Have you ever had a dream where the navel symbol appears? What meaning can we give to the navel symbol by drawing on the symbolism of the Tarot?
A small premise. After using the Jodorowsky Camoin Tarot deck for many years, I decided to adopt the ancient Jean Noblet Tarot deck restored by Jean-Claude Flornoy.
The differences with the Tarot of Marseilles known to us are many, but there is a card from the Noblet deck that struck me for a particular feature. It’s about the Star Tarot card of the Major Arcana.
You will have already understood that the detail I am going to talk about concerns the navel. Observe its shape: the navel of the Star woman has the shape of a star!
What can we say then about the navel symbol in combination with the Star Tarot card?
As I always suggest in my online video course, before consulting an encyclopedia of symbols or googling “navel symbol”, let’s try to describe what a navel is in an elementary way, as if describing it to a child. This is in fact a very useful approach when we want to decipher a particular object we dream of.
Each of us will give a different answer, but probably all our spontaneous descriptions will revolve around two elements:
- the navel is (or rather, was) connected to the umbilical cord;
- the navel is located in the center of our body.
Umbilical cord symbolism
The umbilical cord brings us back in a very coherent way to the symbolism of the Star (for more information read this article):
- the woman of the Star as a woman in labor;
- Star woman as she who gives nourishment (this is precisely the primary function of the umbilical cord);
- Star woman as Mother: the umbilical cord keeps us connected to the Matrix / Matter.
Please note that in the ancient conception that permeates the symbolism of the Star, matter has a stellar origin. Our birth or “incarnation” occurs in conjunction with a certain stellar configuration. The stars determine our character and our destiny, as the practice of horoscopes and the “birth chart” still tell us today. Therefore, it is very significant that the navel recalls the symbol of a star: the channel that originally guarantees us nourishment (and therefore the connection with matter) reminds us of our stellar origin.
The navel as the center of ourselves
In Jungian terms, what does the symbolism of the Star tell us?
The stars, according to Carl Gustav Jung, can be compared to Archetypes: the building blocks of our psyche, fixed and eternal points that pre-determine and influence the life of all men.
We find again the idea that we are born under the influence of certain Archetypes that will influence our life. It is the psychological translation of the “birth chart” and of the underlying idea that some planets, in certain positions, will influence our nature and our destiny.
In this vision, the largest star on the woman’s head from Arcanum XVII corresponds to the Archetype of the Self. It is our personal guiding star, the seed of our individuality. And it is also the center of ourselves, just like the navel!
Here then is what the Star teaches us: the Self is not a metaphysical and abstract concept, but a pulsating element deeply rooted in our nature and in our belly, that is to say, in the center of our instincts and our natural ambitions.
Navel symbolism in Devil Tarot card
One last consideration. Before the Star we find the navel symbol in the character of the Devil.
However, bear in mind that at this stage the navel symbol is not properly depicted. In its place we find a face, or rather, a mouth. Symbolically, in connection with the tarological theme of the Devil, this is equivalent to saying that our intelligence, our capacity for expression, is still chained at the level of the belly.
And it is no coincidence that the men hooked to the pedestal do not have a navel: in the negative sense they are puppets, automatons without will, not “embodied”. The umbilical cord is not yet properly tied in their center, it is strangling them (do they feed only on what satisfies their throat?).
It is only with the Star that the purely bestial / instinctual dimension will integrate with a higher and cosmic vision. The umbilical cord will be properly connected to our center and our connection to Matter will be firm and healthy.
We will thus approach the navel of the World Tarot card, where our individuality and our destiny merge with the universe, contributing to its evolution. Our navel will shine and resonate in harmony with a wider balance than the limitation of the Ego.
OniroTarologia 