I’ve written interpretations for every card in the Wild Unknown Tarot. As the box of the deck states, there are no rights or wrongs. These are simply my perspectives on the tarot card meanings. I hope you find them useful!
Click here for a directory of all posts in my Wild Unknown series.
Deck Creator’s Keywords: completion, wholeness, contentment
Carrie’s Keywords: unity, integration, actualization
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The World Tarot Card Meanings in the Wild Unknown
The World is one of the most enigmatic images in this deck. This card speaks to me in a wordless way. I can feel the energies of wholeness, interlocking, and integration that are traditionally associated with this card, but I have a hard time breaking down the image! Here’s my attempt…if you have thoughts of your own on this card, I’d be fascinated to hear them – leave a comment!
In the center of the card we find a complex sphere made up of interconnected rings. In the background is a dark, starry sky. The sky gets lighter as we reach the bottom of the card, suggesting the duality of light and dark, conscious and unconscious. The imagery makes me think of life and spiritual energy concentrated together (much like our literal planet earth) and surrounded by a vast, mysterious Universe.
The sphere’s core is a bright, emanating white. This reminds me of an energetic center of spirit, bursting forth to infuse all of creation. The second ring is comprised of flowers and seems to represent non-sentient life (plants, water, earth, fungi, etc). The third ring looks like snake skin and could represent sentient life (animals and humans).
The final ring looks like an energetically colorful piano! This could represent the senses of unity, purpose, and LOVE that protect and complete the previous layers. In other words, the spiritual component.
A few additional interpretations have been described in the comments section of this post. One of my favorite interpretations comes from a commenter named Karen who wrote: “in 78 Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack divides the major arcana into three rows of seven, with the Fool on the top, representing the three levels of consciousness. The white light in the middle is the Fool, innocence and new beginnings. the seven flowers represent the first line, consciousness – concerns of love, society, and nature. The next ring is our subconsciousness, a tightly-bound web of things we hold on to, our psychological drives. And finally, the last ring is superconsciousness, the outward expression of spiritual knowledge, release of archetypal energy. So then the world represents the unification of all of these areas of experience.”
No matter how you interpret this imagery, the circle itself invokes a sense of wholeness. It has no beginning and no end. Regardless of our current challenges and emotional turmoil, we are always, already complete beings. We only need to shift our perspective, to zoom out and see the whole picture. We are perfect in our imperfections. Everything will be okay, everything is okay. Everything have purpose, everyone is cosmologically significant, all are connected. The Universe is creating a story, and we are essential to the plot.
The World Tarot Card Meanings in General
As the final card in the major arcana, the World carries a sense of completion and wholeness. The Spacious Tarot shows a spiral path. The spiral reminds us that even when we reach a sense of completion, our journey continues. Traditional imagery on this card shows a dancing human figure. The human figure is surrounded by a laurel wreath – a symbol of success. As such, this card can be associated with completion, the sense that something has reached a spiritually ordained conclusion.
This card is also associated with duality becoming unity. When the card contains a human figure, the person is sometimes considered to be equal parts male and female. I think of the World as a sort of combination of the Magician and the High Priestess: the World is about both “doing” and “being.” The World is an integration of supposed opposites: light and dark, flesh and spirit, the individual self and the One That Is All.
In a reading
This card often shows up to remind you that you are whole and complete exactly as you are. Even when you feel lacking or not enough, the World reminds you that you ARE enough. Something within you is likely ready for integration. You’ve gained great wisdom through your experiences, and this card asks you to hold space for integrating whatever lessons are most prominent for you right now.
Trust that you are where you should be, and choose to look for the dynamic meaning unfolding in your story. You are a whole and complex creature, let yourself revel in all facets of your existence. Now is the time to be what you are – magic in motion.
