The World: Tarot Arcana XXI Meaning, Completion and Fulfilment

In brief: number, names and keywords

The World is the twenty-first and last numbered card of the major arcana, under the same name and with the same number in both traditions. The Fool, which has no number in Marseille, is placed by different authors either before all the others (0), after The World (22), or just before it. It is the card of culmination.

The number 21, three times 7, is a number of completeness in several numerological traditions. But above all it gives the impression of a loop closing.

Keywords: fulfilment, integration, completeness, openness to the world, culmination.

The image in the Tarot de Marseille

In Marseille, a dancing figure, often described as feminine, stands at the centre of an oval wreath of leaves (a laurel wreath). A veil or scarf passes in front of the body, and she holds a wand in each hand. One leg is bent, as in a dance step.

In the four corners of the card, four beings: an angel (or man), an eagle, a lion and a bull. The colours are bold. The four beings surround the wreath as the four cardinal points surround a centre. The whole is symmetrical and dynamic: movement at the centre, four pillars around it.

The image in the Rider-Waite-Smith

In the Rider-Waite-Smith, a dancer wearing a violet scarf floats at the centre of a laurel wreath tied with red ribbons at the top and bottom. She holds two wands, one in each hand. One leg is crossed over the other, as in a dance step.

In the four corners, on clouds, an angel, an eagle, a lion and a bull, the same four figures as on The Wheel of Fortune. The background is a blue sky. The wreath looks like an egg or an oval doorway: a passage within which one dances.

Symbolism of the elements in the image

Here are the details that come up most often in traditional readings. They are paths for interpretation, not official definitions.

• The dancing figure: the joy of right movement, the harmony of body and mind. Some read it as the “dance of the world” or the soul of the world.
• The laurel wreath: victory, achievement; its oval shape evokes an egg, a world, a threshold.
• The red ribbons (Waite): in the form of a sideways eight (infinity), they connect the top and the bottom.
• The two wands: the balance of opposites: active and receptive, visible and invisible.
• The four beings (man or angel, eagle, lion, bull): the four living creatures of Ezekiel's vision and of the Apocalypse, linked to the four evangelists in Christian tradition and, in astrology, to the four fixed signs (Aquarius, Scorpio, Leo, Taurus).
• The veil or scarf: modesty and grace: not everything is unveiled, even at fulfilment.

Upright meaning

Upright, The World traditionally suggests a completed cycle: a project that ends, a stage that closes with a feeling of fullness. It is read as the integration of everything that has been lived, the sense of being in one's place, openness to the world. Many readers see it as the card of inner success, more than of outer success.

In a reading, it invites you to ask what you have accomplished, what you can celebrate in it, and what you wish to do with this gain. It holds within it the seed of a new beginning: the Fool is never far away. Fulfilment is a threshold, not a stopping point.

Reversed: two schools of reading

School 1: the opposite. Reversed, The World speaks of incompletion, difficulty bringing things to an end, perfectionism, a sense of something missing.

School 2: a block. Fulfilment is close but does not take shape: a last step left hanging, fear of turning the page or of opening to something else. The card invites you to finish what can be finished. Several tarot readers, moreover, read only upright cards.

In common areas of reading

Tarot does not say what is going to happen: it offers images for reflection. Here, in symbolic terms, is what this card can suggest depending on the theme of your question.

• Personal reflection: review, celebration, a feeling of completeness. A possible question: what have you accomplished, and what do you want to do with this gain?
• Relationships: harmony, a relationship that flourishes, openness to new encounters. The card evokes a balanced bond, not a promise.
• Work: the end of a successful project, opening to an international or wider audience, integration into a whole. Symbolically, a cycle that comes full circle.
• Money: stability, an overall view, balance. It promises no gain and does not replace the advice of a finance professional.

Combinations with neighbouring cards

A card is rarely read on its own: its neighbour qualifies it. Here are some common pairings, to be taken as starting ideas.

• The Fool: ending and beginning: the loop closes, and the journey can start again.
• Judgement: call and fulfilment: answering the call leads to completion.
• The Sun: joy and fulfilment: the celebration that closes a journey.
• The Magician: beginning and end: the skill that comes to fruition.
• Death (the nameless arcanum): achievement and passage: one stage closes so that the next can begin.

To learn how to combine cards, try the three-card spread. To place this card among the 22 major arcana, see our guide to the major arcana.

Word of the day, question and practice

Word of the day: Fullness. For the day, take a moment to notice what is already accomplished before looking ahead. A word of thanks may be enough.

Question to ask yourself: What have you accomplished, and what do you want to do with this gain?

Writing (10 minutes). Draw a wreath and place inside it three achievements of the past year, large or small. Outside, note the four “corners” that supported you: people, values, places, habits. Write a word of thanks to each.

Short meditation. Imagine you are dancing at the centre of a great wreath. Feel your breath and your footing. Then let the image widen to the world around, and gently return to your body.

History and variants of the card

In the earliest Italian tarots, the card of the World shows a globe or a city floating on the sea, carried by angels or putti: the world in the sense of Creation. In Marseille, the image evolves into a figure at the centre of a wreath, surrounded by the four beings, which gave rise to the reading of the “soul of the world” (anima mundi) in the esoteric tradition.

The four living creatures (man, eagle, lion, bull) come from the vision of the prophet Ezekiel and from the book of Revelation, taken up by Christian art to symbolise the four evangelists. The Golden Dawn links them to the four fixed signs of astrology, and The World to the letter Tav (“the cross”) and to Saturn.

Waite and Smith kept the order of Marseille and added the ribbons in the shape of an eight. In the twentieth century, psychological readings see in it the integration of all aspects of the personality. The question of the Fool's place, before or after, is a perfect example of the open character of the cards.

Frequently asked questions

Also read

The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to The 22 Major Arcana, card by card.