The Star - Seventeen

Tarot of Marseilles

This card shows a woman pouring liquid both onto dry land and into the water. Eight stars shine above her, symbolising the fact that seventeen can also be seen as 1+7=8. The number eight can also be seen as an infinity symbol, and the stars were believed to be made of an everlasting substance. The eighth Tarot card is Justice, associated with duty, good conduct, virtue, and consequence. Seventeen was an unlucky number for Italians, and it was also considered unlucky by Pythagoreans, who called this number "the Barrier". According to the Seeress of Prevorst, seventeen symbolises the participation in two worlds, celestial and terrestrial. Henry Blanquart agrees that it "represents the junction between the material world and the spiritual world". According to Jâbir Ibn Hayyân, alchimist and Sufi, the number seventeen represents the balance of each thing. The Greeks called this number "antiphraxis" meaning "interposition" because it is inbetween the square number sixteen and the oblong number eighteen. This liminal aspect is shown as a woman kneeling on the edge between land and water.

This is similar to the depiction of Aquarius "the water carrier". Aquarius is one of the oldest of the recognised star constellations along the zodiac. We are currently said to be approaching The Age of Aquarius, when the Sun will appear to rise in this constellation at the Spring Equinox. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the Indians, Chinese, and Maya developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Many ancient astronomers believed that stars were permanently affixed to a heavenly sphere, and that they were immutable. By convention, astronomers grouped stars into constellations and used them to track the motions of the planets and the inferred position of the Sun. The motion of the Sun against the background stars (and the horizon) was used to create calendars which could be used to regulate agricultural practices. This card represents the perfect balance of Nature, the eternal motion of the cosmos, and the cycle of the seasons. The eight-point star appears in cultures around the world. Its universal symbolism is one of balance, harmony, and cosmic order.

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