Tarot Major Arcana XVII-XX: The Star, Moon, Sun, and Judgment
17 - The Star
Universal life fluids, contained in two cups, one of gold and the other of silver. Near her, a butterfly rests on a rose. This girl is the emblem of hope, spreading her dew throughout our saddest days. Above this figure, the flaming star with eight rays symbolizes the apocalypse, sealed by seven seals that are the seven planets, represented by the seven stars. Above the sea (the waters of existence) is the sky sprinkled with Stars. These symbolize the life that lies beyond this world, life in the world of archetypes, rebirth in a cosmic and spiritual world. The butterfly is the sign of transmutation, but also of rebirth.
Meaning: The consoling woman who lifts and comforts. Life shared among creatures. Clusters of soul to spirit. Nature in activity. The night and its mysteries. Dreams and their revelations. Immortality. Destiny, predestination. The ideal that life strives to realize. Object of beauty. Aesthetics. The cult of beauty. Ishtar. Hope, vivacity, good humor, courage cheerfully bearing the vicissitudes of life. The idealization of reality. Poetry, fine arts, music, sensitivity, compassion. Adaptation to needs. Innocence, candor, ignorance. Youth. Charm, seduction, attraction. Epicureanism, sensuality, abandonment, negligence. Trust, resignation, fatalism. Astrology, astral influences, occultism protection, intuition, premonitions, presentiments, indiscreet curiosity.
18 - The Moon or Night
The eighteenth Arcana represents a field that the veiled moon illuminates to a pale twilight. A path crosses a desert that is lost on the horizon. It represents the borders with the beyond, the twilight world of images and forms, guarded by a wolf and a dog. The path passes between two Towers, symbols of false certainties and known dangers. Here the Initiate manages to see the white path of initiation, through the desert.
Meaning: Objectivity. External aspect. Visible in form. What comes within our senses. The contingent, the relative, the theater where human existence is played out. Illusions of materiality. Maya. Imagination, whims, fashions, fantasies, extravagance, errors and prejudices, mental laziness, credulity, superstition. Curiosity, false knowledge, the art of the visionary. Intellectual passivity, impressionability of imagination, clairvoyance, lucidity in somnambulism. Self-criticism, conversion. Sea voyages, navigation, long and difficult investigations. Demanding work. Ambiguous situation. False security, dangers, traps. Deceptions, threats. Lymphatic temperament. Dropsy.
19 - The Sun or Light
The Nineteenth Arcana is represented by a radiant sun illuminating two children, the image of innocence, holding hands in the center of a circle enameled with flowers. The Sun with all its rays projecting divine life. This Arcana is the symbol of peaceful happiness promised for simplicity of life and moderation of desires. It is a symbol of the Alliance between men and divinity, but also of fraternity and the construction of the Temple or Kingdom of God. Symbol of solar initiation.
Meaning: The primordial light that brings order to chaos. The Word that illuminates all men who came into this world. Reason that inspires all minds. Spiritual light that dispels darkness. True knowledge by which the fantastic notions of false prophecy disappear. Inspired illumination, poetry, fine arts. Fraternity, harmony, peace, friendship, good understanding, judgment, nobility, generosity, affection, greatness of spirit. Paradise regained, calm and lasting happiness, marriages, joy in marriage, clarity of judgment. Artistic tastes and talents. Glory honors celebrity. Attachment to what shines, vanity, need to make oneself admired, desire to appear something, frivolity, affectation, pose, lack of common sense. Painful idealism incompatible with the sense of hard reality. Irritability, susceptibility.
20 - Judgment or Awakening
The twentieth arcana represents an angel playing a trumpet awakening the dead from the grave. A man, a woman and a child symbolize the human trinity: spirit, soul and eros. It is the sign of change and the end of all things, both Good and Evil. The Force that is awakened by the Angel playing the trumpet is the Force of resurrection that is symbolized by the key of Isis, which is directed upward and which is above the child's sarcophagus. This indicates eternal life, because it is the conclusion of one cycle and the beginning of another.
Meaning: The Holy Spirit. The breath of inspiration that fertilizes intelligence to make it discover truth. Spiritual penetration, understanding, assimilation of inner thoughts, esotericism, spiritualization of matter. Liberation from corporeal bonds. Sublimation. Awakening to spiritual life and participation in this life that is that of the great collective. Inspiration. Man in communication with divine spirit. Divination, prophecy, spiritual clairvoyance, looking to the future, literary or artistic genius. Enthusiasm, piety, religion, elevation of spirit and soul. The evocative power. The resurrection of the dead who are worthy of being called back to life. Return.