The Pictorial Key to the Tarot

XVII
The Star

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.