(Tarot Prompts for Writers)
What I See in the Card:
The Star is an inspiring card.
Typically, the card depicts a naked white woman at a shoreline, pouring water from two vessels into a pond/river/sea. It’s night and there are stars in the sky, including one especially bright star. But you get the feeling that it’s the woman who’s the real star.
It’s the whole scene — the land, the waters, the sky, the woman, the vessels, and the stars — that forms the Star card. And it’s usually a very positive card.
In my card, the woman looks straight at you as you approach. She appears kind but distant. She’s very calm. She has no anxiety hanging out on the riverbank alone at night. She doesn’t feel quite human. She looks like she has a helpful nature but you don’t feel inclined to interrupt her to chat. She’s busy doing her thing.
She pours two complementary-coloured liquids into a pool of water. (In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and some others, she pours one onto land and the other into water.) The card has obvious parallels with Temperance, in which another woman, winged and clothed, pours two vessels of water into each other. In the Star card, the waters join a larger body of water. They are not just balanced; they are expressed and shared.
The card reminds you to share your gifts with the world, to let your inner light shine, to find the place in the world where you belong and to live there fully. It’s a card of hope, healing, harmony, and balance. Things should go well for you under this Star.
The woman’s nakedness represents honesty and truth. She’s forthright. She’s not putting on airs or striving to be anything but what she is. Her surroundings are lush. The trees are in leaf. The bird in the tree signifies life and peace. Water, too, is life-giving. This is a card that suggests abundant blessings.
But let’s not overlook the fact that it’s a very dark night — that’s when the stars come out — and there’s no path through this dimly lit landscape. You may be feeling unsure — but the Star tells you to have hope, to keep going. Perhaps you even know the way, or can find it easily now with the stars to guide you.
You may have been travelling a while but you should go on while the weather is good and you’re not too tired. This is not a place to linger; this is not your home. Continue your journey in good faith, following the reliable guidance of the stars, knowing that good things await you.
The Star is a card of hope, but your hopes need work to come true, not just wishing on stars. If you keep moving in the direction you’re going, acting with hope and peace and honesty, you may be somewhere good by morning.
Read will take you to my notes on how to tell a fortune with the Star — traditional interpretations; what the card might mean in different positions; keywords to help memorize meanings; and questions to ponder or ask the querent.
Write will take you to a few prompts for launching from the Star into a story. A first line, a character, and a point of view — three possible ways to turn the Star into fiction.
Tarot will take you to a central Tarot-Prompts page.
Go ahead, light up a story.
Images on this page are by the following artists:
Banner (and top box), left to right: Marseilles deck engraved by Nicolas Conver; Dragon Tarot illustrated by Roger and Linda Garland; Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi; Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti; Radiant Rider-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; Druid Craft deck illustrated by Will Worthington.
Mid-page boxes: Tarot Balbi; the Wandering Star Tarot by Cat Pierce.
Catherine Austen 