Twelve finalists will sing tonight. Rather than pull a single predictive card, I asked, “What do we need to know about tonight’s show?”
Two cards fell out of the deck: Justice and the Star.
Both cards bode well for us in the audience. Because they’re both from the powerful major arcana portion of the deck, they suggest that the show will be “big” — like Ed Sullivan’s “very big show,” back in the days when the Beatles were first taking to the stage. Both cards depict women, which probably means that the girls, as usual, will be the better performers. The scales of Justice show us that the judging will be fair, and the Star’s inherent celestial appeal indicates that the wingers will shine.
But is there more to be seen? Maybe. The show starts in 15 minutes.
The Justice card from the Wizards Tarot
Justice: Key Symbols
- Justice’s classroom looks like a lawyer’s office or law library, with leather-bound volumes of law and ethics shelved on a lawyer’s bookcase.
- Scales are longstanding symbol of truth and justice. In this case, the imagery dates back to ancient Egypt, where the goddess Ma’at would measure a dead man’s heart against the weight of a feather before he could be allowed to continue on into the afterlife.
- The Justice card is also associated with Themis, the Greek goddess of Justice who helped keep the infant Zeus safe from his father Cronos, or Time. She was also a gifted prophet who served for a time as the Oracle of Delphi.
- The professor’s familiar is a white owl, a symbol of clear vision and wisdom. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was often accompanied by an owl. Owls can also be messengers.
- Scales are the emblem of Libra, the sign of balance. The glyph for Libra, which looks like a balanced set of scales, is painted on the wall behind the professor.
- The Libra glyph seems to be balanced on a companion symbol — the Hebrew letter Lamed, which means ox goad.
- The feather pen on the professor’s desk symbolizes the sword of justice — a double-edged reminder that fairness cuts both ways.
The Star card from the Wizards Tarot
The Star: Key Symbols
- The rolled parchment scrolls, like their counterparts on the bookshelves, represent the wisdom and judgments of the ages.
- The professor of astrology looks like Nuit, the Egyptian goddess of the sky. She wears a dress made of stars and the blue night sky — the very fabric of time and space.
- The spiraling snake bracelet on her arm symbolizes the spiraling energy of the universe, as well as the soul’s desire to escape the bonds of earth and reunite with the god of creation.
- The professor is unrolling an astrological chart — a snapshot of the planets at an important moment in time. An astrology chart can be read as a celestial plan, a grand design, and a blueprint of existence.
- Four lightning bugs flicker past like living stars — one for each element, and one for each suit of the minor arcana.
- The armillary sphere at the professor’s feet is a scale model of the universe, with the cobalt sphere of earth at its center.
- There’s a sextant, a tool for navigation, on the bench in front of her. Sextants measure altitude of objects above the horizon, in order to calculate longitude. It’s a tool to help find one’s place in the world.
- Another navigational tool, a compass, sits by her side. A compass aligns itself with the earth’s magnetic fields — a symbol of invisible power — and highlights the four cardinal directions.
- Because the Star card is associated with the astrological sign Aquarius, the constellation Aquarius is visible in the background.
- The most prominent star in the background is the Venus. While Venus is a planet, it’s commonly known as the Morning and Evening Star — a beacon of guidance, hope, and inspiration.
- The Aquarius glyph is carved into the pillar to the left of the professor. Aquarius is the sign of futuristic thinking, visionary thought, and social causes. While Aquarius is an air sign, it’s symbolized by a water bearer — so the glyph represents waves of both air and water.
- The Hebrew letter Heh is also painted on the pillar. It means “window” — a common vantage point for briefly surveying the stars. A window also makes it possible for starlight to reach us from outside.
- For centuries, people have looked to the night sky for guidance. Sailors navigate by the North Star. Small children make wishes on the evening star. Young lovers watch for shooting stars, so they can make wishes for their happiness. In tarot, the Star card still symbolizes guidance.
- The Star card is a picture of history. The light from every star in the night sky has traveled vast distances, across the centuries, to reach us.
- According to some traditions, each star is an unborn or departed soul.
- The card also represents the power of myth. Since the dawn of time, storytellers have gathered around campfires and used the stars as a launching point to describe our most secret hopes and dreams. Every constellation in the night sky is associated with a corresponding myth or legend. Aquarius, the sign most closely associated with the Star card, is reputed to be Ganymede, the handsome young cupbearer of the gods. He lived with them on Mount Olympus, where he kept their cups filled with ambrosia — the water of life, the nectar of the gods, and the drink of immortality.
The images in this post are from the Wizards Tarot by Corrine Kenner and John Blumen, soon to be published by Llewellyn Worldwide.
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