0. The Fool

The Fool is the first card of the Major Arcana, and he begins the journey.  In some readings this card may foretell an actual journey; but more often than not, The Fool indicates an inner journey, a discovery, an adventure, an awakening.  New knowledge is going to be absorbed, new ideas will come to light, and a renewed sense of anticipation and excitement may prevail when this card comes up in a reading.

Once in a while this card may also precipitate a wrong move, or it may be a warning to watch your step; either in the physical world—be careful in your travels and be safety conscious; or within the inner journey, the inner initiatory experience you are about to undertake.  Either way, don’t’ be led astray, don’t take the path of least resistance ‘just cause’; use caution and listen to your inner voice or the wise words of those you trust and actually follow through with what you hear.

Aside from all the very formal depictions of this card, quite frankly, when The Fool shows his face in one of my readings, it usually means that someone did something stupid; and if they haven’t yet, they will in the very near future.  Since you can’t really be this blunt with a querent—well, you could, but they wouldn’t like it—I usually try to temper this new-found revelation with some sage advice, look cautiously at the surrounding cards for clues as to what aspect of this person’s life is going to hit the fan, and see if I can come up with some alternatives, a decoy, or anything else that will bring this person back to earth and avert catastrophe.

The Fool, in the meantime, skips merrily on his way, his head in the clouds, not paying one iota of attention to what he’s doing, with no realization that he’s poised on the edge of a cliff.

1. The Magician

The Magician is a card of power, and on many decks you will see symbols for the four elements:  earth, air, fire, and water.

In many of my readings, this card has reinforced the presence of power within my querent, both magical and mundane.  When the Magician shows his face for this purpose, know that the ability to achieve your goals lies within yourself. The energy is there, ready to be unleashed and directed by your own will and intentions.

The reversed Magician often denotes weakness, a lack of self-confidence, which means a lack of power.  In this position, he is calling to you.  Watch carefully the cards surrounding him, because they will tell you where your strengths are and how to tap into them.  The Magician plays with magic the way most of us play absent mindedly with our pencil eraser, or the loose curl at the base of our neck.  He’s powerful and he knows he is, sometimes he’s egotistical, and always larger than life.

This card also denotes cool sexuality, sometimes an aloofness to the weaker population around him, and an intense concentration that can border on obsession.

The Magician is the epitome of occult power, secretiveness, and hidden agendas.  He’s that character your mother warned you about, the one you found most irresistible and compelling in spite of the warning, or maybe because of it.

2. The High Priestess

This is the seer, the witch, the sorceress, the wise-woman, the psychic.  This card represents feminine intuition; and in many readings it is telling you to find that secret magical side of yourself, that small voice inside your head that you sometimes don‘t listen to or barely notice.  This card has revealed to me, in several readings, someone who is psychically gifted, or someone who has inner strength and wisdom they are not using—either through lack of confidence or deliberate suppression.

In less traditional ways, the High Priestess has revealed a secret, something hidden from view, but very tangible in the situations being scrutinized.  When this card appears in a reading, know that your first instinctive reaction was the right choice.
The High Priestess is also the epitome of the witch, and I don’t mean that pristine blond—Samantha Stevens.  This witch is cackling, conniving, smart and sassy, bold, not afraid to get her hands dirty with a little dark mojo, and a creature you don’t want to piss off.

3. The Empress

This is another card that deals with the power of the feminine, but in a much more mundane way than the High Priestess.  This card encompasses the world of motherhood, birth, fertility, dominance and submission.  In many readings, the Empress actually represents a mother or maternal figure in the querent’s life.  Her position in the tarot spread, as well as whether she appears upright or reversed, can speak volumes about the kind of relationship they have.

This card, in its reversed position, can warn of female health issues.  It can also reveal the loss of a child through a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, and it has done so in several of my readings, exposing a woman’s private pain.  Use discretion when broaching such a personal issue.  Sometimes women can be relieved to talk about their experience, and others prefer not to go there.  This card has also revealed many a pregnancy.

The Empress shows up to highlight femininity at its most controversial.  She can revel in motherly control and wrap unsuspecting victims in a smothering busty hug that is a maternal death grip.  At the other end of her conflicting personality, she eats her young, or abandons them in the nest, scampering off to greener pastures and new adventures.

