the Rider-Waite Smith interpretation — which is on the right — because I do, very much. It has a gentle, grounded poetry to it.

Be that as it may, as Eric mentions in his first comment on Nov. 17, these two versions of The Star use different symbols to transmit their ideas. It can be useful to immerse ourselves in the landscapes of each in order to experience the particular messages that they bring through, as well as to find those areas of commonality. Each has a story to tell, and each will have something to say to us about our own story if we open ourselves to its wisdom.

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