Weekly Walk in the World of Waite/Smith - The World

Well I have finally reached the end of the Majors in the Rider Waite/Smith Deck. I hope you have enjoyed this stroll with me. I will continue on with the pips at some point, probably looking more at the symbolism and colour associations of the cards. Thank you for taking the long walk with me and I hope you have got something out of it. I know I have. :)






Esoteric Title: The Great One of the Night of Time


Astrological Attribution: Saturn


Saturn according the the Tarot Companion is the taskmaster as

"it sets limitations and gives arduous lessons to be learned before the next step in the evolutionary process can be approached."

In the Everything Tarot Book it says of Saturn

the planet of discipline, organization, limitation, awareness and, most of all, Time.

Elemental Attribution: Earth - Elemental Earth is cold and dry and its nature is stability.


Kabalistic Path: Path 32: 9 Yesod to 10 Malkuth - Translation of Path: The Foundation of Kingdom


From the Tarot Companion by Tracy Porter:

This pathway connects Sephira Yesod with Malkuth. The energy of The World combines the earthly foundation with the kingdom of God to complete the cycle of our terrestrial existence.

Yesod: Is position 9 on the Tree of Life and has the Keyword Foundation. It can represent the unconscious thoughts one has, and may give one an awareness to their life patterns because of its connection to the unconscious.


Malkuth: Is position 10 on the Tree of Life and has the Keyword Kingdom. It is connected to the physical world and represents for us those tangible things like home, family relationships etc. It can indicate what is currently present in our lives and our conscious awareness of what we are experiencing.


Together these two seem to connect to The World by saying that it is when we connect both these elements of the conscious and unconscious, that we then are able to have an awareness that enables us to complete a particular cycle in our life.


The two pathways linked with The World talk I think about self realization.


Mr. Waite has this to say about the World Card:

Part I: The Veil and its Symbols
The World, the Universe, or Time. The four living creatures of the Apocalypse and Ezekiel’s vision, attributed to the evangelists in Christian symbolism, are grouped about an elliptic garland, as if it were a chain of flowers intended to symbolize all sensible things; within this garland there is the figure of a woman, whom the wind has girt about the loins with a light scarf, and this is all her vesture. She is in the act of dancing, and has a wand in either hand. It is eloquent as an image of the swirl of the sensitive life, of joy attained in the body, of the soul’s intoxication in the earthly paradise, but still guarded by the Divine Watchers, as if by the powers and the graces of the Holy Name, Tetragammaton, JVHV–those four ineffable letters which are sometimes attributed to the mystical beasts.

And in Part II he says:

Part II: The Doctrine Behind the Veil As this final message of the Major Trumps is unchanged–and indeed unchangeable–in respect of its design, it has been partly described already regarding its deeper sense. It represents also the perfection and end of the Cosmos, the secret which is within it, the rapture of the universe when it understands itself in God. It is further the state of the soul in the consciousness of Divine Vision, reflected from the self-knowing spirit. But these meanings are without prejudice to that which I have said concerning it on the material side. It has more than one message on the macrocosmic side and is, for example, the state of the restored world when the law of manifestation shall have been carried to the highest degree of natural perfection. But it is perhaps more especially a story of the past, referring to that day when all was declared to be good, when the morning stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy. One of the worst explanations concerning it is that the figure symbolizes the Magus when he has reached the highest degree of initiation; another account says that it represents the absolute, which is ridiculous. The figure has been said to stand for Truth, which is, however, more properly allocated to the seventeenth card. Lastly, it has been called the Crown of the Magi.

Robert M. Place in Tarot, History, Symbolism and Divination has this to say:

The symbols of the four Evangelists in the corners indicate that we are viewing God's throne, situated in the center of the fourfold world. The wreath represents the sensual world. In the sacred center, the purified soul is at one with the World Soul. She dances on God's throne. He also says of the two wands:- These wands are like twin pillars of duality, now equalized and reduced. They have become tools for the creative expression of the soul.

The figure in this card really represents our spiritual essence I think.


Karen Hamaker-Zondag in The Way of The Tarot said this about The World:

This card depicts an androgynous individual (male and female at the same time) dancing to the rhythm of life. An individual who is complete and who knows what is meant by having its own place in the scheme of things; an individual, too, who does not allow success to go to its head but remains unassuming, yet refuses to be driven from the field by sorrow and reverses. She also says this bit, which I find interesting; In the phase of The World, we no longer take for granted that everything ought to go easily. Life is flowing, yes, and we are part of it, but not everything we want is food for us, and we have experienced that getting things at any cost doesn't make us happy.

And this bit:

The World is able to take life in its stride and to pick up and pass on life's rhythm (yet without becoming lost in it). In the phase of The World we know, or simply sense, when to take the lead and when to keep our hands, off, when to engage in active planning and when to bide our time; we are guided by what "feels right". This is not fatalism, but a positive and deep involvement in life.

This last part really struck me and linked I think very well to the two Kabalistic paths that talk about awareness of the unconscious and the conscious and an understanding of what we experience. I'm back to self realization again!

Symbolism:

• Creatures in each corner: Are the same as in the WOF card - 4 Evangelists - 4 elements - 4 Pips - Look at the breakdown in the write up for WOF. These link this card back to the WOF and show that by having finished the cycle of working towards wholeness you create your own destiny.
• Two Wands: Two pillars of duality now balanced, or it could be related to the Magicians magic again balanced.
• The figure: May represent your divine core.
• Wreath: May well symbolise a wholeness - something which is now complete.
• Position of feet: Relate back to the HM and maybe signifies that having made the necessary sacrifice one has finally gained spiritual enlightenment.

What was Waite saying with with last card of the Majors? I think he may well have been alluding to the fact that it is through personal growth and self sacrifice that one gains self realization and a different perspective on life.
I am drawn back to what he said here again:

It represents also the perfection and end of the Cosmos, the secret which is within it, the rapture of the universe when it understands itself in God. It is further the state of the soul in the consciousness of Divine Vision, reflected from the self-knowing spirit.

It seems to say to me that it is by self awareness that we become complete. Of course you may disagree with me and I would be very interested to hear and would welcome your opinions.

Card: Original Rider Waite.