The Empress can also expose extremes of female sexuality at opposite ends of the spectrum.  This Empress may possess a very flamboyant sexuality that produces rampant promiscuity; or she’s a prude, the pinup girl for frigidity.  She feels overwhelmed by guilt when it comes to sex, and she wants everybody else to feel guilty too.

4. The Emperor

As the Empress embraces the feminine, the Emperor embraces the masculine.  This card can represent a father or paternal figure in the querent’s life; and, just like the Empress, its position in the tarot spread, as well as whether it is upright or reversed, will be very telling about the kind of relationship the querent has with this person .

The positive aspects of the Emperor will include beneficial male influence, strength and power, an affinity with the masculine elements, as well as ancestry, heritage, and history.

In a reversed position, the Emperor shows another side.  He is over powering, controlling, possibly abusive.  This card can often reveal a bully or someone who is taking advantage of a situation.  Also, watch this card carefully if your querent is a male.  It has often revealed male health issues that need attention.

Mundane issues aside, this card is dripping with testosterone and can expose the male in a glaring light.  Uncovering a womanizer who has no real feelings when it comes to sex; he sees women as a conquest, a cozy spot to stop for a quick orgasm, or someone to do his bidding and tote his barge.The flip side of this issue is that this card will—and has—revealed men who like men.  Leave the estrogen out of it.  The Emperor is always compelling, sometimes intimidating, and never ever boring.

5. The Hierophant

This card reeks of conventionality, sometimes extreme conventionality, depending on its position in the tarot spread and the surrounding cards.  The Hierophant can also represent actual institutions related to a querent and specific situations.  This card can expose hypocrisy, denote spiritual connections, convictions, and aspirations.  In its positive influence, it can predict inner spiritual journeys and awakenings.

The negative aspect of The Hierophant reveals narrow-mindedness, bigotry, as well as overpowering control in spiritual matters and life-style choices.  This card can also expose limitations the querent has put upon him/herself, sometimes unwittingly.  The Hierophant is that wild-eyed nun in full habit, striking out at free speech, originality, and individualism with her wooden ruler.

The Hierophant is filled with ideas and ideals that encompass the spiritual aspect of life, but he neglects the physical, which shows him in a very Spartan light.  He also reminds us that in our search for lofty ideals we can get lost in pompousness.

6. The Lovers

This major arcana card deals with couples, usually romantic couples.  This card, as well as its position in a tarot spread, will be incredibly revealing about your querent and the state of any relationship they are in.  The Lovers has predicted future relationships, foretold of breakups, and even exposed abusive relationships.

I’ve often heard that this card also deals with other monogamous partnerships, but that has never been the case in any of my readings.  The Lovers is too earthy, too intimate, and too physical.  It reeks of romantic love, lust, and passion.  It is orgasmic in its intensity.  I have noticed, over several years of reading the tarot, that this card paired with the four of wands or the three of cups almost always foretells a marriage; but be sure to pay close attention to the surrounding cards, they will tell you if this venture will be smooth sailing or paved with problems.

The Lovers reveals secret desires.  It says “yes” in situations when we should say “no”.  It highlights our physical weakness for passion, and showcases our strength for enduring relationships and real love—not the kind of love that excites the mind and body for a night or a weekend, but the kind of love you’re looking at forty years down the road, wondering where all that time went, noting that your partner is just as attractive now as they were then.

7. The Chariot

When The Chariot pops up in a reading, I know my querent is going somewhere.  This will either be an actual physical journey, or it will be an inner spiritual awakening.  The cards surrounding The Chariot will tell you which to expect.

This card, almost more than any other, can swing back and forth between the physical realm and the mental arena in my readings.  The Chariot speaks of direction, choices, progression or recession.  It reeks of movement, stillness and stagnation.  This card has also revealed mundane aspects of its character, foretelling everyday ordinary delays and problems with physical journeys and travels.  It has warned of car problems, a new vehicle on the horizon, and issues with problematic transportation.

On the fringe of tarot interpretation, The Chariot breaks with tradition.  It marks issues and people in black and white terms, highlights duality, and puts the querent in the driver’s seat…Who makes the final decisions in your life?  Who chooses the paths you take?  Who chooses the people who will be your inner circle?  And when these choices are not always wise choices, who whines about the consequences?

The Chariot highlights responsibility.  It tells you to buck up and grow a backbone.  You’re at the helm; the ship is yours.  Plot your course.

