THE STAR

You may recall the plight of Lakshmi Tatma, the girl who was born in 2005 with four arms and four legs. Local villagers hailed and worshiped her as an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, but in truth it was her parasitic conjoined twin to whom she owed her appearance. After a spectacularly successful operation, little Lakshmi has been reborn in a less "godlike" form, and doctors say she will live a normal life. Several organs, such as a kidney, were transplanted from the remains of her twin, so in a sense she is still as conjoined as she ever was-- except now she can move about in the world and discover her own fate instead of falling victim to the one that was thrust upon her at birth, however much stardom it afforded her.

The Star is a card that resonates deeply with many people. It represents what's left of the self after the illusions of the Devil card are all finally torn away. At first it seems like there is nothing left, that your whole identity was taken from you-- and then in the darkness, there is this small twinkling, very far away. A pinprick of pure, undifferentiated self, that essence that so easily becomes buried and forgotten as we move through space discovering other worlds. To the extent that destiny exists, it is contained in the transmissions from this tiny, brave light. Remember that our own sun, which has provided the essential life force for uncountable beings-- is merely a star to someone else out there in the galaxy. That is the sort of immensity that you are carrying around inside you. Make regular contact with it and you'll find that you are always familiar to yourself, no matter how foreign your surroundings. [Via]