Leisa
"...About the seven stars through whom the divine work is accomplished[:] Senior says in his book in the chapter on the sun and the moon: 'When you have distributed those seven with seven stars and attributed them to the seven stars and then cleansed them nine times til they look like pearls, that is the whitening.'"
-- Aurora Consurgens, in Alchemy (pg. 220)
The Star is the alchemical process of baptism, the purification in the waters of the unconscious in which the blackness of The Devil is washed away into white.
The baptism is accomplished through Sophia\Aphrodite, also known as Stella Maris, the Star of the Sea, the goddess who serves as psychopomp. The inspiration for this card comes from alchemical and Egyptian sources. Basil Valentine's L'Azoth des Philosophers features drawings of the "Siren of the Philosophers" and a ladder of the planets. The Egyptian hieroglyph for star, sba or tua, which has five starfish-like points, especially means the star of dawn or Venus (Aphrodite), and also means the hour of morning prayer.
The siren in The Star is Sophia\Aphrodite, who rises as a messenger from the depths of the underworld, or unconscious, represented by the sea. Her tails are spread like a Sheila-na-gig or a yonic statue of Kali, representing an open doorway to spiritual transformation through the mysteries of birth, death and rebirth.
Her body is literally the fountain of life. From her breasts pour two streams, one of blood and the other milk, combined with the sea water they form the alchemical trinity, sulfur, mercury and salt. These three liquids are all united in Hermes who is the water of life, and therefore the fluid which runs through her body.
Above her head is an eight-pointed star encircled by a celestial ladder of seven stars, each on their own sphere. The stars are equated to the planets of ancient astronomy, and are colored according to their astrologically corresponding gems. Again, this is the same ladder that appears as lightning in the Tower. According to the ancient mystery religions, when the soul dies, it ascends through a planetary ladder to heaven. Each planet corresponds to an aspect of the personality, which is reconciled when the soul reaches that particular planet. The further up the soul progresses, the more purified it becomes. If the soul is too heavy, if reconciliation can not be made at any planet, the soul falls back to earth. The alchemist related each planet to a metal and similarly felt that they formed a ladder as each one evolved into its purer essence. Both of these ladders parallel on an internal plane the seven primary chakras of yoga (see The Alchemical Ladder spread in Chapter 6).
Beginning at the top left the planets with their associated gems are:
Mercury Amethyst
So Topaz
Mars Ruby
Venus Emerald
Saturn Turquoise
Luna Opal
Jupiter Carnelian
As in alchemical texts, the order of ascent zig-zags across the picture. The order of the planets with their corresponding evolved metals is shown below, along with the corresponding Tarot cards. At the top of the list is the most highly evolved, Sol, and at the bottom is the lowest evolved, Saturn:
Sol Gold The Sun
Luna Silver The Moon
Mercury Mercury The Star
Venus Copper The Star
Jupiter Tin The Tower
Mars Iron Death
Saturn Lead The Hermit
The eight-pointed star symbolizes the eighth sphere of the fixed constellations. This sphere is composed of ether, an eternal, unchanging element, beyond the sphere of the other four. It is the horos (boundary) of the pleroma (fullness) of heaven.
Thus, the imagery in The Star shows the spirit has been led through the depths of the unconscious up to the gate to heaven. The dove to the right of Sophia/Aphrodite symbolizes the spirit that is released after its descent into the underworld. In classical mythology, the dove is a symbol of Aphrodite and Astarte, and in Gnosticism is a symbol of Sophia. To the ancient Hebrews, the dove symbolized Chokmah (Wisdom), or Yahweh's consort or feminine aspect, Shekinah.
The number of the Star, seventeen, corresponds to the number of Justice, eight (one plus seven equals eight). While Justice's body is the middle pillar of the Tree of Life, the siren's body, with her tails to either side, forms all three pillars. The stream of blood corresponds to the pillar of severity, and the stream of milk to the pillar of mercy. The ten sefirot of the Tree of Life can be positioned on her body, with Keter (crown) at the crown, Binah (understanding) and hokhmah (wisdom) at the eyes, Gevurah (judgement) and Hesed (mercy) at the breasts, Tiferet (beauty) at the heart, Hod (reverberation) and Nezah (eternity) at the ovaries, Yesod (foundation) at the uterus, and Malkhut (kingdom, where the divine manifests in the physical) the birth canal.
Tarot wisdom: The Star represents a secure guide to a higher level of consciousness. It is the Higher Self emerging from the unconscious. The Star indicates a sense of balance and of well-being. It is the peace after a storm, the foregiveness after an argument. It represents the nuturing of the Great Mother: of ourselves, of others.