8. Strength

This card speaks of that for which it was named…“strength”, and the abundance, or lack of, this necessary trait within our personalities and personas.  This card tells us, “You can, you can, you can…” even as we are telling ourselves, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…”

Strength embraces the power within and helps us to manifest this power into the outer world; not only into our everyday lives, but also into the inner core where our very being exists and our ego quivers in anticipation.

When reversed, this major arcana card is warning us that we’d better find our backbone—fast.  Strength has also revealed weak character, laziness, and other unflattering traits, expanded on by the surrounding cards.  However, Strength will also expose shining examples of fortitude, chivalry, and honor.

This card also whispers of power, the subtle kind of power and strength that’s not up-front, in the open, in your face.  Sometimes it’s good, revealing who is behind the scenes, who’s really running the show and making things happen, keeping things in order.  And sometimes it’s bad, exposing the great manipulator, up to his sneaky schemes and wily plans, playing people for fools.

Strength also speaks of:   ‘taming the beast’; dominance and submission; overpowering someone—physically or emotionally; getting the upper hand; “walk softly but carry a big stick”; “you always have to watch the quiet ones”…and this is true, you do.

9. The Hermit

The Hermit speaks of solitude, either the need for personal solitude to further growth, or the need to leave solitude behind and step back into the folds of bustling humanity.  This card lights the way for inspiration and discovery, and it opens the door to inner silence that leads to personal awakenings and unexpected revelations.

This card has also given insight into the solitary personality of a querent and revealed the need for more communication.  At the other end of the spectrum, The Hermit has loudly proclaimed the need for less chaos in a querent’s life and deeper introspection and thought, especially before major decisions.  Occasionally, this card even represents a solitary figure in a querent’s life, the surrounding cards giving greater detail to the individual and deeper knowledge of his/her relationship and influence to the querent.

Aside from all that, The Hermit says, “Get a life.”  This card tells you that if you’re depressed and lonely, it could be because you’ve set yourself up to be depressed and lonely.  Mary Poppins pointed it out very well when she revealed the secret to floating and flying—laughter.
If you’re going to act all crotchety and bitchy, then you’ll be celebrating all the holidays alone.  Deliberate isolation is a way to build a protective wall around yourself, to avoid all the conflict, doubt, and possible pain associated with human relationships.  But by doing this, you avoid all the love and rewards as well.

10.  Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune— I call this card “Lady Luck”, and it’s often traditionally referred to as ‘the gambler’s card’.  When Wheel of Fortune shows up in a reading, you will see a change of fortune, a change of luck. Depending on where this card is in a tarot spread, the cards surrounding it, as well as whether it’s upright or reversed; this card can be the harbinger of positive circumstances to come, or it can predict a period of hard times to brace for.

In very untraditional ways, which often happens when you use the intuitive method of reading, the Wheel of Fortune has warned of dangers on the water, astrological connections, deceit, emotional entanglements, and extreme egotism.
This is suppose to be one of those ‘feel good’ cards, and quite frankly I’ve never cared for it.  It has always felt to me as though it’s hiding something sinister behind its bright façade.  My first thought is—it’s a trick!  I usually trust my first thought.

This card reeks of scams, con-men, ‘a good thing when you see it’—in a sleazy, smoky, back bar room kind of way.
Nope, other people can get all smiley and cheerful when The Wheel of Fortune shows its face, but my first thought is, “What are you up to now?”

11.  Justice

And here we have the card which will measure out justice, dish out karma, and balance the scales for anything in our lives that we feel isn’t fair.  A word of caution, however, once in a while the scales of justice may not tip in our favor.  The lady on this card is blindfolded, meaning she doesn’t play favorites but looks at the facts and details of every situation with an indiscriminate eye.

This card has always let me know, immediately, if the querent is involved with the judicial system in some way; either through their work/employment, or through legal issues they are dealing with in their lives.  If you have a querent involved in a legal case, watch carefully the cards surrounding Justice for clues to the outcome.

Other than that, Justice leaves me a little cold.  What appears to be ‘justice’ can seem indifferent and cruel sometimes.  This is because Justice—both the card and the noun—deals with the head, not the heart.  This might be necessary in some situations, but it’s contradictory to human nature.

Justice is:  a cold hard fact; immovable concrete decisions; thought without feeling; retribution; blind obedience; karma; turning a blind eye; callousness.  It’s an interesting side-note that in most decks Justice is portrayed as a woman, though it was basically men who created our country’s judicial system.

