- 17 - Star -

historical - the stars have traditionally represented the hope, the soul, and motion.  As Jung quoted in Symbols of Transformation, "I am the star that goes with thee and shines out of the depths." 

card - Star is considered one of the hardest cards to interpret - with a meaning ambiguous at best. In any given reading, the Star is a window through which the quierant can see herself. It is a card of potential, either positive or negative as influenced by the times. 

star meaning - Hope, potential, fulfillment of potential, realization of possibilities, clarity of vision, and unexpected help.

star reversed meaning - Restriction, no potential, rigidity of the soul, dreaminess, disappointment, and the death of hope.

persona wielder - Ulala Serizawa (it's spoiler licious!)

While not a large, gaseuous ball of flame (thankfully) Serizawa pretty much perfectly fits her persona card o' choice.  Yet another reason to thank the gracious research gods of Atlus, and the warm fuzzy feeling that proper Tarot useage given the dark, fortune-obsessed recess of my brain.

Think about it.  Star Reversed is Shadow Ulala - or, to be more precise, the side of Ulala that'd sic a deranged serial killer on her best friend (gotta love those healthy Persona relationships...).  The Ulala that hates Maya is the one with no future - the one who feels like her time is running out, and that none of her hopes and dreams will ever come true.  She spends all her time fantasizing about the generic Prince Charming, but when all's said and done she can't even see what she should be doing with her own life.  The Shadow has no hope.  No future.  And a bitch of a case of low self-esteem. 

Callisto, her Persona at that time, is of the pretty-but-bitter variety. Not to mention tied-up. Fitting, non?

Later in the game, however, our favorite softcore drunk (not to be confused with Baofu, our favorite hardcore drunk) changes. At least a little.  No total revamp of personality, but taking down Tentacle-Boy Nyarly gives her a goal outside her ideas, and from there she grows alot more independant.  Ulala isn't just fantasizing... she's acting.  And that really does pay off when she quits her dead-end job and starts a PI agency at the end o' the game with the ever-antisocial Kaoru Saga (who really is the aforementioned unexpected help).  Which is where the guide thing comes in, no less.  Asteria, her Greek goddess persona at the end, is portrayed as some kind of astral cartographer, and Ulala is left with making sure Baofu doesn't wander back into the Unending Vortex of Loner Cynicism.  "Guiding" him, if you will.

Hopefully she can guide him away from that god-awful goatee.