The Druid Craft Tarot- Key 17-The Star, depicts the traditional Lady, as does the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot. She is the same figure, as the Empress, The High Priestess, and the Universe card; However, in the Star Card the Great Mother is in her purest Manifestation, before being enclosed in matter. Hence, she is unveiled, as the perfection of the physical form of Nature; i.e. "of everything under the Sun", meaning she is below the level of Tiphareth, the 6th Sephiroth. On the Druid Craft Tarot, her setting is Nature perfected, as she pours her ethereal water on both land and water, creating life in and on both. The moon, another of her sigils hangs brightly in the starry sky as does the planet Venus. In the lush back ground is an ancient temple of stone, usually based on viewing the "stars".
The Star-ATU 17 of the Thoth Tarot is rightfully called the Path of Tzaddi or Tsadeh, which connects the Sephiroth Netzach (Victory) to the Sephiroth Yesod (The Foundation). This is the path called the Natural Intelligence, by Paul Foster Case in his instructional text, Thirty-Two Paths to Wisdom; natural intelligence because it is the Path of proper approach to the Divine Energy inherent in each person. It is the Natural Intelligence, as it represents the proper use of Imagination----which is the Divine Womb, an Intelligence used in "image making; many of us call it the Creatrix. In gematria, the numerology of Qabalah, The Star reduces to 8, the Strength card (Lust of Thoth Tarot) which is the card noted for the proper control and use of the Kundalini and/or Divine sex force. Crowley has transposed the Hebrew letters for the Emperor and the Star, the reasons being explained most throughly on my past Emperor blog. However, the Star belongs firmly planted on the Twenty-Eighth path of Tzaddi.
The meaning of the Hebrew letter, Tzaddi, is Fish hook, implying meditation, a process inseparable from the proper use of imagination. Hence, the proper implications are that once we are hooked on an idea, we focus energy (emotion), and with proper diligent software running our brain, the body gets it done in an impeccable manner. The physical vehicle, is a power-tool of Imagination, an Avatar of the Soul and as we all know, with computer run power tools, garbage programing in means, garbage production- out.
All this may be too much for the culturally programed personality to absorb, but the fact is, you were imagined into being by what students of Carl Jung now call the Universal Collective Unconscious, or Universal Unconsciousness. So for the sake of simplicity, I'll call it the Divine Intelligence.
In the terms of Tzaddi, fish hook, the implication is that there is a merging of two streams of conscious energy, for something is put-in rather than taken out. Here the individual consciousness is attached to the Greater Conscious. In the Tarot/Qabalah, Water is the symbol used for consciousness, making the analogy of the fish hook being put in, pertinent as well.
It helps to understand that we are not a brain, nor any kind of separate physical device. We are a ternary Self-concept that is the Transmitter (Spirit), the Transmitted (Mind-Psyche) and the Receiver (Brain-Body). Just as a Radio Transmitter (in our Case-Spirit-Mind and Body) transmits frequency "everywhere but nowhere" at the same time and would be unheard without a radio receiver so it is with the microwave frequencies of Spiral Energy (Spirit) that would be unheard without a physical vehicle of time/space tuned to that infinite frequency. In this scenario, Spirit is the Collective Unconscious, and the individual frequencies would be Soul Stations while the human vessel would be the receiving radio controlled- bio-robotic -power tool for measurement. There is no way to measure one's self, when one is infinite. Hence the Spirit, uses time/space as measurement, allowing "self-reflection" and/or "self-awareness". The Human body, is a sacrament of Spirit. Therefore, each of us is our own time/space and free to experiment with identity.
In quantum physics, an entity is a point in time which to a timeless energy frequency, is extremely necessary for self-awareness. Points in time are necessary for a discriminating creator, for how do you know what you do and what you affect, when you have no way of examining the action? To gather Knowledge, the mind needs an intellectual gathering place---a place in time, i.e. a point. A point of a pen is also what authors need to write into manifestation their thoughts. That pen gives them a Point in which to concentrate their thoughts so that they can be carefully examined, corrected and produced. Because of that point and the flow of ink (in physics this would be light) they can manifest those thoughts in time/space. Points begin the transformation of energy into images.
The ethereal material that the Divine Consciousness deals in is "Thought", something we know exists but are unable to explain its source. It is our "first matter", and in Qabalah, the first matter-thought is often symbolized as a fish. This concept allows me to take the next quantum leap in examination. Theoretically if we describe the Ocean, as the womb of earth life, (Imagination is the Womb of idea) we can see that to the Ocean, it is everywhere and nowhere at the same time, for it has no sense of self. However, the fish is made of Ocean and its elements and must exist in the Ocean as a "part of Oceanic imagination"; a self-image, if you will, of the Ocean itself and as Spirit (I AM) must flow through us as "I AM Me". Hence, the Ocean flows through the crystallized self -image (Me-fish) that it has imagined into existence, in order to be able to do work within its self-imagery. Now I know this is simplistic as an explanation can get, but it should help you in understanding why you have a physical vehicle, and why it is most sacred to Spirit!
