The Star of Hope - How Not to Ruin Your Life

 It's synchronicity that caused me to draw this Major Arcana card, The Star of Hope today. Since I learned of the death of my friend Lillian, I've thought about how death can bring us unexpected inspiration and hope. These are the lessons in the fragility of life, often giving us the deepest sense of meaning that grows out of unhappiness, pain, shame, crisis, depression, and loss.

 Life is full of irony and we can often think that these are unexpected sources of inspiration and personal transformation, but the truth is, they certainly can be. Things aren't always as the appear to be.

 The Star is a card of waiting, which offers hope, urges us to to trust our intuition and to have faith in the midst of difficulties and that there will soon be a dawn.

Life if really about a series of losses, but with loss are also gains, but I believe it depends on our own level of acceptance, grace, and it helps a lot having a really good sense of humour that enables the ability to not take yourself so seriously and can be a powerful healing tool for some.

 J.P Sears has really learned how to do this. Simultaneously he seriously coaches a whole lot of people, helping them to find hope and to understand that pain, shame and broken hearts don't have to ruin our lives.

Listening today to a great program about aging versus ageism, midlife crisis, and transformation I thought the topic this program Out In The Open is aligned with much of the general meaning to be found in The Star.

The Star - I Feel Good!

The Star, the card I drew this morning is a very welcomed positive and hopeful card for me this, the first weekend of Summer. It is a card symbolizing the feminine side of nature-feeling, instinct, imagination and intuition. It is the promising Star of Hope.

My past week has been full of delightful, special surprises. Especially rewarding was seeing the fruition of all the work the students created after participating in the PAINTS program over the past three months in our local school. They'd sent out invitations to their parents, family and friends, inviting them to attend their final art exhibit. It was so well received and so wonderful to see how much their confidence soared, and how proud they were in what they accomplished and to now share this with their friends and families was very special. It was a kind of celebration of the power of creativity and imagination. It made me feel very hopeful in my outlook and inspired in so many ways, after having learned so much from this imaginative and creative, great group of insightful kids.

We haven't had a good rain for a few weeks now, and so the gardens are dry. As I was watering my garden early this morning, and was very pleased to see the water I had given the plants last night, which wasn't a whole lot, actually had made a big difference. My tender plants looked perky, like they were almost saying, look at us, we feel good! I'm certain they'd grown more over night because of that small amount of water I'd given them yesterday.

The new young plants in my garden remind me of the children I've worked with, in that, a little bit of encouragement, nurturing, and a hopeful positive attitude is just like watering your garden. A little can go a long way, and can make all the difference.

Similarly I see in this Major Arcana card, The Star that embodies the mythic image of Pandora, who is  looking past all life's negatives toward the light. She sees in spite of the Spites, who have been unleashed by Zeus. She has her focus on Hope.

Some may consider her, The Star naive, seeing the world through rose coloured glasses. I don't see her in this way. She embodies a hopeful, encouraging attitude, full of faith and has an intrinsic trust, that things will work out. The Star represents believing that all shall be well, not about being in denial, but about loving, living and accepting life on life's terms.

Human beings need to know, and strive to be individuals that reflect this kind of attitude toward ourselves, toward others, and wearing the world like a loose garment.

I know speaking personally, I could've never accomplished, achieved or overcome all that I have in my life without having some of this same kind of outlook, that has it's foundation in faith. This positive attitude was imparted to me through the example of other mentors throughout my life, much like Pandora.

The Star - Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down

The quote that I often hear repeated "Don't let the bastards grind you down" is a good way to describe this Major Arcana card, The Star. Here we see hope and inspiration embodied in the image of Pandora who in myth opened the chest which Zeus maliciously gave to mankind and now Pandora has released all the Spites.

This card embodies the experience of hope, meaning and faith giving this promise in the midst of difficulties.

 I thought the above quote was attributed to Viktor Frankl, who survived the Nazi concentration camp and wrote Man's Search For Meaning. I think he would have certainly identified with this outlook when he said " “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

These quotes I believe describe what it means to let go.

Saint Francis of Assisi described letting go well.

"Wear the world as a loose garment, which touches us in a few places and there lightly” – St. Francis of Assisi

This is what I have found I've had to do throughout so many times throughout my life and it has become my own personal philosophy and perspective towards life in general. I've learned to wear the world as a loose garment and I've had to change myself and my attitude toward the situations I couldn't change.

 It sounds simple enough, but it isn't. It's an attitude and skill I've had to practice and continue to make it a life long habit. For me it's about learning to detach with love. Before recovery I was attached to just about everything; my hyper-vigilance and waiting for the other shoe to drop, attached to the past and the future, and attached to my misery and all that it entailed.

I'm so very grateful  every day, that I was introduced to the philosophy of letting go and that star of Hope.

The Star - Don't Be Decieved

The Star,  is such a bright happy image yes, and don't be deceived, Pandora's box has been opened and out fly spites of swarming pestilence that has been released into the world, and can't returned to the box. All manner of troubles and sorrows have suddenly been loosed. Pandora doesn't seems phased by all this and looks upward in hopeful anticipation with faith and trust that there is still so much beauty and goodness in the world. She believes there is always hope for the hopeless.

I seldom draw this card. In all my daily draws over the years, this is the fourth time it's come up. Perhaps that's a good thing because it makes me more appreciative of the beauty in The Star and it is consistent with my recent posts that explore the feminine, intuition and reclaiming the Feminine Divine. It reminds me of the Wild Woman that exists in all women. Unlike Eve who is seen as sinful, and impure, Pandora is innocent, pure of heart and hopeful. She knows in her bones she will survive all that has been unleashed yes and she will thrive not in spite of, but because of the very things that would destroy her. Pandora is becoming stronger than ever, loving life even more, with an open mind, spirit, and a trustful heart.


