Tarot Card Symbolism: The World of the Major Arcana

The World is the twenty-first card of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. It is the embodiment of accomplishment, satisfaction, and a feeling of wholeness.

The Symbolism of the World Card

This card is represented by a naked woman dancing high in the sky, surrounded by a green wreathe. She is watched by four creatures — a human, a bull, a lion, and an eagle. These represent the four fixed zodiac signs — Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio. The woman is the sacred center of all things.

The World bears the number “21,” and it's associated with a feeling of completeness for the Fool, who encounters the World after his meeting with Judgment.

The General Interpretation of the World Tarot Card

When appearing in a spread, this card implies a sense of integration and achievement. It is a period of triumph and victory, of the conclusion of a journey. This card usually indicates that a goal has been reached after much hard work and toil.

It is also the beginning; the place where the Fool spent his innocent youth; the point where he stood as he was about the step off the cliff. It is the source of all things. The cycle of the Major Arcana ends where it began. The circle is complete.

The Inner Meaning of the World in Tarot

The World is associated with the experience of wholeness. This image of completeness is the ideal goal, sometime to be eternally strived for. However, this concept is not something that can be possessed, but rather something that must be lived. Perfection is beyond the reach of all, but the inner peace represented by this card is achievable.

This card, the World, is the final card of the Major Arcana, and so it is the end of the Fool’s long journey. It is the culmination of many trials and errors, and lessons learned. However, this card is also the seed of new life, the beginning of a new and unique journey. The Fool will once again start on his path to enlightenment, journeying through the Major Arcana, as if for the first time. And so the cycle continues.

The Fool will bide here a while, safe within the sense of completeness and oneness, before he once again becomes the Fool, and steps off the cliff onto his journey toward enlightenment.

The World is encountered by the Fool after he meets Judgment. He will bide here a while before he once again becomes the Fool, and steps off the cliff onto his journey toward enlightenment.