At the World's End...

The World (21)

The World is the final card of the Major Arcana, the end of the Fools journey. So it signifies completion - everything finally coming together, all your hard work paying off. It also signifies a shift, from student to master. You started this journey a ‘Fool’, but end it at the centre of your world, having gone through many trials and tribulations, meeting with devil, watching it all crumble, but then coming to the light at the end of the tunnel, walking into the sunshine, hearing the call for a new way of doing things and here you are… at the World.



I like the world in the eye as well, as it gives the sense that for a moment we see clearly, and it all makes sense, we see the pattern and the payoff.



I particularly love the Inner Child version of this card, that beautiful magical baby, floating in space. It gives you a sense of innocence and wonder, the completion of the gestation, and then birth – and a new journey commences - the Tarot is all about cycles. I often get this card when women are anxious about conceiving and we are both so happy to see it.

Heeding the call to Judgement...

Judgement is such a complicated card, and the resurrection imagery of the Rider Waite card can scare some people off. Judgment is about hearing the trumpet call, and responding. There is a new energy in your life. It’s about awakenings and rebirths. If you are worried about changes and get this card, then your worries are over. It signals a good time for career moves, a new energy, new vitality and clarity.



It’s about hearing a call and releasing old guilts and sorrows – forgiving yourself and others. It’s a great card for therapy breakthroughs, moving from knowing something intellectually to truly knowing it at an emotional level. I love the story of the wolf and the pigs, here, finally, safely in their brick home, having built something substantial that can truly protect them.



It is also about making profound decisions in your life. Is it time to move – from a bad marriage? To a new job? To a different country? This is not the small stuff, but rather the huge life changing events. If you feel drawn in a new direction, and you get this card, then you should definitely follow your inner conviction.
I really like the seed imagery here, Judgment being the small kernel unfolding, creating a new life…

Sparkling in the sunshine

Sun (19) Now who doesn’t want to get this card? It shines warm and bright. After the intuition/dreaminess of the moon, the sun is bright eyed and wide awake. I call it swimming the Tao, when you feel in the flow of the universe. It’s a lovely energy card and I’m always happy to see it. The sun burns away all the mist and cobwebs. Things that were confused become come clear and everything falls into place. It’s a great outcome card, though anywhere it falls is a good place. In case you are wondering where these beautiful tree cards come from (I used her poignant death card image as well,) they are created by Dana Driscoll and she called pack, appropriately enough, The Tarot of Trees

Learning by moonlight

The Moon (18)

It’s funny, as I look around the net for images of cards that speak to me, some cards definitely get more love than others. There are hundreds of beautiful moon cards out there, all with interesting, personal interpretations. I guess the moon cards is a card that speaks to Tarot readers…



The moon is cyclical, it waxes and wanes... It's a 21st century mantra that change is the only constant, and the moon proves that. It gets fat and happy and we want life to stay that way and then it gets thin... but we have to remember that it will get round again... We also struggle with what we can change and what is the moon, changing on its own cycles, nothing to do with us...



I like the Cinderella theme in the inner child card - it's about needing someone else to rescue you, longing for a magical intercessor, and then seeing the image of your destiny in the magical moonlight.

Star Light, Star Bright

Star (17)

The Star is a card of peace, harmony and balance. It reminds us of Temperance, but because the Star follows the Tower, it appears as very welcome light at the end of the tunnel.

The Star is a card of fresh hope and renewal. If you went for a job interview, you will get the job. If you have just been through a really painful experience, the worst is over. Whatever you are wishing for most, can come true.



The Star is one of those cards everyone loves to receive. When this card appears, you know somehow that life is just about to become easier and brighter.

It all falls down

Tarot is a funny beast, you get the devil card and we say it’s not all bad, you get the death card and we talk about rebirth… Well you get the Tower card, and things are crumbling.



It can feel like a lightning bolt from the blue, or like a river inexorably rising. You can know it’s happening or it can sweep you from behind, but sweep it does. Some edifice, something you’ve built that had substance and importance in your life, is breaking. And when the tower comes, although we can talk about things being better in the long run, in the short run it feels bleak.



I saw this card as I was looking for images, and of course it fits perfectly: - that shocking, awful, wrong experience that just crumbles things to the ground. When the tower appears, planes crash into buildings and we feel bereft…

From any loss, good can grow, in any tragedy, heroism can be shown. But the tower is about that feeling of everything breaking, the centre not holding, and we have to let ourselves feel the loss and mourn, before we can more on.



I like the Inner Child's Rapunzel image, because it shows that some towers were wrongly built in the first place. In an effort to protect the child she stole, a witch hides her in a tower. To the witch, the tower breaking is the loss of love, the death of a dream. To Rapunzel, the tower breaking is a total change, an escape from a weirdly loving prison, to the woods, where anything can happen...

I actually don’t get this card so often in readings, for which I am grateful (as no doubt are the people I read for!) But I’ve never found it to be about a trivial or simple thing – it’s about loss of jobs, breakups of marriages, foreclosure, bankruptcy. It’s an upheaval and if you see it in your cards, gather all the support you can because you will need it.

The Devil you know...

The devil, well he’s just so.. demonic in the Rider Waite card. All chains and misery. And that hand up, almost like stop sign.



I like the big bad wolf better, you can see the seductive element of the devil more clearly in that notion. When we meet the Devil our quest for excitment and adventure is leading us into the woods. We are putting ourselves in situations where we will be vulnerable to wolves, who do not have our best interests at heart...

More traditionally - our desire for physical and material things is out of balance, we hoard rather than rejoice, spend our energy collecting more things, rather than dealing with feelings. We long for material security rather than creative or spiritual fulfillment.



In this card, a woman is surrounded by addictions. The devil is about temptation, ambition run amuck, addictions over taking us…

One thing that the Tarot does emphasis is that all chains are of our own making. If we feel yoked to a way of life – too much materialism, too much competitiveness, then we can break those chains simply by becoming aware of them. Then again, if we refuse all joy, want everything extremely ordered and controlled, the devil card can be a message about breaking loose, letting go. It’s a very masculine energy, thrusting forward, fulfilling its needs. But, as the song says, the devil takes his dues, so beware of the costs, you may not want to pay them further down the line…