 

The Star - Hope

This being my 100th post on this blog I think it is fitting that I drew The Star, which is, I think one of the most hopeful cards of the Major Arcana. It is the card of hope and promise, but can also warn against false hope, which can set us up for great disappointment, disillusion and despair.

Here Pandora is akin to Eve, before the Fall, full of love, light, and all things innocent, and beautiful.
She is the epitome of the feminine, the intuitive, feeling, imaginative and the instinctive side of our nature.

In spite of, and even because of our difficulties, and burden, we move above and beyond, mere survival. We grow, and thrive beyond our unhappiness of the past, and we now have an even stronger will to live. We have accepted our burdens and struggles, have grown and  are becoming stronger individuals.

 I once heard it said by a holy man, and I paraphrase; The cross is heavy for those that drag it, but light for those that embrace it.
What the world needs now is hope, and we would do well to impart hope to others. We are living in trouble times indeed, some may even say the end times. Regardless, we all need to have hope, meaning and faith, otherwise things would be completely hopeless.

 I always fondly remember, what I saw on the small button, a young punk rocker was wearing in Tim Horton's, many years ago which said " Hope For The Hopeless. " It might sound funny, but it is true I think and almost beyond hopeful.

The other day I saw a video of a homeless man. It is I think a commentary on hope, from one who may to some seem hopeless. Post by R̲o̲y J̲a̲n̲s̲e̲n̲.

The Star - A Time of Hope

 "There shall be signs in the Sun, Moon, and Stars" -  Jesus Christ

I cannot study the Sun and Moon without including the Star, as they are, and have always been closely connected to one another, dating back to ancient days.
The Star being the 17th, card, Moon the 18th, and Sun the 19th, are the order in which these cards come within Major Arcana in the Tarot deck.

The Star portends experience of hope, meaning and faith, where we find inspiration, generosity, and serenity.  It is a very positive card, though a realistic one. It is about turning the negative into the positive, overcoming difficulties and rising above them, remaining hopeful, and becoming a stronger, a better person  with depth, of character, because of our struggles, not just in spite of them.
We can fulfill our highest human potential. We look to heavenward, lightening the burdens and struggles of the earth.
Many dreadful afflictions have been released into the world from Pandora's box but the promise of hope remains, always.

The Star card - A Time of Hope 

The Star card always gives me a feeling of hope. It's an important card for the times that we are in right now. Following the Tower card, the Star is a guiding vision of hope and promise that arises from the ashes of the Tower which has been destroyed. In the journey of the Mythic Tarot, the Fool waits amidst the rubble, and has no clear sense of how or what to rebuild - all he is left with is hope, and a sense that all is not lost.

The Star card is the 17th card of the Major Arcana, and the next step on the Fool's journey in the Mythic Tarot. The card of the Star portrays Pandora as a beautiful, young woman with long, fair hair, kneeling before an open chest. From the chest, a swarm of flying creatures rise including dragon flies, wasps, bees, flies, moths and spiders; and they fill the sky with darkness. Pandora's eyes are fixed on a bright star symbolized by a female figure in glowing, white robes with a rainbow shining behind her.

In Greek mythology, Pandora is a lot like Eve, who represents the feminine side of human nature which includes feelings, instinct, imagination and intuition along with the need to probe for the truth despite the consequences. The wooden chest that Zeus, the father of all the Greek gods, sends to mankind is a lot like the apple in the Garden of Eden which Eve found hard to resist. The chest like the apple is something which is forbidden, but yet impossible to resist. It contains knowledge of the reality of human life which means the death of innocence and childlike fantasy, but it also contains the most precious attribute of the human spirit which is hope.

When Pandora opens the box, the terrible afflictions of human life that had been locked away by Zeus were now released which included - old age, labor, sickness, insanity, vice and passion; and they spread all over the world. Hope alone, which had also been locked in the chest, did not fly away.

On an inner level, the image of Pandora and the Star of Hope, is a symbol of that part of us which, despite disappointment, depression and loss can still cling to a sense of meaning and future which can still grow out of the unhappiness of the past. The Star does not reveal the future plans, or solution to one's problems, but like the cards of the Hermit and the Hanged Man, the Star is a card of waiting, for the sense of hope is a fragile light which glimmers and guides us through the darkness. Somehow, it offers us faith, and therefore in the card's image, Pandora's eyes are fixed not on the unhappiness of the human condition, but on this intuitive feeling that a dawn of a new day is coming.

The quality of hope has nothing to do with planned expectations, but is connected with something deeper which has sometimes been called the will to live. Doctors experience this with their patients – those who have a sense of hope and a strong will to live - will often find the inner resources to face a life-threatening dis-ease, and beat the odds. Likewise, individuals who have suffered tragic circumstances, or have faced challenges which are far greater than any human should have to go through such as those who experienced the concentration camps in Germany and Poland during World War II - have often expressed that it was some inner sense of hope and faith that meant the difference between survival and death. Hope is a profound and mysterious thing, for it would seem that it can transcend anything life offers us.

In a reading, the Star card represents the experience of hope, meaning and faith in the midst of challenges. It's a sign that there is new and better life coming in your future if only you can believe.

The Star is a symbol for all of us right now as we face a challenging world. If we can believe and envision a better life, we can co-create this life for each one of us. If you need some hope right now, have a reading to shed some light on your future path.

By Donna M. Fisher-Jackson, MA © 2010

Thanks to Juliet Sharman-Burke, and Liz Greene, the creators of the Mythic Tarot for their insightful comments.

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