I Have My Reasons as to Why I Am Not Keen on the Star Tarot Card
Even though it has other meanings than just hope.
The Star is a card in the tarot's Major Arcana, representing inspiration, a renewal of faith and hope, brand-new opportunities, spirituality, and blessings. The associated sign is Aquarius.
Good health is another thing it means. As the card is the Star, it can also represent astronomy. However, it represents having a good reason to be hopeful more often than not. There is a reason that the Star card came after the Tower.
The Tower represents sudden destruction that leaves you feeling hopeless and confused. But the Star is there to tell you that everything will be okay.
There is a reason to be hopeful and to have faith. You have a reason to hang onto optimism. (but does it always? I will get into that soon) Things will get better. Now, let's go over the history and appearance of this card.
The history of the Star tarot card could be more precise, but the earliest known reference to it comes from the 15th-century book Le Monde Primitif.
This book describes the Star as a sign of good luck and divine intervention. The Star card continued to be popular throughout the 16th and 17th centuries and began to be associated with astrology and other mystical practices.
The Star card was often used as a signifier of hope and guidance in times of darkness.
For example, when you look at the card from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, you see a naked woman bending down near the pool's edge as she has two water containers.
Her left hand carrying the container represents her subconscious, and her right hand bearing the cup represents her consciousness.
She pours out the water onto the ground to nourish the earth and pours the water onto dry land. She also has one foot in the ground, meaning she is grounded, and the other is in the water, representing intuition.
She is naked because she shows her vulnerability, and the starry sky is in the background. In the background, you will see a giant star and seven smaller ones that represent the chakras, as there are seven of them.
So there it is. Now, I will discuss why I am not overly keen on this card. That is because hope can be pretty dangerous.
Let's Talk About Why Hope Can be Dangerous
What is there without any hope? Especially if you struggle with depression. When you are deep into a depressive valley, you need to find a reason to get out of bed each morning.
If you have pets, kids, work, or other responsibilities, then that is a good thing because those things are getting you out of bed.
However, hope can be a good thing if you can never forget in the back of your mind that bad times don't last.
Yes, good times don't last either, but bad times don't, and it is realistic to believe that whatever challenge you are facing right now will not last forever.
If you are afraid that you will be stuck in a perpetual cycle of struggle, burden, or bad luck, you have to look for help as far as how it can help you get through it or, if possible, remove you from it.
So, it is perfectly fine and reasonable to hope for help. The odds are in your favor. When you use hope in a practical sense while keeping your emotions in check, then it can be a good thing.
Hope is when you want to believe that a situation will improve, and if you take action steps to help make that happen, hope can be significant and motivating. However, the problem is that hope can be destructive for seven reasons.
Hope Can Make You Believe That There Is Always a Happy Ending
Sure, it is best to look at any situation with the glass half-full, but the reality is that not every situation will have a good outcome.
Many people hold onto a lot of hope when dealing with an adverse and stressful situation because they want to believe it will end and turn into a happy ending.
Only in a perfect world will that happen. In reality, life does not always have a happy ending, and no amount of hope will change that.
Unfortunately, many people encourage you to be hopeful that a bad situation will get better and end. What happens if it doesn't? That is when you realize that hope is not always good to have.
When my son was diagnosed with autism and severe ADHD, the therapists who worked with him said not to give up hope and to believe that he would achieve a lot, succeed in life, and live independently.
I wanted to believe them, but my realistic side (some would even dare to say pessimistic) is why I wanted to look into group home planning.
Instead, my mental and physical health ended up crumbling, and my son was failing in every area of his life despite the amount of therapy.
That is why he had to leave for residential care at 13, and even though he has done well over the years, he will never be completely independent, even if he can work and live in a group home.
The truth is, I have stopped hoping when it comes to him because whatever happens with him is entirely out of my control.
Hope Can Lead To Heartbreak and Devastation
It does not take a rocket scientist to see that if you hang onto hope too much, especially over something out of your control, you will be devastated when what you hoped for does not manifest.
This is why you must be careful when striving for a dream. If you hope too much that it will turn out precisely the way you want, even if you do put the work into it, there is a good chance you will become disappointed at the very least.
Even if you do achieve your dream, you may be disappointed that it is not as wonderful as you had imagined or hoped. That is why so many mothers are unhappy.
So many mothers have held onto hope that their lives would become better once they have kids, but more often than not, the opposite happens.
Hope Usually Removes the Action Steps You Need to Take To Achieve Something
Many times, hoping for something is no more than wishing for something. Or, hoping for something is the same as praying.
That means you are focusing on a favorable outcome by wishing or praying for it hard without taking the correct action steps to make it happen.
For example, if you start a business and hope it will bring you six figures in a year, even if you wish and pray for it, it will not happen if you are not taking steps to make that happen.
In reality, it is rare for a business to become that successful quickly, even with a lot of hard work. It is always good to be optimistic about something you are working on while making an effort to increase the odds of the outcome being favorable.
However, hope can inhibit the appropriate action steps you need to make that happen, which means what you hope to see happen will always remain a fantasy.
Hope Can Cause You To Become Delusional
It is fine to have logical hope while taking action to increase the odds of something turning out well, like a business.
However, the problem with hope is that it can cause a lot of self-deception if the hope is based on something other than reality or any action planning.
Let's go back to that business example. If you hope that your business will bring in six figures in a year after you establish it, then you risk deluding yourself—even if you are taking the action steps to make it successful.
Yes, there is a reason to be hopeful that your business may bring in some profit if you work even after a year of establishment.
However, the mistake is to believe it will bring in six figures because it takes a long time and effort to achieve that.
And if you make yourself believe that in a year from now, you will have a six-figure business where you feel justified in going out to gourmet restaurants all of the time and taking nice trips on credit (because you believe you will pay it off by then), then you are allowing this hope to deceive you.
Hope Makes You Feel Hopeless
The problem with being let down repeatedly after getting your hopes up is that you will give up all hope and go on through life by going through the motions numbly.
That is no good either. When you feel hopeless because of being let down, you often allow your previous hopes to get out of hand, and you will struggle to find a reason to be motivated to do anything. You will no longer set goals, and you will merely exist.
What is the best solution? The best solution is to use hope logically and constructively.
There is nothing wrong with hoping for the best but preparing for the worst in a detached state for anything, but you cannot associate any expectations with any hope you have.
It is perfectly fine and healthy to hope to have a successful business eventually, but you cannot expect to make six figures after a year of its establishment. You can set some realistic monetary goals but avoid getting too attached to meeting those, too.
As much as you can hope that your business will become successful, be prepared for the possibility that it may not be, and that is when it is best to create a plan B.
You could take an alternate direction with it or take courses in case you need to fold it so you have the skills to do other work.
When you prepare for the worst, at least you can have a plan B. That way, as disappointing as it may be that you would have to use it, you won't be devastated or shocked, and it will be a reminder for you never to allow your hopes to get the best of you.
I also want to announce that I am pausing my Miriam Reads Tarot on Substack. I will keep my other newsletter going for the time being, but I have reasons to pause this one.
For those who are paying subscribers, don't worry; I will keep delivering what you paid for. Please remind me, though.
I will likely move my newsletter to Beehiv, and I will let you know for sure once I have decided and set it up.
However, my week-ahead readings will be via Instagram at miriamreadstarot.
I will continue to write on Medium (as much as it has problems, it is a big improvement over Substack in my opinion).
The Tarot Table Podcast will be hosted on Spotify going forward. I do appreciate those who have been supportive through this journey.
Sending you ♥️