Gilded Tarot - World Card

tarofica

I do not see anything on the World card in this forum. If there is something, please direct me.

I do not see much on the World Card in general in readings. The it's baffling to me because it looks like a circus character, that or a ballerina similar to the Magician in look. I see it as many things. She/He has the World in her/his hands. Someone thinks the World of her/him. I do not see it as having the weight of the World on your shoulders, yet I've read that about World not sure what decks. And another is ending or completion, I've read.

It's a beautiful card and very interesting but I'm confused about this card especially in readings of feelings when it comes up as card number one in celtic cross.

Not sure if this is where I talk about this but the World Card is interesting in this deck and seems very positive.

Any thoughts.
 

huntd04

If The World came up as card number one in a Celtic Cross for me the way I would interpret it is that the querent feels they already know the answer to what they should do in their heart and deep down inside are ready to act but are seeking confirmation of that in the cards.

As I write this I have a copy of The World card out and am looking at it. You can see the main character of the card standing with with one foot firmly planted on what looks to be a pillar while the other foot is stretched behind the character which is forcing the figure forward in a precarious way which in a way sends your mind thinking about The Fool in this deck who appears to be falling but is not concerned about it. Notice how the character in The World does not appear to be alarmed either. It is like a transition. The querent has reached the end of one situation in life and has determined what to do inside but after they do it they will be The Fool again because the decision that they will make starts a new journey.

The laurel wreath behind the character in The World shows success and in the position you indicated in the Celtic Cross spread reaffirms my thoughts on how the querent is feeling. Even if the way the querent is feeling is bad (as in having to make a decision they rather wouldn't want to make for example) there is a certain victory or relief in knowing inside what you have to do as you are not lost.

I hope this helped you.

I believe everyone is entitled to their own interpretation of the cards but I personally have never taken this card to mean "having the weight of the world on your shoulders". Perhaps, if it were reversed and you read reversals maybe. But the condition of having the weight of the world on your shoulders seems to me to be more in the territory of the Ten of Wands. I think more along the lines of what you said about endings but every ending is the beginning of something else.
 

Pam O

tarofica

the World

Huntd04

I appreciate your interpretation. I see where the feet on the card can simulate moving forward. What do you think the batons in her hands mean? I cant seem to get a feel for what she is doing. She looka like she's happy and has skills. Maybe thats the batons, her skills. The world has been coming up alot in my readings and it is hard to interpret. I read reversals as well and I guess upside down it would mean "not going anywhere"

Pam Thank you for the links. I appreciate the help.
 

Pam O

Huntd04

I appreciate your interpretation. I see where the feet on the card can simulate moving forward. What do you think the batons in her hands mean? I cant seem to get a feel for what she is doing. She looka like she's happy and has skills. Maybe thats the batons, her skills. The world has been coming up alot in my readings and it is hard to interpret. I read reversals as well and I guess upside down it would mean "not going anywhere"

Pam Thank you for the links. I appreciate the help.

All these ideas you are coming up may apply. Ask yourself, "What feels like it resonates?" Cards will have different messages on different days, in different spreads, and often change depending on the cards around them. Also, 1 card can have several different messages in 1 reading.

PS Personally I have had it mean to stop trying to carry all those problems of the world, only because I do have a tendency to do this. Right now, Caifornia is in the second most serious drought EVER, and we could get worse than 1977 that currently holds the record. Are we doing anything as a group? Not really. Most people are ignoring the problem, but that does not mean it is up to me to "fix" this....

So, keep seeing how different symbols in the card jump out at you. For example, those wands you asked about. How can you let your passions guide you? What have you learned from your passions in the past? What tools do you have to help you right now? Etc...
 

Pam O

Also, personally I often see cards as having 4 core sides. Both a positive/negative or balanced/unbalanced view of the upright card, and the same for the Rx card.

Think of a diamond:
Each card can be seen as having many facets, like a single diamond can look many different ways depending on the view angle, the lighting, whether it is inside, outside, whether it is sunny, under jeweler's lights in a showroom, etc...

Ideas and examples:
Balanced Upright: Moving forward. Seeing how to have a quantum leap to get to a new level.

UnBalanced Upright: Staying in a protective shell. Not wanting to venture out.

Balanced Rx: Seeing a whole new option to change that is different from anything you have thought of before.

UnBalanced Rx: Scared to move ahead because it is different so this fear immobilizes.

This is not complete by any means. This is just a start. Can you think of other examples? Do you feel various emotions that could be associated with different angles?
 

huntd04

See, this is what I like, different people's ideas coming together.

As for my thoughts on the batons that are featured on this card two thoughts immediately come to mind. The first thought is that of a race. All through time and even today there are races that exist where there is a runner who has to make it through a course in order to make it to another runner where they will pass the baton on to them so they can then run it. In reference to the original question asked at the beginning of this thread, the way I would interpret this element of the card would be to say that the querent is confident inside about the decision they feel they have to make and are ready to get on with the results of that decision.

The other way I think about the batons takes my mind to a circus and more specifically to someone who is walking a tightrope. Oftentimes when you find someone doing this they will be holding something in their hands to center or make them balanced as they make their way across. Looking at this element from this perspective and then applying it to other features in the card one could come to the conclusion that either the querent is balanced or confident about their feelings in regards to the question or combining it with the unstable foot we talked about in my previous post we could say the querent is uncertain about how they feel and need to become centered.

When it comes to reading tarot, I personally am an intuitive reader by and large and only interpret from the energy present at the time of the reading and what elements of the card pops out to me while I am reading.

I would like to thank Pam O for their post. I had never thought about The World card in that manner until now and it makes sense. I like comparing notes because it makes you a better reader.
 

Pam O

We do have some serious creative ideas springing from this World thread. I do believe if this was moved out of the specific Gilded section, and into the genera card section of AT, it would get more action. I almost did not initially click here, but I am glad I followed thru and allowed intuition to guide me, because there are some very interesting, and unique angles emerging here! :)

I had never considered batons like a relay race tool: a symbol of one thing needed to do this, then move on to the next part, etc. It is almost a mini completion with each leg of a race with each baton...

Or tools to balance on a tightrope. Life sure can be a tight rope at times!

And I was just pondering how the wand of 21 The World relates back to the 1 The Magician with his wand back at the beginning. (And some say the Fool has his wand that he carries on his shoulder withe the bag on it back there at Zero.)

PS I have pondered the concept of 4 angles for every card for years. This is the 1 st time I ever wrote down examples. I have often wanted to start a study group thread where lots of people could come together to define examples of the 4 angles for each card. It feels like it could make an amazing guide to brainstorm creative meanings, instead of getting stuck in a pattern like people often do, especially for certain cards like the 5s, etc....