Why do people see The World negatively?

Rarely have I heard people speaking well of this card. A lot of people say it's about the end of a cycle.... but wouldn't that be Death? I really don't see The World as an end. I don't at all. I know every card has two sides and not all cards can be either good or bad. But it really disappoints me that people see The World this way.

I see The World as a beautiful card, especially one to get as an outcome. I would say they will literally feel like they are on top of the world. I see this as a card of confidence and being able to persevere through all struggles. In the Universal Fantasy, a giant, naked woman, with a smile walks on the land. She looks content like finally all is well in the world.

If you see it in a negative way, how come?

You see the World card as l suspect many folk see it here. Its a completion card, a culmination of finding yourself in a place where you have learned a lot and overcome much. It can never mean an end as in a finality because sooner or later we start on a new path of learning and hopefully reach the World card again.
l cannot see how others see the card as negative but maybe someone here does so.

Ola,

If I can shed some light here. Please take a look Tarot de Marseille, which Rider Waite descends and seemed to have only tweaked xxi here and there. (sorry, haven't figured how to attach a photo on this forum using tablet)

The world, as with all the other cards, has its positive and negative connotations. So I guess we'd have to look at where did Tarot get their xxi ideas from?
My first guess lies in our very own Holy Bible, as Ezekiel 1: 10 explains "as for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man, each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle."
16 continues "...the appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of the wheel."

Revelations 4:7 "The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like a calf, the third living creature had the face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle."

In kaballah XXI represents Vau of the Tetragrammaton, being neuter, transforming equilibrium, which is in agreement with the biblical versions I shared above and with the general consensus of a cyclical ending.

So in conclusion, yes most definitely end of a cycle, but no, it needn't be a bad ending, as that would deem life in general as pointless. I guess it depends on ones perception and belief structure.
I would say xxi depends on ones self projection, reflecting only that which is seen by the reader and their perception, pretty much as the art of Tarot is as a whole.

I do hope this helps a bit, and would love to hear any thoughts on it

love and joy!
Sancheo

I hadnt realised there WAS a negative take on the world card ? As far as the 'end' goes wouldnt that be the Last Judgement?

Ezekiel I take as a comment on the forces regulating the whole tarot ... not just one card (I have a post about that at http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=124078 - end of post #2 ) .

I can see how the 4 animals relate to the 4 beasts in Revelation and THAT relates to the end of the world ... but again, IMO , the Last Judgement seems closer.

The world is just that ... the world, not the end of the world, or its beginning but the world in its state of existence. If we want to track it back to any generally held concept then the 4 animals in each quarter relate to the four celestial astrological signs 'around' the earth in space.

I also see the figure in the World card (and maybe the whole card) as a depiction of Mithras - the 'Lord of the World' (and one of the figures used to make up the 'Christ' imagery ... its a little TOO similar to be a coincidence.

http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac263/spntarot/RW Major/RWS_Tarot_21_World.jpg

http://www.ambrosiasociety.org/images/p020_1_01.jpg

I have a more extensive post about that somewhere around here (Under title of the World card) analyzing the migration and evolution of symbols from various sculpture and relief carvings of Mythra into the world card.

etherealtarot said:

Rarely have I heard people speaking well of this card. A lot of people say it's about the end of a cycle....

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I say that all the time about the World, and I consider it VERY positive. For someone who is enagaged, the wedding is the end of the cycle. For a student, exams are the end of the cycle, or possibly graduation. For an author, getting the manuscript into its final form might be the end of the cycle, and a new one starts offering it to publishers, the end of the next cycle will be when a publisher accepts it, offers a contract and signs on the dotted line.

All very positive things. Why do you think of endings as negative? Have you had no happy conclusions or completions in your life at all? Does nothing ever finish properly for you?

but wouldn't that be Death?

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The World is a goal you work towards and welcome. Death is something that happens to you, and that you have to deal with whether you like it or not. They are both points-of-ending, but very different ones.

I really don't see The World as an end. I don't at all. I know every card has two sides and not all cards can be either good or bad. But it really disappoints me that people see The World this way.

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In a minority of my decks it is shown as the cycle of the seasons, so you could argue that it is not an ending. But each of those seasons has to END for the next one to begin.

I see The World as a beautiful card, especially one to get as an outcome.

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It is a beautiful card. It is a great outcome. The word "outcome" in itself is a synonym for ending.

I would say they will literally feel like they are on top of the world. I see this as a card of confidence and being able to persevere through all struggles.

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And once they are through the struggles, the struggles have ENDED! That nasty word that you seem to be afraid of.

If you see it in a negative way, how come?

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I don't. It is a card of endings. Happy endings. Positive endings. Natural endings that have to happen. The endings you have been working towards and looking forward to.

Why do you have a problem with endings?

Whenever I have a problem with any card, I use that card as a basis of meditation ...eventually the blockage is exposed....The cards are neutral...we project or receive via these catalysts, cards.

Perhaps you have come to a WORLD moment where the outcome is a better understanding of that card....

From a spiritual angle, the World/Universe card is about completion and renewal or death and renewal as it's the end of the process of material manifestation. In cosmic terms death isn't negative. It just is, followed by renewal.

etherealtarot said:

Rarely have I heard people speaking well of this card. A lot of people say it's about the end of a cycle.... but wouldn't that be Death? I really don't see The World as an end. I don't at all. I know every card has two sides and not all cards can be either good or bad. But it really disappoints me that people see The World this way.

I see The World as a beautiful card, especially one to get as an outcome. I would say they will literally feel like they are on top of the world. I see this as a card of confidence and being able to persevere through all struggles. In the Universal Fantasy, a giant, naked woman, with a smile walks on the land. She looks content like finally all is well in the world.

If you see it in a negative way, how come?

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People are afraid of endings when they are afraid of change, but that doesn't mean all of them are negative or not necessary. Life is not static, except when it comes to clothes dryers and static cling. So maybe the ones who see it as negative have static cling.

World

I've seen more positive meanings when the world is reversed bizzarly enough, as it's like you've broke the world in that the world can often refer to something that took a ...yawn.. Did I nod off....yawn ....I'm meaning it can be boreing the waiting for the cycle to complete at the end of that...yes the world isn't Allways referring to the glam side of life but simply something that comes to an end you know like the kids growing up or you finishing a degree or long engagement etc

But its positive in that it's similar to the magician in that this person is fully together they have everything at there disposal (and if they don't feel that they need to look again) Allso the world like the magician is not only a practicing magician once but twice ...check out her hands she has two wands baby yeah !!!

World

4got to mention most important it is about flow you are going with the flow and no it's not hippy nonsense you start to notice synchronicities and coincidences etc (you are at the centre of the world you are dancing on the snake and laughing ) in short you're egzactly where your meant to be and in the right time at the right place trust in this as you really are and if it don't feel like it or you think things aren't good well it will make sense at some point