The World

completion · wholeness · achievement · travel

Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.

Trump 21

In a few words

completion
wholeness
achievement
travel

The circle closes. Completion, a goal reached, the whole picture finally in place.

Upright

Everything: The circle closes. Completion, a goal reached, the whole picture finally in place.
Love: A bond that feels whole. Marriage, a milestone, a relationship that has arrived.
Work: A project finished and recognised. Success; the next thing may take you far, even abroad.
Money: Rewards for a long effort. Financial completion, a big goal met.
Myself: You have integrated the pieces. This is what wholeness feels like.

Assured success, recompense, voyage, route, emigration, flight, change of place.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

Reversed

Everything: Almost there, but not closed. Loose ends, a delay before completion, a journey stalled.
Love: Something unfinished keeps the bond from settling. Close it, together.
Work: The last mile is dragging. Finish before you start the next.
Money: A goal close but not met. Do not celebrate before the money lands.
Myself: Seeking closure outside when it lives inside. Complete the inner circle.

Inertia, fixity, stagnation, permanence.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

The card, as Waite described it

As this final message of the Major Trumps is unchanged—and indeed unchangeable—in respect of its design, it has been partly described already regarding its deeper sense. It represents also the perfection and end of the Cosmos, the secret which is within it, the rapture of the universe when it understands itself in God. It is further the state of the soul in the consciousness of Divine Vision, reflected from the self-knowing spirit. But these meanings are without prejudice to that which I have said concerning it on the material side. It has more than one message on the macrocosmic side and is, for example, the state of the restored world when the law of manifestation shall have been carried to the highest degree of natural perfection. But it is perhaps more especially a story of the past, referring to that day when all was declared to be good, when the morning stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy. One of the worst explanations concerning it is that the figure symbolizes the Magus when he has reached the highest degree of initiation; another account says that it represents the absolute, which is ridiculous. The figure has been said to stand for Truth, which is, however, more properly allocated to the seventeenth card. Lastly, it has been called the Crown of the Magi. § 3 Conclusion as to the Greater Keys There has been no attempt in the previous tabulation to present the symbolism in what is called the three worlds—that of Divinity, of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm. A large volume would be required for developments of this kind. I have taken the cards on the high plane of their more direct significance to man, who—in material life—is on the quest of eternal things. The compiler of the Manual of Cartomancy has treated them under three headings: the World of Human Prudence, which does not differ from divination on its more serious side; the World of Conformity, being the life of religious devotion; and the World of Attainment, which is that of "the soul's progress towards the term of its research." He gives also a triple process of consultation, according to these divisions, to which the reader is referred. I have no such process to offer, as I think that more may be gained by individual reflection on each of the Trumps Major. I have also not adopted the prevailing attribution of the cards to the Hebrew alphabet—firstly, because it would serve no purpose in an elementary handbook; secondly, because nearly every attribution is wrong. Finally, I have not attempted to rectify the position of the cards in their relation to one another; the Zero therefore appears after No. 20, but I have taken care not to number the World or Universe otherwise than as 21. Wherever it ought to be put, the Zero is an unnumbered card. In conclusion as to this part, I will give these further indications regarding the Fool, which is the most speaking of all the symbols. He signifies the journey outward, the state of the first emanation, the graces and passivity of the spirit. His wallet is inscribed with dim signs, to shew that many sub-conscious memories are stored up in the soul. ↑ See the Occult Review, vol. viii, 1908.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 156

The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.

Draw this deck ← Judgement Ace of Wands →Other cards

Upright

Everything

The circle closes. Completion, a goal reached, the whole picture finally in place.

Love

A bond that feels whole. Marriage, a milestone, a relationship that has arrived.

Work

A project finished and recognised. Success; the next thing may take you far, even abroad.

Money

Rewards for a long effort. Financial completion, a big goal met.

Myself

You have integrated the pieces. This is what wholeness feels like.

Assured success, recompense, voyage, route, emigration, flight, change of place.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

Reversed

Everything

Almost there, but not closed. Loose ends, a delay before completion, a journey stalled.

Love

Something unfinished keeps the bond from settling. Close it, together.

Work

The last mile is dragging. Finish before you start the next.

Money

A goal close but not met. Do not celebrate before the money lands.

Myself

Seeking closure outside when it lives inside. Complete the inner circle.

Inertia, fixity, stagnation, permanence.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

The card, as Waite described it

As this final message of the Major Trumps is unchanged—and indeed unchangeable—in respect of its design, it has been partly described already regarding its deeper sense. It represents also the perfection and end of the Cosmos, the secret which is within it, the rapture of the universe when it understands itself in God. It is further the state of the soul in the consciousness of Divine Vision, reflected from the self-knowing spirit. But these meanings are without prejudice to that which I have said concerning it on the material side. It has more than one message on the macrocosmic side and is, for example, the state of the restored world when the law of manifestation shall have been carried to the highest degree of natural perfection. But it is perhaps more especially a story of the past, referring to that day when all was declared to be good, when the morning stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy. One of the worst explanations concerning it is that the figure symbolizes the Magus when he has reached the highest degree of initiation; another account says that it represents the absolute, which is ridiculous. The figure has been said to stand for Truth, which is, however, more properly allocated to the seventeenth card. Lastly, it has been called the Crown of the Magi. § 3 Conclusion as to the Greater Keys There has been no attempt in the previous tabulation to present the symbolism in what is called the three worlds—that of Divinity, of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm. A large volume would be required for developments of this kind. I have taken the cards on the high plane of their more direct significance to man, who—in material life—is on the quest of eternal things. The compiler of the Manual of Cartomancy has treated them under three headings: the World of Human Prudence, which does not differ from divination on its more serious side; the World of Conformity, being the life of religious devotion; and the World of Attainment, which is that of "the soul's progress towards the term of its research." He gives also a triple process of consultation, according to these divisions, to which the reader is referred. I have no such process to offer, as I think that more may be gained by individual reflection on each of the Trumps Major. I have also not adopted the prevailing attribution of the cards to the Hebrew alphabet—firstly, because it would serve no purpose in an elementary handbook; secondly, because nearly every attribution is wrong. Finally, I have not attempted to rectify the position of the cards in their relation to one another; the Zero therefore appears after No. 20, but I have taken care not to number the World or Universe otherwise than as 21. Wherever it ought to be put, the Zero is an unnumbered card. In conclusion as to this part, I will give these further indications regarding the Fool, which is the most speaking of all the symbols. He signifies the journey outward, the state of the first emanation, the graces and passivity of the spirit. His wallet is inscribed with dim signs, to shew that many sub-conscious memories are stored up in the soul. ↑ See the Occult Review, vol. viii, 1908.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 156

The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.