The WORLD

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WORLD TAROT CARD MEANINGS KEYWORDS

Upright: Completion, integration, accomplishment, travel

Reversed: Seeking personal closure, short-cuts, delays

WORLD TAROT CARD MEANINGS AND DESCRIPTION

The World card shows a naked woman wrapped loosely in a purple cloth, dancing in a large laurel wreath. She looks behind her to the past, while her body moves forward to the future. In her hands are two wands or batons, similar to the one that the Magician holds. It is a symbol that what was manifested with the Magician has now come to completion with the World. The wreath is circular, symbolising a continual cycle of successful completion and new beginnings, because as the woman steps through the wreath, she is completing one phase but beginning another one almost straight away.

Around the wreath are four figures (a lion, bull, cherub and eagle), similar to the Wheel of Fortune. Both the World and the Wheel of Fortune speak to the cyclical nature of your life and the progression through these cycles. The four figures represent the four fixed signs of the Zodiac—Leo, Taurus, Aquarius, and Scorpio. These are symbolic of the four elements, four suits of the Tarot, four compass points, four seasons, and the four corners of the Universe. They are here to guide you from one phase to the next, bringing balance and harmony to your journey.

NOTE: The Tarot card meaning description is based on the Rider Waite cards.

UPRIGHT WORLD TAROT CARD MEANINGS

When the World card appears in a Tarot reading, you are glowing with a sense of wholeness, achievement, fulfilment and completion. A long-term project, period of study, relationship or career has come full circle, and you are now feeling a sense of closure and accomplishment. This card could represent a graduation, a marriage, the birth of a child (representing the end of a pregnancy) or the achievement of a long-held dream or aspiration. You have finally accomplished your goal or purpose. Everything has come together, and you are in the right place, doing the right thing, achieving what you have envisioned. You feel whole and complete.

At the point of completion, the World card invites you to reflect on your journey, honour your achievements and tune into your spiritual lessons. All the triumphs and tribulations along your path have made you into the strong, wise, more experienced person you are now. Celebrate your successes and bask in the joy of having brought your goals to fruition. Express gratitude for what you have created and harvested. And make sure you don’t skip this step and rush into the next big project; honouring and celebrating your journey will set you up for success when you are finally ready for your next challenge.

If you have not quite reached this point of completion, then rest assured you are very close! You may need to attain an additional level of understanding that will enable you to graduate to a higher level and enjoy real success. Look back at your past experiences and acknowledge how far you have come and what you have learned along the way. You may be quite surprised at your progress and how much you have achieved. And this reflection may also be what you need to bring this project to its final stages.

If there are still some open loops, the World card is asking you to close those out and bring them to completion. In doing so, you will clear the space for new beginnings and opportunities to emerge.

More literally, the World can indicate world travel, particularly on a large scale. You may be lucky enough to be embarking on a six-month overseas trip, or are working, studying or living overseas for an extended period of time. Similarly, this card reinforces Universal understanding and global awareness, and you will have a new appreciation for people and cultures from across the world.

REVERSED WORLD TAROT CARD MEANINGS

The reversed World card suggests that you are seeking closure on a personal issue. Perhaps you are still emotionally attached to a past relationship and you want to move on. Or you dream of the day you can fit into your skinny jeans from when you were 20 years old, but you realise now that your metabolism and body shape has significantly changed and that dream is unrealistic. You know, deep down, that in order to accept and embrace where you are now, you need to let go of the past and move on. Finding closure may be a very personal process – something you manage through journaling, visualisation, energy work, and therapy – rather than needing to resolve the issues with others.

The World reversed can also indicate that you want to fulfil a big goal or complete a major project, but you’re not taking all the steps necessary to get there. You may be opting for the easiest or quickest path to attain your goal, but it does not lead to the outcome you had originally intended. For example, climbing a mountain from the bottom up feels entirely differently to getting a helicopter ride to the top, even though the destination is the same. You need to experience the trials and tribulations along the way so you can learn and grow exponentially, and when you do reach your goal, you will feel such an amazing sense of achievement. Don’t be afraid to set stretch goals for yourself, even if it means enduring hardships or challenges along the way; it will make the victory even sweeter.

The reversed World can also indicate a time when you are close to reaching completion, but for whatever reason, you lose focus and slack off right at the end. You only have a short way to go, so why lose focus now? Re-energise and remind yourself how wonderful life will be when you have finally reached your goal.

Sometimes, the reversed World can indicate a frustrating delay to completing your projects. You might be missing an important piece of the project and until that piece is resolved, you won’t find closure. You may need to be more creative to figure out how to get to the finish line, even if you don’t have everything perfectly in place.