Maybe it's odd to think of the Star as having a power other than just as a point of concentration in, say, meditation. Yet there is some point in saying that it does.

Thinking of the Star, first of all, gives each of us the feeling that we are shining with light. Actually, shining beings - each of us. In this state we feel secure but free, and can be more loving, more accepting of other people.

Not only that. By associating ourselves with the Star symbol, we are thinking of ourselves at the simplest, finest, level. As nothing but light, in fact. And just as the demonstration of our loving nature, even just a smile to a passer-by, can brighten other people's lives - can totally alter the course of a day for them - so letting the Starlight shine from our hearts has a way of touching them inwardly.

You won't exert any controlling power over other people by letting your Starlight shine to them. It's not like that. But you may well bring healing to them in their pain, and you may well even help them to turn around the course of an illness they are suffering. Try it and see. Go on, if you would like, to the Healing Page.

The six-pointed star is actually a very old symbol, and it's not linked to any particular religion in history. Different people have described it in different ways, but one of them is to think of it as composed of two triangles. One points upward, and symbolises all our hopes and aspirations. The other points downward, and symbolises the light that comes to us, like grace. The two completely joined with no divisions, symbolises perfect balance. It means balance between the gifts of life and our gift to life.