My very long interpretation of XVII The Star
XVII
The Star
from the accompanying text that came with the deck:
Keywords: Authenticity, true self. Immortal, eternal, divine soul. Heal, renew, rebuild. Grace, hope, divine message. Muse, inspiration. Happiness, satisfaction, peace, oasis.
Traditional: Hope, Grace, Unexpected help. Faith. Dreams realized.
What I see when I look at the image on the card
The image depicts much more than the traditional definitions.
Our lovely star is feminine and has a youthful, traditional beauty. Perfectly imperfect - note the breasts and curvature of figure are not symmetrical.
This is a fiery woman. Her fire is more concentrated in the lower part of the body, it gets less intense toward her crown. She's rising. She looks happy there, but she is definitely passing through.
At first I thought the people were all in a land below. But instead, because of the color fade, I think that some have less weight or gravity than others. She is a light that can be known by people on a range of different levels of awareness or light.
The stigmata
It suggests christ, yet there are no nails and her arms are not in the right position for that. She has no crown of thorns. No one is punishing her. But she was hurt. Those wounds never fully healed, they are instead healed over. Very old, very primal wounds.
Her feet are in a bound position from that old wound, but she is bound to nothing, no one. Only bound by the memory of her wounds. She still thinks the wounds belong to her, but she can let them go. She cannot (yet) or she chooses not to.
Her fire is authentic and it comes from the separation. It comes from the dissonance of the primal wound and her love of others. She does not remember feeling a light like hers shine down upon her own self. Not because nothing would love her, but because nothing could. She wouldn't allow it. But as she slowly allows love and light to come within her, she rises.
Look how her expression is so serene. She a combination of Virgin/Whore (more on that in a moment). Mary above the waist and Jesus Christ (without the cross) below the waist. The legs show a leanness, a muscle development. She is and expression of male and female. As she rises, she becomes more feminine.
The dress expresses much. The hem is long and demure in some parts, shorter in others. Her dress is torn. She is not ashamed of her past. She is definitely not a virgin. She has known the world and it has known her. Her appearance does not suggest she has a desire to tempt the opposite sex now. Instead she simply loves all beings.
She looks almost like a martyr, this is one way she is divided. Division is the source of her fire. She loves those beings but she has never really been with them, she has been on a separate plane since she received the wounds. This wound and its impact are the facilitator of her separateness. She will learn that it is the primal wounding that set her on this path, to become The Star.
In a reading I suppose she could bring a message of the future, of what is to come, or she could be a symbol for someone whose path is the same as hers. Reversal could be a message saying what may not become, regardless of effort. Or perhaps that not following the path would lead to not achieving what is to come. Plus whatever the other relevant cards portray. Plus the attributes and situation of the person receiving the reading.
Oh my, is she a red giant star? Which way is she evolving? Red giant to Indigo? The path of Heh to Samekh (Temperance)? From the pillar of mercy to a more balanced state? Her crown chakra is cropped out. I assume, based on the other cards in the deck that this cropping is intentional. It means we cannot see the source or color of her divine inspiration. What is her next destination?
The circle on the forehead. Divine energy. The sun. 3rd eye chakra: Awareness. Boy does she have it. She has to use awareness in order to shine a hopeful and truthful reflection to those that see her light. She helps others become aware.
The 6 pointed star - the five elements plus the divine.
1) Extended upper and lower points - the macrocosm and the microcosm.
2) Roman numerals - those points signify earth, fire, air, and water.
3) Single line to make the star - the intersection of all.
4) The star exists at the intersection of the elements and the macrocosm and the microcosm. She exists to be a navigator, to light the path.