The World

A little light listening for you whilst you read the article.

21st December - 19th January

Description: A naked woman hovers in the air inside a laurel wreath. She is partly wrapped in a silken sash and in her hands she lightly holds two wands. She is about to take her first step out into the world. At each corner of the card are the figures of man, an eagle, a bull and a lion.

The world is a card of both physical and spiritual completeness – representing an ending to a cycle - a pause in life before the next big cycle beginning with the fool.

The figure in the centre of the card is suspended between the heavens and the earth. Here is a free spirit ready to step out into the world and participate in all life has to offer. The world is our oyster, filled with opportunities both physical and spiritual – there are no limitations - only possibilities. We have an opportunity for new growth – possibilities to expand our horizons further than they have been expanded up to now. We feel a new found freedom, inner balance and harmony. It is a time when we can re-create ourselves and our world.

The World signifies a time when we have or are about to, complete a long term goal. When we have shown the world what we are made of, when we have struggled through to victory and achieved what we set out to do. The world is about positive outcomes : rewards or promotions for a job well done.

When the world is reversed there is no opportunity for growth either physically or spiritually. We can find ourselves stuck in a situation from which there is no escape or we find that we cannot move on from the past. We can feel restricted by circumstances as in the case of the teenager who wants to break out into the world but is restricted by overly protective parents.

The images at the four corners are the images of the elements – man representing air/intellect, the lion representing fire/passion, the eagle representing water/emotions and the bull representing earth/substance. Our task is to balance the four elements leading to harmony within.

When we balance the four elements we have a better grasp of universal laws that operate around and through us – we have faced the fear of the lion, seen the world from the viewpoint of the eagle, mastered our human emotions along with the man and learnt to use the tools given us by the bull. This card is about putting into practice all you have learnt along the fools journey of the tarot – along the path you have so far travelled.

The World card denotes spiritual as well as physical completeness

The figure at the centre of the laurel wreath is called cosmic consciousness – it is a state of mind where we become aware that we are part of one big consciousness, part of one big world where each and every human being has an effect on the others. Where each of our actions has a 'butterfly effect' on the world around us.

What have you learnt about yourself, others and the world in general? Have you leant that each and every one of your previous actions has bought you to this point in time. The world card is as much about the inner consciousness of achieving goals as it is about reaching outer goals. It is as much about spiritual achievements as it is about physical ones. This is the point where you take stock of your life so far, what you have learnt and what you have done or intend to do with that knowledge. You have achieved so much and yet you can achieve so much more if you listen to all the lessons you have been faced with in your life up to now.

Reversed, this state of mind reminds me of the Wizards First rule from the Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind ….

People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.

Just make sure you are seeing the truth and not allowing yourself to see the lies we all tell ourselves to make our world seem a better place. Don't fool yourself into believing something is true when it isn't. Don't fool yourself into believing you have achieved your goals when they are a world away. Don't fool yourself into believing your actions don't affect other people. Make sure you 'get' the spiritual message of the world – think, feel and act in accordance with your higher self.

The World card is ruled by Saturn.

We learn patience from Saturn, we learn about karma and how to endure the trials that come our way through life. Saturn's lessons are often hard but when we do finally learn the meaning behind the lesson we can move beyond our limitations and free ourselves from often self imposed (physical and spiritual) karmic responsibility.

We are each responsible for creating our own reality and the world that we live in. We need to take responsibility for our experiences – we make the choices for ourselves and we need to own up to those choices and learn by our mistakes. Don't blame the person who took advantage of you – own up to the fact that you made a mistake in not seeing them for who they are. Don't turn your power over to someone else – own it – warts and all.

At the same time don't deny your successes. Don't give someone else the kudos for your work – own it and pat yourself on the back when you have achieved something worthwhile. Don't be afraid of success.

To read the tarot novel
which accompanies these articles please visit
The Mythical World of Tarocchi

To learn tarot for yourself please visit the
Worldwide Mediums and Psychics Online Tarot Courses