The Pictorial Key to the Tarot

XVII. The Star
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XVII
The Star
A great, radiant star of eight rays, surrounded by seven lesser stars--also of eight rays. The female figure
in the foreground is entirely naked. Her left knee is on the land and her right foot upon the water. She
pours Water of Life from two great ewers, irrigating sea and land. Behind her is rising ground and on the
right a shrub or tree, whereon a bird alights. The figure expresses eternal youth and beauty. The star is
l'étoile flamboyante, which appears in Masonic symbolism, but has been confused therein. That which
the figure communicates to the living scene is the substance of the heavens and the elements. It has been
said truly that the mottoes of this card are "Waters of Life freely" and "Gifts of the Spirit."
The summary of several tawdry explanations says that it is a card of hope. On other planes it has been
certified as immortality and interior light. For the majority of prepared minds, the figure will appear as
the type of Truth unveiled, glorious in undying beauty, pouring on the waters of the soul some part and
measure of her priceless possession. But she is in reality the Great Mother in the Kabalistic Sephira
Binah, which is supernal Understanding, who communicates to the Sephiroth that are below in the
measure that they can receive her influx.
file:///C|/My%20Documents/Spiritoality/Books/The%20...y%20to%20the%20Tarot%20-%20A.E.%20Waite/pktar17.htm [15/07/2001 23:10:35]