What is victory? What does it feel like to get everything you need? To be at peace with the world and with yourself? We get glimpses of it from time to time. A fantastic dinner with friends and family. A huge cup of tea, a warm blanket, and a long talk with a loved one. When you make a long, tiring journey and come (at last) to your final destination. When you are happy, healthy, and whole, the world feels as if it is yours. The World card is the sign of completion – that feeling you get when there's a happy ending. A feeling of harmony.

On the face of the World card, a woman floats, presumably high above the Earth, wielding two white wands in her hands (these wands are notably similar to the wands held by the Magician). A purple cloth is wound around her, signifying victory and affluence. She is surrounded by a huge green wreath. Around her are the four faces of the Four Evangelicals – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In every way, she is the apex of the Earth – the center point of the World.

Accomplishment – that moment when your goals are made real. This feeling might not strike right away, and it is also entirely possible to block it. Some people finish huge achievements but never allow themselves to feel them.

When the Fool set out on his journey, he didn't know what he would find. When he got to the end, he knew he had found one thing for certain: a sense of accomplishment. The World card is a sure sign that you should pursue your goals and work to solve your issues... and when you do, take time to relish that feeling.

Most accomplishments are contributions to those outside of ourselves – we thrive most when we are giving and helping others. The World card may be a sign that you should focus yourself outward and do good in the world, as that goodwill and kindness will come back to you when you most need it.

The Completion of the Alchemical Great Work

Lastly, and most importantly, the World is a sure sign of fulfillment. We all seek to be fulfilled in many areas of our lives – our home, our work, our hobbies, and our playtime are all things where we seek real satisfaction. Very rarely, it seems, do people reach the satisfaction that they yearn for. The World card is telling you that this sort of contentment is at your fingertips – you simply need to reach out and grab it!

When you pull the World card, it's a fantastic time to address your life and ask yourself a few important questions. What would make you feel fulfilled? Do you feel accomplished? Could you allow yourself to feel accomplished? What could you do to bring wholeness into your life? Is there wholeness and goodness in your life already, only you can't yet see it or appreciate it?

Both the Ten of Cups and the Ten of Pentacles mimic the World in many ways. Both are Ten cards: they signify the ending of a journey through a suit full of emotions. Both cards also stand for pure fulfillment in whatever energy their suites represent – the Ten of Cups indicates emotional fulfillment, and the Ten of Pentacles indicates worldly fulfillment. The World represents all elements available to humanity as a whole unite, complete, unbroken, and perfect – the Ten of Cups and the Ten of Pentacles reflect certain aspects of that perfection.

What The World Means for You Today

When the World card shows up in your reading it is a sign that you are at the end of a cycle or chapter of your life. On the highest levels, it shows that you have taken one more step toward the completion of the 'Magnum Opus' or 'Great Work' of enlightenment. On a more mundane level, it can show that you have learned the necessary lessons from a circumstance of your life and now that circumstance is coming to an end. It is time to move onto something new which will awaken you to aspects of yourself that were once unknown to you. In some cases, if accompanied by negative cards, it can also mean that you failed to learn your lesson and are about to repeat the past.