The Star in 7 decks
The same card as 7 decks draw it, five and a half centuries apart. What stays the same is the card’s core; what changes is where a reading can find something new. The meanings are written for the Rider–Waite–Smith picture; the descriptions here are of each deck’s own.
Side by side
Choose any two decks and read the pictures against each other.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A naked woman kneels at the edge of a pool under a great yellow star surrounded by seven smaller ones, pouring water from two jugs, one onto the land and one into the water. One foot rests on the surface of the pool without sinking. Behind her a bird perches in a tree on a green hill.
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A large yellow and red star shines above seven smaller stars in yellow, red and blue. Below, a naked woman with long hair kneels at the water's edge, pouring from two red jugs into a stream. A dark bird perches on a red tree at left, and a small red tree stands at right. Numbered XVII, titled L'ETOILE.
Rider–Waite–Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A naked woman kneels at the edge of a pool under a great yellow star surrounded by seven smaller ones, pouring water from two jugs, one onto the land and one into the water. One foot rests on the surface of the pool without sinking. Behind her a bird perches in a tree on a green hill.
Tarot de Marseille
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A large yellow and red star shines above seven smaller stars in yellow, red and blue. Below, a naked woman with long hair kneels at the water's edge, pouring from two red jugs into a stream. A dark bird perches on a red tree at left, and a small red tree stands at right. Numbered XVII, titled L'ETOILE.
Tarot de Viéville
Jacques Viéville, c. 1650
Numbered XVII, a large yellow star with a red centre fills the top among four smaller stars and falling drops. Below, a bearded old man sits in a chair raising a pair of dividers towards it, with a tall tower or pillar beside him.
Visconti-Sforza
Bonifacio Bembo, c. 1450
A woman with fair hair stands holding up a gold eight-pointed star in her right hand, her left hand at her waist. She wears a blue gown patterned with small gold sprigs and a red mantle lined with green. Dark hills rise on either side of a green field, the gold behind is tooled in diamonds, and a red band runs along the foot.
In the Visconti-Sforza deck the number cards show only their suit symbols, and the trumps are unnamed and unnumbered.
Sola Busca
c. 1491
An old bearded man in a pointed cap and long brown robe with a belt of blue beads has large golden bat-like wings. He raises his hands towards a winged child's head perched on a bare tree. The name IPEO is at the top and XVII at the left. White flaking crosses the middle of the scan.
Sola Busca trumps are named figures matched to the standard trumps by number only.
Oswald Wirth
Oswald Wirth, 1889
A naked woman with long fair hair kneels by a pool, pouring water from two dark jugs. Above her shines a large gold eight-pointed star surrounded by seven smaller stars, some gold and some blue. At the left a butterfly perches on a red flower, and a leafy plant grows at the right. Below are the number 17, the plural title LES ETOILES and the Hebrew letter pe.
Soimoi
Mike Koz, 2025
A woman in a red kimono with long black hair stands under a night sky, face lifted and one hand raised toward a large eight-pointed golden star. Glowing paper cranes fly around her, and golden sparks pour from the clay jar she holds at her hip. A small bundle hangs from a stick on her shoulder, wisteria trails above, and a small torii stands in the hills below.