The “I AM” (Imagination) denotes existence, the “me” establishes it as a sensual point in time, i.e. a place to do the work of measurement.
The Path of the Natural Intelligence is the Path of the raw forces attributed to Netzach (Victory). To a Qabalist these natural forces are called the Elohim (Gods of Netzach) and are synonymous with nature itself. Moreover, the number of The Star, is 17 and when added together (1+7=8) seventeen becomes 8 which is key 8- Strength/Lust, which represents conscious control over the Kundalini (Lion-Serpent) whose description is both solar (lion is the symbol of the Sun) and sexual (serpentine force). As I have stated before, the Kundalini is coiled in Yesod , which is the Foundation of earth manifestation.
To many, sex-energy or Kundalini is a word of sin filled lust and emotional turmoil:
However, the initiate knows as we encounter the sexual energy in ourselves, we are approaching the Greater Mysteries of Tiphareth, The Solar Logos, the central star of our existence. Of course, “if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen”. Thus, the Path of Tzaddi-The Star is important to the neophyte as it is a very powerful Path which points out the proper way to approach the Kundalini...The Divine Spiral Energy of Divine Sex, inherent in all of us.
This process of approach is a kind of yoga (communion) involving the "opening of Chakras" and/or the enervation of energy centers through the process of meditation. This is also the energy we use in the meditation process, being both the goal and means of enlightenment. The Star is the method or means of perfection.
In the Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom, the Magus Paul Foster Case stated that: The twenty-eight path [Path of Tzaddi} is called the Natural Intelligence, and it is so called because through it is consummated and perfected the Nature of every existing thing under the Sun." {The brackets are my own insertion).
Qabalists know the Star Card represents the proper use of imagination, through the energy of meditation.
Even though meditation feels like a personal activity, successful meditation shows us that it is not we that are meditating but rather, we are meditated! Truth be known, The Higher Self brings the Personality into meditation. In the context of meditation, the Personality uses the Path of Tzaddi, The Fish Hook, in searching for reality in the context of meditation; However, meditation is also The Higher Self angling to pull the Personality up from the depths of self-enclosure which is a reality imposed on us by the physical senses.
To reiterate: The Star Card figure, represents the purest manifestation of the Great Mother Binah at the level of Personality, preceding enclosure in matter, she is the Same figure found in The Empress, in her royal regalia; The High Priestess and in The Universe cards, However, here She is unveiled, in-robed, further representing Her purity.
The Star is associated with the love and inspiration sign of Aquarius. In the ancient world, Saturn was said to govern Aquarius, referring us to Binah and The Universe key 21.
Because the Star card represents the universe resolved into its ultimate elements, it relates to many more Paths than any other card in the deck. Thus, I recommend getting the text book by Robert Wang---The Qabalistic Tarot (A text book of Mystical Philosophy) and studying the many path Charts on the Tree of Life that he presents in the book.
To the Qabalist, the Star card represents the "Lower Eden", from which the Personality originates and the Emperor, represents "Upper Eden" where the Fiery Higher Self originates...The Solar Logos. Here to, we see a relationship of The Star Path (Tzaddi) relating to another Path, that of the Emperor (Heh) and therefore, supplying another reason for Crowley to transpose the two. The Star card also relates to the Planet Venus, which to the ancients was seen as the "Morning and Evening Star", also referred to as Lucifer, the Most beautiful of all Archangels, referring to the Sephiroth Tiphareth-Beauty, which is the Solar Logos/Christ self. Lucifer is not seen as an underworld figure, but rather the Higher Self. But with proper enforcement of propaganda the meaning of Beauty (Synchronicity) became an Underworld Angel who was so narcissistic that he/beauty, challenged God----which is the common Christian view. We all must study history to see how the Christians took the names of gods and goddesses of other religions and demonized them, which only contributed to ignorance and lost self-awareness. The truth is that the Latin word Lucifer is similar to the Greek Christos (Sun, also Zeus Christos or Sun of God) ----both relating to the fiery Sun of God....The Solar Logos and/or our Higher Self.
When the Star Card-Key/ATU 17, is thrown during a reading:
· The querent shall be or will be experiencing hope, faith and unexpected help for 17 weeks or 17 months.
· Self-esteem and confidence contributing to self-efficiency and talent.
· The querent, upon meditating, shall hear their own song (sound frequency), becoming harmony and then emoting love, calm and peaceful agility.
- One is following their own inner star.
If ill defined by the accompanying cards, they can be the experiencing:
· States of dreaminess, and deceived hope.
