The World

What the card means

Upright

The cycle is finished all the way through, not halfway: done, acknowledged and let go of. The last card of the deck and the only one with nothing to add - what remains belongs to the next circle. Completion here is not a reward but a state: what has been gathered holds by itself.

Reversed

Almost finished and therefore not finished: the last step is missing and keeps being put off, sometimes for years. Or the result is unacknowledged - done, but never called done, and so it does not let go.

Love and relationships

Upright

A relationship that has arrived at its shape: it is clear what it is and what it will be. Sometimes a wedding, sometimes simply a calm in which nothing needs proving.

Reversed

Something unsaid, and because of it nothing closes. Or a couple who reached the end and will not name it.

Work and business

Upright

The project is finished and recognised. A qualification, a handover, a release. A good time to draw the line and take what it earns.

Reversed

Ninety per cent done for the third month running. The last ten is not work, it is a decision.

Money

Upright

Obligations closed, the accounts balance. A good time for the final payment and for starting to count again.

Reversed

A debt nearly paid and dragging. Or a profit nobody collected.

The card's advice

Finish the last of it and call it finished - out loud, so that you hear it too. Do not start the next thing before the full stop: a circle closes entirely or it does not close.

As the card of the day

A day for endings. Good for handing over, giving back, finishing the writing and marking it. Poor for taking on something new.

What is depicted

A figure in a light drape dances inside a laurel wreath, a wand in each hand; the same four creatures in the corners as on the Wheel. The wreath is oval and closed - but tied top and bottom with ribbons in the shape of an infinity sign.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Saturn - what carries through to the end and sets the boundary.

With other cards

• The World + The Fool — the end of one circle and the start of the next in a single spread.
• The World + Judgement — the reckoning made and the circle closed: the best pairing for finishing.
• The World + Ten of Pentacles — a completion with something to leave behind it.