-- Aurora Consurgens, in Alchemy (pg. 220)
The Star is the alchemical process of baptism, the purification in the waters of the unconscious in which the blackness of The Devil is washed away into white.
The baptism is accomplished through Sophia\Aphrodite, also known as Stella Maris, the Star of the Sea, the goddess who serves as psychopomp. The inspiration for this card comes from alchemical and Egyptian sources. Basil Valentine's L'Azoth des Philosophers features drawings of the "Siren of the Philosophers" and a ladder of the planets. The Egyptian hieroglyph for star, sba or tua, which has five starfish-like points, especially means the star of dawn or Venus (Aphrodite), and also means the hour of morning prayer.
The siren in The Star is Sophia\Aphrodite, who rises as a messenger from the depths of the underworld, or unconscious, represented by the sea. Her tails are spread like a Sheila-na-gig or a yonic statue of Kali, representing an open doorway to spiritual transformation through the mysteries of birth, death and rebirth.
Her body is literally the fountain of life. From her breasts pour two streams, one of blood and the other milk, combined with the sea water they form the alchemical trinity, sulfur, mercury and salt. These three liquids are all united in Hermes who is the water of life, and therefore the fluid which runs through her body.
Above her head is an eight-pointed star encircled by a celestial ladder of seven stars, each on their own sphere. The stars are equated to the planets of ancient astronomy, and are colored according to their astrologically corresponding gems. Again, this is the same ladder that appears as lightning in the Tower. According to the ancient mystery religions, when the soul dies, it ascends through a planetary ladder to heaven. Each planet corresponds to an aspect of the personality, which is reconciled when the soul reaches that particular planet. The further up the soul progresses, the more purified it becomes. If the soul is too heavy, if reconciliation can not be made at any planet, the soul falls back to earth. The alchemist related each planet to a metal and similarly felt that they formed a ladder as each one evolved into its purer essence. Both of these ladders parallel on an internal plane the seven primary chakras of yoga (see The Alchemical Ladder spread in Chapter 6).
Beginning at the top left the planets with their associated gems are:
Mercury Amethyst
So Topaz
Mars Ruby
Venus Emerald
Saturn Turquoise
Luna Opal
Jupiter Carnelian
As in alchemical texts, the order of ascent zig-zags across the picture. The order of the planets with their corresponding evolved metals is shown below, along with the corresponding Tarot cards. At the top of the list is the most highly evolved, Sol, and at the bottom is the lowest evolved, Saturn:
Sol Gold The Sun
Luna Silver The Moon
Mercury Mercury The Star
Venus Copper The Star
Jupiter Tin The Tower
Mars Iron Death
Saturn Lead The Hermit
The eight-pointed star symbolizes the eighth sphere of the fixed constellations. This sphere is composed of ether, an eternal, unchanging element, beyond the sphere of the other four. It is the horos (boundary) of the pleroma (fullness) of heaven.
Thus, the imagery in The Star shows the spirit has been led through the depths of the unconscious up to the gate to heaven. The dove to the right of Sophia/Aphrodite symbolizes the spirit that is released after its descent into the underworld. In classical mythology, the dove is a symbol of Aphrodite and Astarte, and in Gnosticism is a symbol of Sophia. To the ancient Hebrews, the dove symbolized Chokmah (Wisdom), or Yahweh's consort or feminine aspect, Shekinah.
The number of the Star, seventeen, corresponds to the number of Justice, eight (one plus seven equals eight). While Justice's body is the middle pillar of the Tree of Life, the siren's body, with her tails to either side, forms all three pillars. The stream of blood corresponds to the pillar of severity, and the stream of milk to the pillar of mercy. The ten sefirot of the Tree of Life can be positioned on her body, with Keter (crown) at the crown, Binah (understanding) and hokhmah (wisdom) at the eyes, Gevurah (judgement) and Hesed (mercy) at the breasts, Tiferet (beauty) at the heart, Hod (reverberation) and Nezah (eternity) at the ovaries, Yesod (foundation) at the uterus, and Malkhut (kingdom, where the divine manifests in the physical) the birth canal.
Tarot wisdom: The Star represents a secure guide to a higher level of consciousness. It is the Higher Self emerging from the unconscious. The Star indicates a sense of balance and of well-being. It is the peace after a storm, the foregiveness after an argument. It represents the nuturing of the Great Mother: of ourselves, of others.
