Beginnings and Endings : The Fool and the World Cards

 

Within the Major Arcana
    The Fool card and the World card represent the dual epitome of the major arcana. Whereas the Fool is the ever-learning querent - always a step behind the lesson and always not quite aware of what may yet come; the World card represents life and its many lessons, and how just as one might realize the essence of a lesson, they find life has already turned pages and a new chapter lies before them. We as the Fool never truly find an ending to our journey. And that's both the joy and the rub. as every lesson brings the promise (not potential, but certainty) of both struggles as well as happiness. Such is life, and such is the way things are. We can only face it by continuing forward, eagerly embracing each new lesson life presents us.

Within the Spread
    When found within a spread, the Fool and World card represent exactly what they signify - endings and beginnings. If these are obstacle cards, it may signify a resistance to the inevitable change, and a longing for a more innocent time. As strength cards, it reflects optimism and the energy of new adventure. These cards are unique in that their meaning doesn't much change, regardless of the position they take up. Are you eager for change? Strength. Did you just come into a new chapter in your life? Past. Each card could indeed be read independently on its own. However, the nuance is found when the two show up together. An obstacle Fool and an outcome World could mean the person is rushing toward the end of this part of their life and are ignoring pitfalls along the way. A strength World with a hope Fool could reflect the querent being adaptable and ready to accept whatever life brings them, as their optimistic faith and their experience in a changing world allow for them to follow the tides of life.

Other Symbolisms and Signifiers
    The pairing of these cards is typically so central to the story of the major arcana that unless a very different deck is being used, the message won't shift much in tone. Instead, what's important is identifying that this is a critical point in the querent's life and while they may be confident in what they've already gone through, the world ahead is new and full of lessons still not yet learned.

    Something else to note with the occurrence of the World and the Fool together is that this is the full realization of the querent's lesson at hand. This is the power of the World card - it sits as teh completion of the whole journey. Everything the querent was put through. Everything they had to learn the easy or the hard way. They learned to harness their will and apply it both to themselves and to the world around them. And here, with the World card, there is the expression of that manifestation.