The World card is the final card in the major arcana series. The World card represents the totality of all the cards. It is also a different version of the Fool. A mutual symbol for both the Fool and the World cards is a circle. With the World card, we come full circle in the major arcana and end up where we started out. Wherever you go, there you are. Both of these cards are about complete and utter unabashed beingness. The only difference between the two is that the Fool is about to undertake the journey, and the World card is about completion of the journey. With the World card, the full experience of the tarot journey is sealed in a holistic experiential way. The World card teaches us to embody who we are, the totality of our experience, in each moment.
In Vedic astrology, the World card represents the Planet Earth. Earth is the place of our manifestation. All of the other planets in the solar system have a subtle, esoteric significance for us humans. They are points of light that move at various speeds through the night sky. And they are related to our chakras, various points of perception within our energy body. But the significance of the Earth is much easier to understand, because we are standing on it. The Earth represents the totality of our energy bodies, all of our chakras and all of our points of perception combined as a single whole. In Vedic astrology, the Earth sign (Rising sign or Ascendant) is the most important sign of the birth chart. It is more important than the Sun and Moon signs because it is the sign of our earthly manifestation in this physical dimension.
In my unique understanding of the tarot and Toltec shamanism, the World card is one of four gateway cards. Specifically, the World is the gateway of the north. In European shamanism, the direction of north relates to the alchemical element of earth, the physical body, the plants and animals, and all of our earthly ancestors. The earth element is where all three of the other elements - air, fire and water (known in Vedic tradition as vata, pitta and kapha) - come together in the world of physical manifestation. At the gateway of the north, we have completed the mastery of intent and we are now living our intent fully. Now that you have created your new dream from your connection with spirit, you can step into that dream and embody it completely.
The World card invites us to embrace our experience as our own personal covenant with spirit. Enlightment is not waiting somewhere for you in the future, it is right here and now. It is inherent in your physical experience. You can touch it, taste it, and dance with it. The World card teaches us that the physical dimension is not the antithesis of the spiritual dimension. Rather, it is its full expression and its fulfillment as form and experience. As European paganism, Vedic, and Toltec traditions all atest, your experience in this physical world is your gateway to the divine. Your body is not your enemy on your spiritual path. Instead, it is your personal invitation to enlightenment.
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(c) 2004 by David Ray
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