I found statements from this thread about the Star card that I would like to respond to with my opinions.
"In classical imagery, the obvious interpretation for a female figure representing a Star is Venus (the Leber deck and the all-trumps Folengo sonnet confirm this in a Tarot context)." - Marco
My Question: Would you also include Isis as a female figure representing a Star? Isis is Egyptian, but does the Tarot imagery have to be Greek or Roman? Can there be a card in the Tarot Major Arcana that represents a constellation? What are all of those stars in a circle below a big bright star?
"This "signs in the Heavens" motif seems to be the most fundamental significance of the three celestial cards." mjhust
Can your "signs in the Heavens" include constellations? In my opinion, the signs in the heavens of the Star card include a nude woman, who I see as the Egyptian Isis. I see the stars in the Star card as the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog. I see the big bright star in the Star card as the star Sirius, which was sacred to Isis and the Egyptians. The rising of the Nile river, which is seen in the Star card, as the Milky Way, which runs by Canis Major. The water from her jugs pours in the river (the Nile=Milky Way) and onto the land (the part of the constellation Canis Major that does not lie in the Milky Way). I see the bird in the tree as the dove in the faint constellation Columba. The star above cow horns is a symbol of Isis worn as a headdress, and that symbol can be seen in the constellation Canis Major. Isis is likely to be portrayed nude to help place her in a long past era.
" So, this could provide some thin support to the constellation of the Pleiades appearing in the Star card. With a good amount of wishful thinking, the raven in 38:41 could also be a candidate for the bird at the top of the tree. .. Another even more far fetched candidate as a constellation for the star card is Virgo, because it is somehow related to Virgin Mary and the birth of Jesus: " - Marco
I don't see any Christian connections in the Star card. It is entirely Egyptian.
Can anyone deny that a Tarot card with so many stars is a constellation?
" - I try to avoid "ink speck" theory because, well, I don't like it." - Catholic
It is my opinion that some of those "ink specks" were actually stars that got erased or forgotten. It is also my opinion that the Game of Constellations was not lost. The Game of Constellations is the Tarot's Major Arcana.
" I think a point in favour of a variation on Aquarius is that the other two celestial cards, the Sun and Moon, also bear zodiac like tableau (the crustacean on the moon, gemini on the sun) which suggest it as motif for these three cards in the Tarot de Marseille." - SteveM
I agree that the Moon card is connected with the zodiac sign of Cancer (crustacean), but I believe that the Sun card is a representation of Leo and the sun chariot. The signs of the zodiac don't form a sequence in the Tarot Major Arcana, except for the Moon and the Sun cards, which represent Cancer and Leo.
If the Star card does in fact represent Sirius and the constellation Canis Major, then
"Actually more female. "Two jugs - two female breasts - milky way" might be the common association, and then we have the astronomical idea again. But I don't know the common interpretation of the big picture in the Palazzo del Te. " - Huck
This is the most logical statement from my point of view because the Milky Way is mentioned with the Star card. This is an important relationship in my estimation.
" ... and Aquarius .. " -Huck
I don't think this green looking card is Aquarius. It looks more like Canis Major.
" and we've possibly the Milky Way (Hera with Hercules or Rhea with Jupiter myths) Alcyone and Ceyx myths are near to Hera and Zeus. The Milky way would be a natural object, if the card "Star" would have been interpreted in plural as "Stars". " -Huck
The fact that the Star card is singular is probably in reference to the fact that Sirius is so bright that it is considered a constellation in itself. Sirius is "The Star". That may also be a reason why "One Big Star" survived instead of "One big star and a number of stars surrounding it".
" At one time I wondered if she was 'La Source' of two rivers, perhaps the Tigris and Euphrates. But perhaps it's better to journey in hope than to arrive... (that's not to say that we have arrived though)." - Pen
Perhaps the Nile?
Anyway, here is the François Chosson Star with Sirius and the stars of Canis Major.
xvii_François_Chosson+Canis-Major.jpg
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The exact placement of the secondary stars must have changed to fit the card parameters.
"The inescapable fact that certain of the tarot trumps are, and always have been, instantly recognizable for what they are, even to people with no knowledge of symbolism or iconography, suggests (to me, at least), that the others originally had equally recognizable symbolism but time passed and people forgot what that was.
The inescapable fact that certain of the tarot trumps are, and always have been, instantly recognizable for what they are, even to people with no knowledge of symbolism or iconography, suggests (to me, at least), that the others originally had equally recognizable symbolism but time passed and people forgot what that was." - Pen
I agree with that statement because I think that the Tarot Major Arcana was a "Game of Constellations" that everyone knew what the pictures were because it was common knowledge what the constellations looked like.
- Cartomancer (Lance Carter)