How final is The World?

[Guest]

Reading up on meanings to The World card (upright), there seems to be a finality about it, perhaps mostly in a positive sense?  I'm not sure I understand the kind of "ending" it's suggesting.

 

How final is The World?  Death, seems final.  Ten of Swords is fairly final, most of the Tenth pip cards denote an ending of sorts.  How does the ending in The World fit - it seems like an ending, but at the same time, not.

 

If it turned up at the beginning of a life event, would that mean despite everything seeming fine and good the event is about to finish before it really starts, but the querent has entered a new cycle where they won't really care because what they have become is overall "better"?  If it turned up during an event that was quite noticeably destructive for some time, and the querent was ready for it to finish, would it suggest it comes as a relief and reward for staying the course perhaps?

 

Can a person change cycles internally while no matching external changes are apparent i.e. does The World talk only about the unseen that could influence the querent's environment if they acted from this newer awareness, but it does not announce external events outside of the querents control enforcing a change on the querent/environment?  

[euripides]

So much depends on context and question that it's quite hard to say for sure; you have to trust your intuition. It can suggest to me that the 'finish line' is in sight but there may still be some final loose ends to tidy up (this may be my personal baggage, as there are always loose ends lol!) ... I wouldn't say it means 'finish before it starts' - it's more, to me, a sense that things are as they should be to achieve the aim, provided the right work is done. Perhaps a sense of having everything one needs, spiritually more than materially (something about those Evangelists in the corners).  YMMV.

[katrinka]

It's an achieved goal - a very different kind of ending than Death or the 10 of Swords.
This is a good, clear explanation:
https://www.corax.com/tarot/cards/universe.html

[zedekiel]

I'm not sure if I can answer every part of your query, but I can give my opinion on the ending/beginning dichotomy that is prevalent throughout the Tarot and held very much so in The World I think.

 

There are all sorts of endings leading to beginnings everywhere. When the racer crosses the finish line, they have finished the race, there is a finalization to that last step across the line. And yet, the aftermath is still apparent, the photographs, the awards, the cheers, the accolades or despair, just because the race is finished doesn't mean the event is over, doesn't mean the ending of this moment has been fully realized. I could see The World here being the time period of the racer traveling back home after the competition is said and done. Only then, the full wait of what has been accomplished setting in for them, as they brace themselves for the transition to the next journey.

The idea that every ending creates a beginning is at the heart of change and transformation. Something must end for something else to come about. The way I'd see The World's ending is one of completion, rather than full finalization, as The World seems to be a card that, as the ending to the Major Arcana, references the cycle of the Tarot by its very existence, and therefore also the beginning of the trip again.

I think for your different spread examples, as always a lot will depend on what the other cards say. I could imagine for the beginning of a life event, it could be alluding to this event actually completing something that was left from before, and starting fresh now from a more experienced foundation. Or it could be that some understanding of what has occurred before is going to add to or change the trajectory of this beginning. Your ideas on this all seemed possible as well.

As for your final question, I think that most people do see the Major Arcana as being the journey of the soul/internal self. But our souls are effected by the outside environment as well, so yes The World can allude to a purely internal goal being achieved or completion of cycle, but also can be depicting an external one that greatly effects the internal and one's life.

Just some thoughts, hope it helps!

[DanielJUK]

I like to think of the cyclical nature of the card and also as a completion of one cycle after you have accomplished something. That is different from the other ending type cards, you are moving on to the next level whilst also going back to The Fool beginning, you are taking experience or something you have learned with you. You end the cycle a different or changed person. For example someone who is single, might end this cycle when finding love, or going from dating to marriage / having a family. These are new cycles which are more serious as life events. In a career, someone might get a promotion to a higher position. But sometimes a relationship or marriage doesn't work out and that is the World as well, also sadly people lose their jobs or careers. This cycle can go no further, it's complete! Whilst this can be positive, when it's sad, the person leaves with experience and knowledge where they will approach the next new cycle differently. The world keeps turning and our lives keep changing, it's a constant. It is a final ending (or I prefer the term completion), it's time to move on.  You can't fight this because things keep turning and changing, you have to accept it and move on to the next cycle.

 

I like to think of it like a computer game, you complete the level and start the next level back at the start but you have more knowledge. skills or items / weapons from the last level. Sometimes you have to keep restarting that level to complete it!

 

In terms of wanting a cycle to complete, I think it shows an upswing. The person has learnt something or is more wise, perhaps understanding something about themselves or learning their limitations. Even if the World reflects a completion of something negative, you are taking something helpful for the future or have worked out something about yourself. You won't be the same person in a future cycle again 🙂 This can be internal or external or even both. There is a letting go and accepting yourself part of this card on a personal level.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Thank you all for your ideas.  Plenty here to think over.  One more thing I found about this card: Golden Dawn sources say the woman on The World and the woman on The Star is the same person, but point out that in The Star she is not draped/covered/obscured in any way.  Not entirely sure what this suggests becasue I don't know what all their esoteric terms really mean. Is it that the Star is a purer expression of something that exists in The World, but at that stage it is of little outward use in the day-to-day world owing to there being no filter/persona?  So as mentioned in the comments above, The World is not so much a purer-therefore-more-valuable expression, but a "better" application/arrangement of that earlier pure expression?