Welcome to Part 9, the Final stage of "The Hero/Fool's Journey"! To recap, the Hero/Fool achieved clarity, enjoyed happiness and abundance before the awakening of the angels, took time to look at the lessons he learned, and tied up loose ends.
21. The World
What does The World have to tell us? What does it mean to get the World card?
As time is not linear, what we think is the end is in fact the beginning. When we think all our questions have been answered, new questions arise. The middle Rider-Waite card features a woman wrapped in a purple sash, which aligns nicely with, and alludes to, the High Priestess card (as depicted in the In Between deck, which you see in Part 2), with a baby wrapped in an umbilical cord that also looks like a sash. As it ends, so it begins. Yes, it's a completed lesson. A completion. Lessons learned. But it's also a beginning. A fresh start. A clean slate. The more we learn, the more questions we accumulate. And so....we embark on a new Hero/Fool's Journey. With new lessons to learn, new Stars to chase, new questions to seek answers to, new goals to complete, we set off again. And we do so carrying with us everything we have learned, but with the innocence of a child and the propensity to forget much of what we learned, particularly those hard lessons that made it difficult for us to trust, to have hope, to persevere and made us want to give up. Which is why sometimes when we follow our hearts, after having tried other paths and adventures, our efforts may seem like "foolish endeavors" to some.
IN BETWEEN CONCEPT THAT CONNECTS THE WORLD TO THE FOOL: Dreaming up a new order/dream.
0. The Fool (again!)
What does The Fool have to tell us? What does it mean to get the Fool card?
Leaving everything behind that you know to pursue spiritual truth. Throwing caution to the wind. Putting complete trust in your intuition. Releasing all cares and worries, not questioning or doubting what you believe. Trusting that you will be safe and guided, that the destination will be better than where you came from. Recognizing that life is cyclical and you will reach that cliff again someday and need to make another leap. Making yourself a clean slate to become a channel for co-creation/manifestation. Being committed. Taking the leap means you already made the decision and you are sticking to it, for better or for worse, which makes manifestation possible.
Do you see how being the Hero/Fool now looks different (compared to Part 2), after everything he has been through? The Fool invites us to start all over again, with the same amount of excitement, wonder, faith, hope and desire for adventure as he did the first time around. Or maybe it was the second. Or third. Who knows? We are all at different stages of this never-ending cycle, which is precisely why we should never judge others for what they are going through, how they are experiencing and perceiving things, where they are at on their life journey. This is also precisely why we should never envy others, because we don't see just how much they went through to get to their Star stage, or Sun stage, or Lovers, or World, or Magician, etc. We don't know how many times they have done the cycle, and perhaps struggled at those stages before trying again, and after so many trials and tribulations. Social media often only shows people at their Sun stage, and we tend to think it was so easy for that person to get there. But notice how the Sun is the 19th card out of 21, 21 being the "end". What did it take to get there? What hard lessons did they have to learn? What intense pressure did they experience to turn them into a shiny diamond? Only they know.
Conclusion
I truly hope this was inspirational and helpful in some way. It was my intention that this blog series guides you in understanding your personal Hero/Fool's Journey better, to show you that you are not alone, as we are all essentially on the same Fool-World-Fool cycle, with everything in between. I also hope that maybe this blog series planted seeds of interest and curiosity in Tarot cards and readings, and the incredible insight they can provide, and perhaps dispelled some negative associations or concerns about the art, as it is truly a valuable tool in guiding people on their individual and collective spiritual journeys. Tarot cards, and Oracle cards, are simply a tool, no different from reading a book, viewing a painting, hearing a piece of music, watching a movie, walking in nature, talking to a friend, etc, that can spark ideas and insights that were already inside of you. Think of them as a friend, or mentor or guide, who, instead of giving you the answers, simply ask you the right questions to direct you to find the answers within yourself. Sometimes they give answers, but never disempowering ones, or answers that prevent us from learning an important lesson. Ultimately we are the charters of our own course, the cartographers of our own map, the drivers behind our own wheel, with a multitude of Divine guides and helpers, seen and unseen, who are on the journey with us, ready to help us if we ask. To borrow a poem I wrote on my Starbear Woman page: