the Earth Ace and the World

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

firemaiden	06 Dec 2003
Of his Ace of Disks, the great and terrible Crowley writes : Quote: ...Nor are the Disks any more to be considered as Coins; the Disk is a whirling emblem. Naturally so; since it is now know that every Star, every true Planet, is a whirling sphere. The Atom, again, is no more the hard, intractable, dead Particle of Dalton, but a system of whirling forces, comparable to the Solar hierarchy itself. The Ace of the suit of earth, as a whirling sphere! an Atom, a miniature solar system! For me this is the language also of the World Card. Is the Ace of Earth a microcosm, and reflection of the World Card? Margarete Petersen's Ace of Coins represents "the potential of all of creation", whereas the World shows "the moment before the return to nothing" writes Margarete Petersen. Her Ace of Coins is a snake wrapped around a seed pod, looking curiously like a womb. Crowley's Universe is a stretched open cosmic Vulva (Hajo Banzhoff says), from which emerges the virgin universe, dancing with her snake... Your thoughts?

Lethe	06 Dec 2003
The Earth ace, the beginning of new creativity. The beginning of creation???? Well in string theory, one of the ideas that emerges is that the big bang (or the phenomenon, which produces data confirming (at present) an expanding universe) could have been created when the membranes of two seperate universes or dimensions touched. That brief 'kiss' exploded into what is our universe today. That kiss, the Ace of Discs, the result the World or Universe? Interesting.

Rusty Neon	06 Dec 2003
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firemaiden	06 Dec 2003
Whirling symbols to me definitely refer to atoms - neutrons and protons, spinning around their little center - and the cosmos, with its spinning celestial bodies, i.e. the earth...

Jewel-ry	06 Dec 2003
The atom has its nucleus. Its electons whizz around in the surrounding shells adding their presence to the energy levels. Using the atom as the Ace of the suit of Earth makes absolute sense to me. Without the atom there would be nothing. It is the basic building block of the physical world. I think the world card is a different concept. Not only does it encompass the physical world but the spiritual, intellectual and emotional world too! J :)

Thirteen	06 Dec 2003
I like Jewel-ry's answer! An ace is an ace is an ace--it is the "spark" or originator of its suit. If that suit is Earth, then it sparks, originates or begins, well, the physical. An atom is certainly fitting in that way. And just what kind of atom is it anyway? The world/universe is, as pointed out, the "end." Not end as in Apocolypse end but end as in "Complete." All that atom could have become it's become. Ace is the center of its little universe, the micro; it recognizes only its reality, not any others. World is the center of all universes, the macro. It recognizes the larger reality and has made itself not just a part of that reality, but the heart of it. It is all, it is itself, it is complete.

The the Earth Ace and the World thread was originally posted on 06 Dec 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.