Aquarius & The Star
The Star tarot card, Nefartari’s Tarot
I did not plan this, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I find myself writing this post not in Aquarius season but when seven of our planets align in our solar system. Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Neptune and Uranus all form a straight line, a rare celestial occurrence! The Star as depicted by Pamela Colman Smith has seven small stars in the sky, alluding to the seven stars in our solar system. The synchronicity of writing about the Star archetype during this time is immensely uplifting. This is high vibrational energy.
The Star is one of the most beautiful cards in the tarot and is a welcome sight in any reading as it suggests immense healing, hope and creativity. Astrologically, the Star is associated with Aquarius, a fixed sign, which falls between 20 January and 19 February, the second month of winter, a time when most of us in the northern hemisphere are dreaming of spring and looking out for little signs that the cycle of life is beginning again.
Otherwise known as the water bearer, Aquarius is sometimes confused as being a water sign, but it is an air sign and the eleventh sign of the zodiac. The traditional ruler is Saturn, and the modern ruler is Uranus. Uranus is the planet of nonconformity, revolution, freedom, equality, sudden events and discoveries. We often find that native Aquarius or people with heavy Aquarian placements in their charts are concerned with equality and humanitarian causes.
Aquarius is said to rule the ankles and circulatory system. They are said to be good with ideas, a sign of intellect and rational thought. They are said to make good academics and are often good at languages, whether it be coding programs like Python and C++ or foreign languages. With all that said, there is a strong element of intuition also associated with the sign. They make good scientists, teachers and activists and strive to make life better for the collective good.
ASTROLOGY & MYTH
In ancient Greek myth, the beautiful son of Tros of Dardania, Ganymede, was abducted by the Sky god Zeus and taken to Mount Olympus to be a water bearer to the gods. When Zeus becomes bored with Ganymede, he turns him into the constellation of Aquarius, something Zeus is very fond of doing with his playthings once he gets bored. In another myth, Aquarius is the son of Zeus. Zeus is angered by humanity and tasks his son with pouring waters from heaven to earth, causing the great flood.
Western astrology is heavily influenced by ancient Babylonian and ancient Egyptian astrology. According to the Babylonian Star Catalogue, The Great One, represented by the god Ea or Enki, is often depicted as holding an overflowing water jug and is thought to have gone on to influence ancient Greek myths of Aquarius.
The Star, Rider Waite Colman Smith
THE STAR CONNECTION
On the Star by Colman Smith, we see the naked woman pouring water from two vessels - one onto land and the other into water. In the background, we see a tree with a little bird perched on top. This little bird is an ibis and is considered to be a protective bird sacred to the ancient Egyptian god Thoth, otherwise known as Tehuti, who is often depicted with the head of an ibis. Ibis birds live in wetlands, forests and plains. The element of water in African cosmology is thought to hold star knowledge and ancient wisdom about our origins. It is also the element of healing. Thoth, the god of wisdom, writing and magic, is said to be especially protective of those involved in magical pursuits, teaching and the arts.
To the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the magical motto for the Star card was Daughter of the Firmament, Dweller between the Waters. The woman in the centre is thought to be Hathor / Isis, Mother Earth herself. She pours from the vessels, waters of divine creation, the energies from the Sefirot, Chochma and Binah - flowing into the waters below her feet and where she kneels on land. The cosmic source of radiance and tranquillity is evident in her serene aura. Above her head in the sky are seven small stars, which point to seven as a magical number - the seven planets according to classical astrology/astronomy, the seven days of the week, seven chakras, etc. The eighth biggest central star, the dog star, Sirius B the most important star according to many ancient cultures in our solar system.
I also like to think of one of my favourite goddesses, the ancient Egyptian Sky goddess Nut, who was said to give birth to the sun and the moon each day and is often depicted as having a body full of stars. The arch of her body is also sometimes compared to the arch of our Milky Way system.
Aquarius represents humankind. In the Star card, we can think of the woman as a representation of humanity that is reborn after the tower’s fall - the previous card. The lessons learned from the fall allow the woman to embrace and unite the divine powers of heaven with the earth's nature of the soul. Free from earthly restraints, no longer clothed, everything in divine union and acceptance. Our unconscious creativity flows freely and generously like the water from the vessels. We can heal and move forward on our path with gentle acceptance and hope. We have a divine understanding of the mysteries of the universe and our planet.
Bibliography
Opening to Spirit, Caroline Shola Arewa, 1998
Astrology, K. Farnell, 2002
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack, 1997
Complete Golden Dawn, I. Regardie
The Science of the Dogon, Laird Scranton, 2002
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