Disclaimer
This is a brief examination of the Star Card in the Thoth Tarot. Depending on my audience’s response, I might continue producing such content discussing one card at a time. One of the first cards I saw from the Thoth Tarot, the Star, profoundly impacted my mind and decision to buy the deck; apparently, that is why I am reviewing it first.
Introduction
According to The Book of Thoth, understanding The Star requires understanding the first chapter of the Book of the Law. Called The Manifestation of Nuit, this is (basically) Nuit explaining her nature and dynamic with her partner Hadit, who speaks in the second chapter. Crowley and modern scholars explain that the following lines of the Book of the Law convey the essence of The Star:
“I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.”
According to The Book of Thoth, understanding The Star requires understanding the first chapter of the Book of the Law. Called The Manifestation of Nuit, this is (basically) Nuit explaining her nature and dynamic with her partner Hadit, who speaks in the second chapter. Crowley and modern scholars explain that the following lines of the Book of the Law convey the essence of The Star:
Tzaddi צ
In decks like the standard Arthur Waite and Golden Dawn, the Star attributes to Tzaddi, which considering The Book of Thoth’s Theory of Tarot, is, in fact, wrong. And Crowley attributes Tzaddi to the Emperor.
The 28th Path
Meaning 90, Tzaddi is the 28th path joining Netzach and Yesod. It’s called Natural Intelligence representing the imagination’s proper uses, such as the raw forces of Netzach. Besides fish-hook, Tzaddi means capturing, hunting, and adversary. As mentioned in my Thoth Tarot review, Crowley got the revelation for the change as a cyphered question while the Book of the Law was dictated. Interestingly, in his essay, The Tarot (part 1), David Cherubim switches the places of the paths of Heh and Tzaddi.
Heh ה
The Book of Thoth attributes ‘Heh’ to the following:
“ה: Nuit, our Lady of the Stars! Event
Is all Thy play, sublime Experiment!”
Traditionally, Heh is the 15th path, joining Chokmah and Tiphereth. The 15th path is called constituting consciousness or intelligence. The reason is that it ‘constitutes’ (or forms) the essence of creation in pure darkness, which, based on my research, matches Nuit’s nature.
Meanings of Heh ה
Heh is 5, but it is spelled הה, which enumerates 10. Some meanings of Heh include to breathe, ‘to exist,’ ‘to become,’ and ‘to desire.’ Now, let us consider this passage from the Manifestation of Nuit.
“At all my meetings with you shall the priestess say—and her eyes shall burn with desire as she stands bare and rejoicing in my secret temple — To me! To me! Calling forth the flame of the hearts of all her love-chant!”
While (to me) these all resonate better with Nuit being infiniteness of potentialities and the airy sign of Aquarius, in Astrology, Heh (actually) means identification of a star
The Openings of Heh ה
According to LMD, Heh’s small and large openings suggest all things female, receptive, or negatively charged. This also expresses Nuit better, considering she’s the ultimate feminine — the womb and darkness containing all possibilities. Those familiar with Don Webb’s Uncle Setnakt’s Guide to the LHP would likely agree she is (also) the Future from which everything comes into being. Or, more likely, that which is before the Future. Let me know what you think of that.
Window
Heh is also a transparent window and even an eye through which we observe the world. According to some sources, that window’s primary purpose is to transmit light, enabling us to become aware of the Star within and the light around us. Such illumination might manifest in different forms, including daily inspiration and ideas.
YHVH יהוה
Appearing in it twice, Heh makes one-half of YHVH. The first, or the ‘Primal Heh,’ is The Great Mother and the Circle of Nuit; the second, or ‘Final He,’ is the fertile daughter. According to page 13 of 777:
“The Tetragrammaton IVHV is referred to the Sephiroth, thus: the uppermost point of the letter Yod, I, is said to refer to Kether; the letter I itself to Chokmah, the father of the Microprosopus; the letter H, or the “supernal He,” to Binah, the supernal Mother; the letter V to the next six Sephiroth, which are the six members of the Microprosopus (and six is the numerical value of V, the Hebrew Vau); lastly, the letter H, the “inferior He,” to Malkuth, the tenth Sephira, the bride of the Microprosopus…”
Lady of Space
The Star card depicts the Lady of Space, the Star Goddess Nuit, holding two cups. Golden and silver, the cups allude to her breasts, giving the milk of the star
Cups
Besides the celestial globe, the golden cup pours over the Goddess herself, symbolizing the eternal renewal process. The silver cup ‘pours’ the blood of the Grail, or as Crowley says, “or, rather, the nectar which is the mother of that blood.” Also, the Amrita of Indian philosophers, the Ambrosia of the Greeks, such as the Alchemists’ Universal Medicine. This is poured where the waters of Binah and land meet.