12.  The Hanged Man

This card represents the epitome of self-sacrifice—the martyr, the redeemer, the saint, the savior.  It can also represent the dark side of those personas:  self-sacrifice at a price, the martyr who expects fame and accolades for his/her sacrifice, the saint who demands adoration, and the savior who asks the ultimate price for the salvation he offers.

The Hanged Man has also revealed when the querent is too tied up in a relationship or set of circumstances.  This card has foretold of incarceration, warned of a negative choice, and magnified the consequences when a querent has allowed someone to take advantage of him/her.  The Hanged Man boils down to choices we make and the affects precipitated by those choices.

The Hanged Man can also play the fool.  Who would allow themselves to be put in such an awkward uncomfortable position?  I can’t imagine someone doing this to themselves intentionally, unless they are masochistic, or just a glutton for punishment.

This character’s feet are in the air, as though someone pulled the rug out from under him.  My impression is that of someone who’s been blindsided.  He looks a little confused, flustered, off balance.  He doesn’t have the strength to reach up and free himself.  The Hanged Man speaks of:  contradictions; a surprise attack; incrimination; harsh and often unwarranted punishment; the victim; chastisement; Jesus; the great lion Aslan in C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia”.

13. Death

The sight of this card is usually alarming to a querent when it unexpectedly shows its face.  The truth is that Death does not necessarily foretell a physical demise.  This card is all about ‘transformation’, the kind of big earth-shattering change in someone’s life that forces the universe to sit up and take notice.

In order for this transformation to take place, one door must close so that another can open.  This can mean, in essence, a ‘death’…the end of a relationship, a career, a phase of life, a chosen path.

Change can be scary.  It can cause trepidation, fear, and dread; but as nerve-wracking as some beginnings may be, the new horizons unfolding before the querent will open new pathways and opportunities undreamed of.  However, watch carefully the cards surrounding Death and its position in the tarot spread, just in case there is something more ominous waiting in the wings.

The Grim Reaper is most often the figure portrayed on this card—a skeleton, all boney and naked, stripped of flesh, exposed at a very basic level.  And in a tarot reading, when Death appears, this is often what happens to the querent before me.  It’s almost as if they can perceive this because quite often they begin to squirm.

As lofty as all the high ideals and explanations for this card may be, the imagery still brings us back to rotting corpses, dusty coffins, open graves, and a sense of loss.  It mirrors a finality that is heartbreaking and eternal; a juncture for which there is no return route; an unwelcome conclusion; something we beat our fists against and flail about with, trying to fight it off.  And in doing this, we exhaust ourselves and miss opportunities.

If only we could fall comfortably within Death’s cold embrace without the struggle.  But this we will never do; it goes against our instinct for self-preservation.

When this card appears, you may be struggling against something you will not be able to overpower…it’s a creature called ‘The Inevitable’.

14. Temperance

This is generally the card of balance; balance and equilibrium in all aspects of life—physical, mental, and spiritual.  The Angel depicted on this card in the Hanson/Roberts deck is intent on the chalices she is holding in her hands.  She’s carefully pouring something from one to the other. What is it this Angel of Temperance is so carefully measuring out?

It could be that which pertains to our physical world:  wealth, good health, opportunities, material possessions; or it may be this Angel is dispersing and ladling out that which affects our spiritual/mental lives…love, hate, procrastination, ambition, psychic gifts, time, and mental stability.

Whatever it is this Lady is holding within her silver chalices, she is grim and concentrated on the task of keeping everything in balance and on an even keel.

When this card appears in one of my readings, it most often taps us on the shoulder, giving us fair warning that we may be neglecting some aspect of our lives, giving more in one area, taking more than we should from another.  It warns us that we have to look at the big picture.  If one feature of our lives is unbalanced and out of sync, it may throw other areas of our life into turmoil as well.

“Temperance” is a comforting card in most of my readings.  It tells us to back up and realign our priorities.

However, when this card appears, it often reveals someone with an obsessive/compulsive nature or condition; someone who might be prone to obsessions; someone who is the epitome of determination, often possessing a one track mind.

I’ve noticed that querents strongly connected to this card often have a ‘spacey’, ‘dreamy’ look about their eyes.  Sometimes talking to them is like talking to someone who is only half there, only half listening to you.  Who knows where the other half of their mind may be—off somewhere, I suppose, floating among the stars and super novas.

15. The Devil

This is the card of addictions and self-imposed restrictions.  So often our inability to move forward and reach goals is caused by limitations we put upon ourselves by negative choices we make and by the dark paths we choose to travel.

