XXI World

Weekly Card XXI The World and All Its Stories

150108 XXI Thousand and One Nights
Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights

Sometimes experiences elevate us to a whole ‘nother level of being.

We’ve looked at XXI The World a few times before, here, here, and here. And we know, from Tarot . . . It’s Easier Than You Think, that this Major Arcana energy is about Paradise. That’s definitely a whole other level of being for most of us.

The Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights takes its images from the exotic Arabian Nights tale of Sheherazade. She was wed to a Sultan, which we would think is a good thing to have happen. Not so much, if you remember. This one thought all women were evil and killed each of his many wives after only one night of marriage, so they wouldn’t cheat on him. Sheherazade’s escape strategy was to tell her new husband only enough of an exciting story each night so that he’d keep her alive to hear the next installment. It took almost 3 years, but her strategy eventually worked permanently.

Here we have a couple rather than an individual gaining Paradise. For all you who think your life will start when you’re part of a couple, you might want to remember that Sheherazade did all that story-telling without a lick of help from her husband. And her success brought her to a state of union with what had been most likely to cause her death. Literally. Her specific mission was to use all her gifts to stay alive until her husband called “uncle”. Once he recognized what a magnificent being she was, a true marriage was possible.

Sometimes our own courage and brilliance have an impact on others. We live fully, even in seemingly impossible circumstances, believing in our abilities and our wisdom. And others are able to live more fully as a result of what we give.

Celebrate the ascension!

 

 

I’ll be teaching tarot through the Berkeley County Adult Ed program on 20th March and 1st May. Call 304-267-3585 for more information and to register.

And you know where to find me for phone, email, or in-person tarot counseling.

Weekly Card XXI The World Revisited

140417 Oswald Wirth XXI World
Oswald Wirth Tarot

Since we’ve looked at XXI The World before, let’s use it to consider a little slice of the world of tarot.

Tarot cards didn’t just spring forth in the forms we know them now.  Less Ta Da! and more evolutionary journey.

Most historians (yes, even in tarot, they’re an argumentative bunch) trace the first tarot deck back to Milan, Italy in the mid to late 15th century.  And most agree that the deck that was designed for the Visconti family was a deck for gaming, rather than for reading and personal spiritual growth.  You’ve seen one of the cards in an earlier post.

The Visconti deck made it to France via the usual political transfers of power, and companies in Marseilles began printing tarot decks.  And here’s where tarot as a transpersonal tool had it’s start in the early 1700s.  There’s a style of decks known as Tarot de Marseilles, which are based on a few early decks.

The XXI World card pictured above is from the Oswald Wirth Tarot, which is a Marseilles-based deck.  Wirth was a Swiss kabbalist who studied in the French tarot tradition.   He designed his deck in the late 1800s with a great deal of input from a couple of his French mentors.  Like the Visconti, it was a majors only deck.

It’s a big world that our tarot tradition is a part of.  There are other arts that have made the cross-cultural migration.  Ballet is another that made the journey from Italy to France (Catherine diMedici married Henri II and was very influential vis a vis the court “theatre”).  I have to mention that, given the dancer on XXI The World. :-}

But, more importantly, it’s another example of the falling boundaries that XXI The World indicates.  No matter what’s gone before, there’s always a way to break through to wholeness and freedom, and it’s often the least expected avenue.

Celebrate transcendence!

We had another look at XXI The World since this post.  See how to grow into Paradise here.

Here we looked at how we can have an impact on others.

 

 

 

If you’re looking for personal help with your tarot learning or for phone, email, or in-person tarot counseling, here‘s where to find me.

 

Weekly Card XXI The World

131226 Ceremonial Magick world
Tarot of Ceremonial Magick

We’re within days of being at the completion of 2013, the XXI The World point of the year.

131226 RWS World
Rider Waite Smith Tarot

XXI The World, as a part of the Major Arcana, doesn’t just bring us to the end of the year with the ticking clock.  It gives us a chance to look deeply at the year and our process.  And that process brings us to . . . .

Paradise!

At XXI The World, we’ve made another step in the direction of our highest potential.  We’re living more fully in alignment with cosmic consciousness, enjoying the freedom of working within universal laws.

Those kinds of steps broaden our abilities to be at ease under any circumstances.  We wind up being in the flow, able to catch opportunities as they come.  We can have a happy dance with more of the world around us, anytime, anywhere.

Look back through the cards you’ve related to this year and see how they’ve led you to feel more at home with yourself.  And then map your current location . . . .

. . . . the intersection of Heaven and Earth!

May all the fulfillment of finding Home be yours in the new year!

We’ve had a few more views of XXI The World since this post.   Take a look at how Tarot transcends boundaries here.  And here we looked at how we grow into Paradise.

Here we looked at how we can have an impact on others.

 

 

If you’re looking for personal help with your tarot learning or for phone, email, or in-person tarot counseling, here‘s where to find me.

 

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