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The centre reminds me of a pupil but the centre is white instead of black and the ring around it is dark, where the livings are. The energy is concentrated inward and livings on eartn are in darkness.The snakeskin pattern on the outter layer reminds me of the interconnectedness of everything it surrounds. The last layer is distributed equal parts of light anddark yin and yang to balance the world and everything within and energy emanes from this balance.perhaps the energy needed to move foward. Notice the world is in motion as shiwn with the lines in the background, it moves from the light at thebottom of the card towards the darkness, the unknown
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! This is one of the more difficult cards for me to grasp, you’ve given me a lot to think about.
First of all, your interpretations have been so valuable for me! This is my second deck and I thought that it was going to be harder since I started with the Waite and it’s so rooted into me that to use a new one felt like treason! They’ll coexist!
My interpretation of this card so far is that the world is something that emanates from us as unique individuals and at the same time it connects to our cosmic surroundings to become one. The inner circle (hello there Divine Comedy reference) can be seen as a blank canvas, pure energy that will rise to mingle with nature being the second circle. Third circle could be snakeskin or even a spiderweb that unites the outer circle which made me think about piano tiles. We all play different tunes that we call life, hence the coloring, and all together, they form this wheel that shines into the unknown presented in the background.
Aww, yay! I’m glad to hear my posts have been of value. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this card! It’s definitely one of the few cards in the deck that didn’t come totally naturally to me. I’ll be thinking about your words!
This card, for me, seems to be a microcosm of the big bang/the evolution of life. The blankness in the middle is the void, expanding out into plant life (the first circle) and sentient life (the second circle), all contained in the wholeness of the spirit (the final circle). All life shares the same spirit and coexists in the cosmos. Within our souls is the bounty of the entire universe and we are completed in accepting this energy. I think the fact that the world is sitting before the darkness denotes that though the unknown always lies ahead, everything needed to face it is already within us. We are complete in this moment.
Mmm, I like this! A lot to think about here. Thanks, Nichole.
when i first saw this card, i didn’t get it really either, i just thought it was pretty! then, i thought of how in 78 degrees of wisdom, she divides the major arcana into three rows of seven, with the fool on the top, representing the three levels of consciousness. the white light in the middle is the fool, innocence and new beginnings. the seven flowers (cards) represent the first line, consciousness – concerns of love, society, and nature. the next ring is our subconsciousness, a tightly-bound web of things we hold on to, our psychological drives. and finally, the last ring is superconsciousness, the outward expression of spiritual knowledge, release of archetypal energy. so then the world represents the unification of all of these areas of experience, the end of the fool’s journey. that really helped me relate to this card more!
Mind = BLOWN! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 78 Degrees of Wisdom happens to be my very favorite tarot book. <3
I see 10 stars which 10 represents rebirth ,starting over. The sphere is going towards the light out from the dark , I see enormous change, like enlightenment of the whole self.
The sphere, the process of rebirth just like after a fire. First the slate is cleaned as the solid white center, then comes plant life which draws in animal life. And full circle mankind comes into play.
I’ve always seen this card as an eye. The white pupil is, indeed, potential of pure spirit. I dont see plant life as being non-sentient. There is plenty of research that shows that plants communicate with each other and have whole communities. In any case, that layer being the iris, which controls the amount of light that reaches the eye. The serpentine skin layer makes me think of the goddess, of primal ever changing energy. The outer rainbow colored circle with the colors getting thicker as the flow out, just makes me think of expansion. As a whole, the image makes me think of the Collective Conscious, the Eye in the Sky, Universal Energy that we all have access to. When we reach The World card, are we not “leveling up” to tap into that consciousness? Seeing all life as one and knowing our place in it? Then starting all over again with the Fool and Beginner’s Mind.
This is a very half formed thought but could it be about integrating the different parts of yourself or your life.
Circle of life comes to mind as does the term ‘evolution’.. A blank canvas, birth (nature), basic instincts (animal pattern) and enlightment (spiritual) aka completion.