The Devil often acts like a wake up call in many of my readings, whether the issue is actual alcohol or drug addictions, problems with weight loss, timidity in dealing with the public and asserting yourself, or some other private demon you keep hidden from the world.  The Devil also tells me when my querent has a person in their life who suffers addictions.

This card, along with the cards surrounding it, will often show you how to break these chains and free yourself to reach your highest potential and attain your goals; whether you are the one bound by the affects of this card, or it’s someone close to you who is affected.
Besides all these very traditional meanings, The Devil reveals to me someone who is able to think outside the box; a person who doesn’t give a damn about social morality, or morality in general, but lives for the moment, sucking every ounce of immoral obscene pleasure out of life that he can.

This card forces us to look at those things in life we view as ‘yukky’, and it can motivate us to clean them up.  It doesn’t sound very flattering, but sometimes human beings create their own crap and then attempt to live fulfilling lives in it.  It won’t work.  You’ll constantly be trying to scrape it from the bottom of your shoe.

16. The Tower

I’ve often heard this card referred to unceremoniously as ‘the shit hits the fan’ card; and indeed, The Tower foretells of unexpected, unnerving, outrageously uprooting and tumultuous circumstances.  I often try to temper the message from this card so as not to overly alarm my querents; but there is no getting past the fact that when The Tower appears in a reading, destiny is going to tap you on the shoulder just before it smacks you in the face.

The cards surrounding this card, as well as its position in the tarot spread, should give you much needed insights into what area of life will be affected and what sort of final outcome can be expected.  Study these cards as if you were taking the most important exam of your life, because you might be doing just that.

In spite of its reputation, don’t let this card frighten you.  Often in life positive change and naturally progressive phases begin with cataclysmic events.

And above is the advice I most often give my querents when The Tower rears its ugly head, but inwardly I flinch.  Most people don’t like big, in your face, ‘you don’t have a choice’ changes in their lives.  It sucks.  And like I said, zoom in on those surrounding cards so you might at least know what area of life you have to brace yourself for.  I hate being blind-sided, and who wants to get struck by lightening (often the image portrayed on this card).  Like most people, I’ll accept tumultuous change in my life kicking, screaming, and protesting all the way.

17.  The Star

As the previous card was one that created a feeling of trepidation, this card inspires the light of hope.  The Star lets you know that happier times are ahead, success may be just around the corner, and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In the delightful and surprising method of intuitive reading, this card has also told me when a querent is taking on too much responsibility; when something is going on behind a querent’s back; and even when more attention is needed towards a project, relationship, or other area of life.  Surprisingly, The Star has also spoken of issues that involve the female relatives or friends of a querent, or even the querent herself.

No matter how dire a reading may seem, when The Star appears, there is always shining possibilities you could never have imagined.
Yada, yada, yada…yes, all of the above is true, but like most things in life, there are two sides to every story.  And, by the way, I felt like Shirley Temple at her most angelic when I penned those noble words above.

However…

Once in a while, when The Star appears, my querent is not paying attention to something very important in her life.  I look at the card—the figure all dreamy-eyed and absent-minded, playing in the water; and I look at the querent sitting across from me, all dreamy-eyed and absent-minded, playing at life; and I want to scream at her, “Get out of the damn water!”
The Star warns of: distractions; an oblivious mentality; sticking your head in the sand, ostrich style; and once in a while it may even warn of someone being set up.

So many lofty ideas are attached to the major arcana, but believe it or not, once in a while the mundane and ordinary elbow its way in here.  Once upon a time, this lovely card depicting the lady in the lake amplified the fact that my querent needed a bath…and it was right.

18. The Moon

Mystery, esoteric knowledge, psychism, deceptions, mental illness, the dark side—the enlightened side…All meanings of The Moon, and all of these aspects for this beautiful and complicated card have come up in my readings.

This card, with its moonlit path always leading between two stalwart towers or mountains, has the feeling of wandering about it, an unsettled spirit and eternal quest.  This quest may involve the search for something in our mundane world, and this card has indeed come up in readings for missing person cases.  This quest can also involve the spiritual, the intangible search for knowledge, often occult knowledge.  It speaks of ‘The Seeker”

The sentinels on either side of this card, often portrayed as canines, reeks of inner initiation, of someone who has come through—or is about to enter—a new phase of self-awareness and inner enlightenment.

