Star of Lakshmi Tattoo Meaning
Prosperity, balance, and the capacity to receive from every direction at once.
The Star of Lakshmi — the eight-pointed star of two overlapping squares — is the Hindu emblem of prosperity and abundance, representing the eight forms of the goddess Lakshmi and the eight directions from which her blessings flow, the geometry of being open to good fortune from every side. To carry the Star of Lakshmi is to carry prosperity, balance, and the capacity to receive from every direction at once — the eightfold abundance of Lakshmi, the star that covers the whole compass, the self equally open to blessing from every angle.
The Star of Lakshmi is an eight-pointed star formed by two overlapping squares — one square rotated forty-five degrees upon the other, their eight corners making the eight points of the star (the octagram known as the Ashtalakshmi). In Hindu tradition, this eight-pointed star represents the eight forms of the goddess Lakshmi — the Ashta Lakshmi, the eightfold manifestation of the goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity, each form bestowing a different kind of abundance.
The eight Lakshmis embody the eight kinds of wealth and blessing: not only material riches, but also abundance of food and nourishment, of progeny and family, of victory, of knowledge, of courage, of success, and more — the fullness of every kind of prosperity. And the eight points of the star also represent the eight directions from which Lakshmi's abundance flows: her blessings come from all sides, from every quarter of the compass. The Star of Lakshmi is thus the geometry of blessing made spatial — the goddess of abundance in her eightfold fullness, and the eight directions of the flowing of her grace, gathered into a single radiant star. To bear the Star of Lakshmi is to invoke the full, eightfold abundance of the goddess, the prosperity that comes in every form and from every direction. The Hindu Star of Lakshmi is the eight forms of the goddess (Ashta Lakshmi) and the eight directions of her abundance. The Hindu Star of Lakshmi is the eight forms of Lakshmi — the eight-pointed star formed by two overlapping squares, representing the eight forms of Lakshmi (Ashta Lakshmi) and the eight directions from which her abundance flows; the geometry of blessing made spatial — the eightfold manifestation of the goddess of wealth and fortune, each form bestowing a different abundance (material riches, food, progeny, victory, knowledge, courage, success), her blessings flowing from all eight directions, gathered into a single radiant star.
The Star of Lakshmi (Lakshmi Tara or Ashtalakshmi Yantra) is an octagram formed by superimposing two squares at 45-degree angles — a form also called the octagram or eight-pointed star. The eight points represent the Ashta Lakshmi — the eight manifestations of Lakshmi: Adi Lakshmi (primordial), Dhana Lakshmi (wealth), Dhanya Lakshmi (grain/food), Gaja Lakshmi (elephants/power), Santana Lakshmi (progeny), Veera Lakshmi (courage), Vijaya Lakshmi (victory), and Vidya Lakshmi (knowledge and wisdom). The eight-pointed star appears in Islamic geometric art as the rub el hizb (a Quranic section marker), in Byzantine Christianity, in Mesopotamian iconography as the star of Ishtar, and in Tolkien's Elvish heraldry — a cross-cultural convergence on the octagram as a form of cosmic completeness.
Star of Lakshmi across cultures
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