Upright
Calm after upheaval. Quiet confidence rather than excitement — the sense that things will be all right, arriving without evidence.
Major arcana 17 · Air
The Star
Reversed
Discouragement, or hope placed in something that cannot carry it.
ArcanaMajor
Number17
ElementAir
PlanetUranus
Yes or noYes
Keywordshope, renewal, clarity
Where it sits in the sequence
The major arcana run 0 to 21 as a progression — the Fool's journey from unguarded beginning to completed cycle. Card 17 falls in the final stretch, which deals with forces larger than the individual.
The image
What is on the card
A naked woman kneels by a pool, pouring water onto land and back into the water. Eight stars shine above, one large and seven small.
Every detail in the Waite-Smith deck was placed deliberately by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909, and reading the picture usually gets you further than reading a keyword list. Notice what the figure is doing, where they are looking, and what is behind them.
The Star in love, work and health
In love
Hope after difficulty. Renewal, and faith in someone returning.
In career and money
Clarity about direction after a period of confusion. Quiet optimism.
In health
Recovery, renewal and a period of genuine healing.
Reading it in a spread
A card means different things by position. In a past-present-future layout, The Star in the past describes something already worked through; in the future it describes a direction rather than a fixed outcome.
Read it against its neighbours rather than alone. Two cards from the same suit intensify each other; a major arcana beside a minor tells you the situation is larger than the everyday.