The World

The World is Major Arcanum XXI of the tarot, the last card in the numbered sequence; the Thoth deck calls it The Universe. A dancing figure stands within a wreath-shaped mandorla, surrounded at the four corners by an angel, an eagle, a lion and an ox. Upright, it expresses fulfillment, wholeness, success, openness to the world and the happy close of a cycle. Reversed, tradition reads it as something left unfinished, a last-minute obstacle or difficulty bringing matters to a close.