Reversed, this card often is a warning—someone close to you is not being truthful, perhaps it is you yourself, not being true to those around you, or being swallowed by self-deception.  Occasionally The Moon has warned of an unbalanced mind, mental illness, or the dark side of yourself or someone close to you.

This is my favorite tarot card of the entire deck.  I suppose part of this affinity stems from the Wiccan, Goddess oriented part of myself.  I find comfort in the moon, in the subdued light it casts, and in its ever changing subtle energy and phases.
Yes, this card has a dark side, there’s no getting around that.  But there are light and dark aspects to everything in our world, everything of nature.  Sometimes we find ourselves stepping into these shadows, only to discover the light.
And that’s where this card will take you.

19.  The Sun

As the physical sun brings light, warmth, and hope, so too does this major arcana card.  No matter how bleak a reading may appear, when The Sun shows its brilliant face, you know there is light at the end of the tunnel and the real possibility of a positive outcome.

Using the intuitive method of reading, this card has also pinpointed autumn as a pivotal time frame; brought into play the metaphysical element of Air; foretold of a child, promotion, or travel in the future; revealed a secret admirer, as well as exposed a trouble-maker; and even predicted the appearance of an animal, an unexpected pet, in a querent’s life.

The Sun, reputed to be such a positive card that even reversed it brings hope, certainly lives up to its name; and I don’t mean to throw a damper on it, but sometimes this card is too bright for me.Just as I need protection from the glare and rays of this card’s planetary counterpart, I need to temper the enthusiasm and energy of this tarot card.

I tend to be low key, and this card is one of those cards that’s in your face, or jumping all over you like an excited cocker spaniel.  My first instinct would be to swat it off—okay, already, let me absorb all this irritating frenetic happiness and heat at my own pace and in my own way.
Some people can’t handle, or don’t like, large choking doses of any type of emotion—good or bad.  Remember this and help these querents to assimilate the effects of The Sun gently into their lives.

20. Judgment

This card has often revealed to me personality types—judgmental people; personality disorders, such as paranoia; victims; as well as moral issues and/or questionable behavior.  It has warned of judicial issues on the horizon, and it has heralded new spiritual awareness and “awakening” if you will.

Judgment has both startled querents by its sudden appearance and unusual images, and it has brought comfort and relief.  When Judgment appears in a reading, it makes me stop dead in my tracks to reassess the other cards that have shown their faces in the tarot spread.  Sometimes this card tells us that we’ve done all we can in a situation, and a higher power will now take the wheel, maneuvering events and fulfilling destiny.
Judgment is also one of the three cards in the tarot deck that I like the least; ‘dislike’ might be too strong a word, but it’s probably more accurate.

This tarot card is like one of those issues you don’t want to face in the morning before your first cup of coffee. It reeks of medieval Christianity and all the infamous products of this creed:  heaven and hell, punishment and damnation, sin and redemption.  This card bellows at you to make amends for your sinful, sorry self.

I guess the Judgment tarot card is just tied in too strongly with Christian imagery and ideals for my pagan tastes and heathen soul.  But then to each his own, and you may find a completely different landscape when you look at this card.

21. The World

At the beginning of the major arcana, we began our journey with The Fool, and so we end it with this card, The World.  We’ve come full circle and achieved completion, experienced wholeness.

The lady on this card usually holds a wand in each hand with a flame or crystal point at both ends.  These wands are symbols of power, of knowledge gained along the way; they may represent the four elements—earth, air, fire, water; divine inspiration; and unwavering determination.  I view these wands as a tool to direct personal energy and will power.

When The World shows its face in my readings, I can be sure that my querent has come through a rite of passage, reached personal goals, or has successfully completed one phase of life and now stands at the threshold of another.

The World is the third of the three tarot cards that are not among my favorites.  You might wonder why; it seems to represent positive energy and the very thing that we strive for—success.  This is not always how I view this card.  It’s sad.  When you say that something is finished, it has an air of finality about it that I don’t like.  Even in its positive aspect, it means an ending; a dispersal of grouped energy; dissipation; the prospect of having to start all over.

And the figure on this card, poised like the hood ornament on a Buick, looks frozen, inanimate, and lonely, set apart from the world and everyone it.  Yep, I find The World to be a sad card.  But then, once I rediscover it frolicking among other cards in a tarot spread, it might take on a different persona, a different energy and nuance.  The lady on the card can be fickle.

And now something has come to an end…our journey through the major arcana.