This is the first deck of cards I’ve ever bought today, thank you so much for taking the time to write out your interpretations of them! Especially for it being my first deck the work you’ve done put into explaining each card has been beyond helpful! Thank you so much!!
You’re welcome! 😀
Hi Carrie! Thanks a lot first of all for the Tarot Reader Companion. It opened a new road in front of me. I just picked this card, while doing a three card spread for me: my conscious mind / my sub-conscious mind / my super-conscious mind (I found this spread, thanks to you from Biddy Tarot). The world popped at the super-conscious mind and it fits perfectly, right? 🙂
So I wanted to say for me no need to dig the image a lot in this card, it looks also everything is connected to each other in the card, the shapes, the colors, the light, the dark, todos. Also for me it’s beyond duality… As it got connected, it’s super-conscious!
Thanks again for sharing, lots of love.
Hi Aysu, the World in that position would be so awesome to see. <3 Thanks for your kind comment! 🙂
Bonjour Carrie,
And thank you for all your explanations ! You really help me in my discovery of tarot. I love the way you explain colors and lines in this wild deck.
First time I saw the World, I saw a cell, a cell with a core made with the same material than the cosmos that surronds her. Then I saw the snake’s skin and thought about Jörmungandr, the giant snake (ouroboros) who maintains the world and his oceans in nordic mythology. The card makes me feel like the univers is the same on the microscopic and macroscopic level and everything has his place and is made from the same energy even if it’s not always visible at our scale 🙂
Have a nice day !
Wow! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, they are very fascinating! 🙂
I came across this card in a Lover’s Spread that described me, my other half and our relationship. This card represented our relationship!
Ooh, interesting spread!
I just drew this card in the midst of an epiphany this past week. It’s not a real epiphany bc everyone knows it to be true.
Everything is inter-connected. People, world’s, deminsions, whatever it may be.
This card solidifies you’re hope in your own self, and everyone around you. Everything happens for a reason. And everyone is one soldified being.
And my honest hypothesis: we all have to become one unit. Across the planet. Everyone be on the very same page. Intellectually, spiritually, reasonably….
This card reminds you to have faith in yourself and the messages you send into the universe. Faith in ourselves. We are here. We decide…
Hi Carrie!
I love your interpretations of this deck. They guide me to go deeper into the meaning of the cards, and the references to the traditional imagery are so nice to have as well.
The World card makes me think of an eye as well – one that is the 11th star in the sky. “The number 11 is at one with the universe. It is open to vast spiritual concepts and the presence of a greater power. It is a channel for truth and answers to reach us and help us on our way. This Master Number’s vision is crystal clear and it sees with a breadth that others cannot. It is creative and magnetic, a beacon of wisdom and hope for others to follow” – Numerology.com (https://www.numerology.com/articles/about-numerology/master-number-11/)
I don’t see snake skin. I see a net or web instead. On one side it is being enveloped by colour moving inward, and on the other side it seems that the strings it’s made of are blooming into flowers, suggesting an unfolding expansion and growth. There are seven flowers. In the middle is one star – symbolic of rebirth. The colours on the outer ring are the same as the chakras, and the final crown chakra is at the center. So while the whole figure looks like an eye, it could also be a crown chakra, surrounded or adorned by a crown of flowers, draped in fully woven and complete fabric (web pattern) and surrounded by an aura of all colours of the chakras. The dark lines move outward to the bottom as they get lighter, then fade to white. To me this looks like a movement towards the light, from the darkness, but still holding darkness within, because to be on earth we can never truly be all light.
I always see this card rather simply. To me, it shows that we are an integral part of the whole of the world, and that world loves and supports us fully. So, when I’m doing a reading for someone in the world card comes up it’s always a wonderful sign that the sitter is completely supported in their endeavors, and in who they are. And it also signals “go for it!“ energy to me.
This card is so simple its beautiful. We are all one but each on our own journey. It’s impossible for one individual being to ‘journey’ through ‘life’ without being connected.
We can’t have one without the other, we are all one in the same.