TotOP - XXI - The World

Astrological Influence - Saturn
Element - Earth, Air
Month - January, February
Contributor - Patricia Crowther
Flowers -


Yet another departure from traditional images. It's amazing who this deck presents us with images we can recognise as being traditional, yet when you look at them closely, you see there really is a big difference.

For this card I will start from the centre out. In the centre we have the Goddess with Her crescent crown. Around Her head are twelve stars, representing the Zodiac. She holds Her breasts in Her hands, and some them come a shower of stars. Her... bits are slightly exaggerated to produce a "goosefoot," the book says, "an ancient sign of the Goddess." The oval she is contain in is made up of three braided cords of goddess colours.

On three sides of the oval there are symbols of each degree of Gardarian Wicca. To the left is the first degree symbol, to the right is the second degree symbol, and at the top is the third degree symbol.

The tools of the elements are depicted in the corners of the card, each showing the element they represent. Although the stream is obviously meant to show water with the cup, it is a nice continuation of the stream/river/lake we have seen throughout the Majors.

At the very bottom of the card are two crossed sheaves of wheat, representing fertility.

My Meaning

My meaning for this card is completion, but not an ending. We see symbols for all three Gardarian degrees, so we have completed the training. But we know we are never done learning. There is always something more to discover, and something new to experience.

I also see this as a card representing the Goddess. If I were doing a reading about a spiritual path, I would say that in some way the Goddess is going to contribute directly.

My thoughts on The World.

This card has a very Goddess orientated feel to me, with the central figure being The Lady herself, who issues forth the divine milk which nourishes all (milky-way pops into my head ).
She is contained within an oval, which strikes me as being rather ‘vulva’ shaped – hers is (female principle) the sacred opening from which life comes into being. The surrounding cord makes me think of the umbilical cord, and the darkness behind the Goddess, as the darkness of the womb. The cord itself has no beginning and no end – perhaps a hint at the continual cycle of life and the Goddess/Feminine as pivotal to this?

Around the ‘oval’ are the four elements/suits and the three levels of training within the Craft tradition.
Something has been completed and is ready for the next stage of evolution/development.
The four elements combine to create a ‘whole’- the basic building blocks of life.
The pentagram shows these elements having come together to form ‘spirit’ within us.

Thoughts:
My impression of this card is that something has been successfully completed, but that this ‘completion’ is not an end unto itself. It is part of a continual cycle, where something evolves from one thing into something else that can be ‘perceived’ as new.
The Goddess is shown as ‘Cosmic’ and the universe illustrates this concept of things evolving, such as when a new star is birthed from the death throws of another.

BTW- I also get a deep sense of the ‘spirit’ or ‘spiritual’ from this card and our connection to everything around us.
I feel expansion…… I see new horizons.

Astrology.
I see Saturn is the astrological influence for this card, but I am unable to see why, apart from the ancient notion of Saturn being ‘father time’, and time as eternal.
Usually, Saturn is that which we ‘fear’. It is thought of as limiting and restrictive, though it provides structure, without which chaos would abound.
So, I don’t see Saturnian energies represented by this card at all!. In fact it feels more like Jupiter’s energy to me!
Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Possible Keywords:
Inter-connectedness.
Wholeness.
As within, so without.
Cycle completed.
Universal.
Spiritual nourishment.
Expansion.
Evolution.
Seeing the entirety of something.

MM.