What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. – TS Eliot

I love the end of the year.  I love it.  I cleaned my house today – top to bottom.  I Tetris’d my storage unit, swept under stairs, packed away clothes and donated things.  I always feel this need to clear away clutter and empty my home as much as I can during this time.  I’m not sure what brings this on.  Could be that the excesses of the holidays just push me over the edge into Too-Muchiness.  Could be that during this stark, cold time of year, I think that someone else could use that blanket, this food, those toys.  I’m surrounded by the people that I adore, and that is enough.  Every New Year’s Day, I have an open house potlucky thinger.  We stay in our jammie pants, we play board games and video games and eat warm food.  My house is full again, but not of stuff.

In this vein, I wanted to write about the card that comes to mind when I think of endings and beginnings.  The World.  It’s the Alpha and Omega.  When I asked people what they thought of this card, nearly everyone said, “The End!  And the Beginning!  Completion!  Fresh starts!”.  Yeah.  All of that.  When I look at the World card – the traditional Rider Waite card, it doesn’t really do much for me.  I wrote about it here.  I’ve been looking at so many pretty decks lately, I’ve decided to visit each one that grabbed my attention this year.

Yes. You're a fancy baton twirler. We get it.

I will touch on the RW card at first so you can see what makes my eyes roll out of my head.  It kind of reminds me of the angel featured in the Lovers card.  The Angel of Ridiculous Flaming Hair?  Yeah, that guy.  I get the balance and the oval symbolizing a hoo-ha, all four elements in the pics and the infinity symbol and all that.  Yes.  Very fancy.  What does it MEAN tho?  When I was a young tarot reader, I would look at the picture, wrinkle my nose and then dive into The Book.  Please, Tarot Book – please tell me what the hell this card means?  That’s so frustrating.  You don’t *want* to run to the book with every card, but some of them are just so bloody DEEP that you can’t help it.

Get your own shiny orb/ball thinger.

This is the Shadowscapes deck by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.  OH.  Ok.  Well, this chick I understand.  She’s worked very hard on this beautiful orb/ball thinger.  She’s carried it and worked on it and learned and I feel very strongly that she’s about to chuck it over her (admittedly enormous) hat and walk forward to make another one.  I don’t think she’s going to look back, either.  This transition is going to be smooth and determined, and I don’t think she knows what the new one will look like, either.  And that’s perfectly ok.  She has tenacity.

Don't drop it, lady.

This is the Gaian tarot – which is just lovely.  I haven’t gotten to play with this one yet, but Theresa Reed mentioned it and I’ve been cooing over the pictures.  Melissa has a little tarot crush – yes she does.  This card is inclusive.  You have the representations of the elements, but they’re not stuffy and archaic.  The snake is the earth, the butterfly is the air.  You get this.  Also, Gaia looks what I think Mother Nature looks like.  A happy, glowing crone of a doll who would hug you and reprimand you within seconds.  This is the World – SHE is the world.  She is the beginning and the end.  She has that spirit of giving and openness that comes with transition and change.  She reminds me of my Grandma, to be honest.  The same woman who told me that, “No one is awake at midnight except the Devil and Johnny Cash – keep your ass at home.”, and who, the next day patted my head and listened to me bemoaning the fact that I didn’t listen to her.   She has balance.

I got this.

I love this deck – the Prairie Tarot by Robin Ator.  Love it.  I love this card, too.  It’s got the elements, too.  I love the figure in the middle so much.  She’s so freaking confident.  If she bends her arms just “so”,  and holds her parasol just “here”, she’s going to walk right off the end of that tightrope.  I like this one because it reminds me of the Fool’s journey.  If you look at the tarot as a story, and the Fool walks through each one, the World is the end of his journey.  The Fool falls off of a cliff in his own card - it’s inevitable.  First of all, he hasn’t got a parasol (duh), and secondly, he’s just learning.  He doesn’t know himself, he doesn’t know where he’s going, and he’s not sure what to do when he gets there.  Not this lady – she has confidence.

Ta-daaa!

This last one is from one of my favorite decks – I can’t use it much anymore because the edges are frayed and worn.  This is the Goddess Tarot by Kris Waldherr.  I love the unveiling aspect of it.  I love that the art is so detailed, and makes me think of the intricacies of every decision we make.  Everything that we do matters.  Every person we talk to counts.  Every action that we take, every choice that we make – EVERYthing leads us to where we are.  It directs our path – the hardships, the failings, the times we just said, “Hell with it.”, and stayed in bed.  That brought us right here, to this very minute.  All of the broken bits make us stronger.  You did get out of bed, eventually, and that decision brought you to this end – this beginning.  I love this image because I love the thought that through all of our shenanigans and f*cked-uppery, someone is watching over us making sure that we’re ok.  Someone has our back.  It’s going to be ok.  These ladies, and those they protect – they have grace.

SO, tenacity, balance, confidence and grace.  The beginning and the end.  The acceptance that yeah, you screwed up, but still – you made it.  Nice job!   Now that you’re here, you need to start to think about ‘there’.  What’s next?  Where you goin?

Wherever your path leads you, I hope you have a fantastic New Year and an amazing rest of the year, too.

xo -Lis

Explore posts in the same categories: Major Arcana, Me., The World

Tags: cards, Kris Waldherr, Major Arcana, new years eve, readings, rider, rider waite, robin ator, s'up, Shadowscapes, stephanie law, tarot, waite, world

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