Straight Lines
According to the Book of Thoth:
“The Tetragrammaton IVHV is referred to the Sephiroth, thus: the uppermost point of the letter Yod, I, is said to refer to Kether; the letter I itself to Chokmah, the father of the Microprosopus; the letter H, or the “supernal He,” to Binah, the supernal Mother; the letter V to the next six Sephiroth, which are the six members of the Microprosopus (and six is the numerical value of V, the Hebrew Vau); lastly, the letter H, the “inferior He,” to Malkuth, the tenth Sephira, the bride of the Microprosopus…”
“It is only the lower cup that the forms of energy issuing forth show rectilinear characteristics. In this may be discovered the doctrine which asserts that the blindness of humanity to all the beauty and wonder of the Universe is due to this illusion of straightness(…).” “For the Euclidian geometry depends upon the conception of straight lines, and it was only because of the Parallel Postulate was found to be incapable of proof that mathematicians began to conceive that the straight line had no true correspondence with reality.”
In the footnotes, Crowley clarifies that the straight line is the limit of any curve. The card expresses the energy of the Aeon of Horus. As the Book of Thoth also says:
“It will be seen that every form of energy in this picture is spiral…”
James Wasserman
According to James Wassermen’s instructions on the Thoth Deck:
“This is in anticipation of the present Aeon, that of Horus, the crowned and conquering Child, successor to the ‘dying god,’ Osiris. The departing Aeon is shown in the rectilinear forms of energy issuing from the lower cup. These forms stand for the now-abandoned Euclidean geometry. The figure of the Goddess may be taken as a manifestation of the surrounding space of Heaven…”
Atu XVII and 71
71, which is also comprised of 1 and 7, is, according to the revised 777:
“A number of Binah. The image of nothingness and silence is a fulfillment of the aspiration…”
Binah
Crowley explains that Nuit’s physical manifestation is as the Great Mother, and Binah, the sphere of Saturn, and Babalon. That’s hinted at through the shining-in-the-top left corner seven-pointed Star symbolizing Crowley’s order of AA. An additional understanding of this dynamic might be acquired with the help of David Shoemaker’s “Advice from the Tree of Life.” Particularly its passage on Binah.
“I have full consciousness of the Grail of Holy Blood, into which the droplets of my individual lives have fallen, for I am that Grail; I have mingled my individual life with the Universal Life and let go of all attachments of the small ego; I tend to the garden of my lower self with Love and care; I receive the Word and give it birth. Yet, I am beyond the Grail.”
Seven-Pointed Stars
Crowley explains that the whole nature of the card is Love which is expressed through the seven-pointed Star of Venus. Yet the seven-pointed stars are (actually) three. The reason, scholars explain, is to emphasize that Nuit and Babalon are different aspects of the same Goddess.
Reflections
The ‘largest’ and ‘mid-sized’ stars spin counter-clockwise in the top left angle and upon the celestial globe. The first is like a seven-pointed stellar windmill. Meditating on the card, one may feel the top-left Star emanates the whole picture.
The Center and the Seed
The second might be seen as orchestrating the order of galaxies, planetary orbits, and whirlings within the entire Universe. Or perhaps, the exact black hole around which everything revolves, just like Saggitarius A and the Milky Way. After all, a black hole is a different stage in a star’s life. Sourcing out from the upper cup, the ‘smallest’ Star spins clockwise — And perhaps it’s the (actual) sparkle of the mentioned eternal renewal process.
The Original Star
Although intrinsically Thelemic, The Star in the Thoth Tarot incorporates elements of the original card. Besides roses and butterflies, there’s a river and hills on the horizon. Expanding on that, it brings the dynamic of the Star Goddess, the Daughter of Heaven, and the celestial globe, which is not to be mistaken with Earth or any other planet.
The Celestial Globe
As written in the Book of Thoth:
“The figure of the Goddess is shown in manifestation, that is, not as the surrounding space of Heaven, shown in Atu XX, where she is the pure philosophical idea continuous and omniform(…). “The Universe is here resolved into its ultimate elements(…). “Behind the figure of the goddess is the celestial globe.”
The Star: A Gateway Card
And that, along with the concept of Nuit, was the main reason I got so fascinated with this card. IMHO, it can also be seen as evidence of how stellar Thelema is. Feel free to let me know whether you agree with that.
Meanings
The Star is associated with unexpected help, hope, spiritual insight, and realizations. When reversed, it means wrong judgment, dreaminess, and disappointment. I wonder if any of that resonates with you, such as what emotions you experienced when seeing this card for the first time. Also, whether you enjoy this type of content.
