Up: [[Tarot]] Related: [[Ibis]] Created: 2025-11-20 > [!leaf] In Brief > Gifts of Spirit — hope, replenishment, inspiration > [!leaf] What Matters The central message of the Star card and the actions to support that message are intertwined. This is a card of renewal, of making connection to the part within that is serene and hopeful. It’s a card that often comes after an emotionally challenging time just as, in the Tarot, it follows the very challenging [[16 - Tower]]. So the action is to embrace the self-care and self-nurturing that will renew inspiration, positivity and hopefulness. It helps to think of the feeling we have when we look up at the night sky. That sense of awe gets channeled back to us with the Star card as a lightness of being that makes us feel inspired and hopeful that our vision for our life, our [[Calling]], can be realized. If we still our mind and listen within, we might experience personal insights about ourselves and a deeper glimpse into life’s mystery. As Osho Zen puts it, with this card, *There’s nothing to do, nowhere to go, and the quality of your inner silence permeates everything you do.* > [!leaf] Actions to Take The dominant action for the Star card is to embrace inaction and focus on listening to yourself. But I find I lose my focus if I don’t write. If you’re the same, you might journal or freewrite responses to any of these questions or quotes: - What replenishes me and gives me hope? - What am I healing? Or, What is being renewed in me? - What are some ways I can soothe myself so that I spend more time in calmness and peace? - What have I outgrown that I want to release? > [!Orbit] Carl Sagan > The Cosmos is also within us. We are made of star-stuff. > [!Orbit] William Blake > He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star. > [!leaf] Shadow If you’re not embracing the energy of this card, you are: - denying or not recognizing your abilities - feeling hopeless - unwilling to accept anything short of perfection ![[Star RWS.webp|400]] ![[Star Anna K.webp|400]] > [!leaf] Symbols Both the classic Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) and contemporary Anna K Tarots show an eight-pointed star. You might think of it as similar to the points on a compass, so it’s asking you to follow your North Star to [[The Self]]. Additionally, all stars symbolize inspiration, hope and divine guidance. The eight points, and in the case of the RWS the eight stars, are numerlogically significant. Not only is this the number of the card (17 = 1+7), but [[Eight is a Number of Balance and Potential]]. The other common symbol, no matter what the deck, is water. Water imagery is baptism and rebirth (supported by the nude woman in the RWS) , the water of life, the unconscious (personal and collective), and intuition. The zodiac sign associated with the Star in Aquarius leading at least one tarot author to claim that the card is as much about water as it is about light. The bird in the tree on the RWS card is an [[ibis]]. *Spiritual Tarot* says it represents the ability to focus within in order to receive higher wisdom. *Fearless Tarot* says that the bird’s placement high in the tree speaks to the importance of gaining perspective, seeing the big picture, and flying above our challenges.