THE WORLD

When I wrote about The Magician, the very first card in the suit of Trumps, I was inspired by photography that made soap bubbles appear appear to be gigantic, swirling planetary vistas. The journey from that first card to the last card, The World, has allowed our perspective to evolve, and now we can see and appreciate our own world for what it really is, with all the illusions and games and artistic contrivances pared away.

On Christmas Eve, 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts were able to take the very first photo of the Earth seen from space. We'd enjoyed partial and theoretical views of our planet before, but it was "Earthrise" -- which Galen Rowell called “the most influential environmental photograph ever taken” -- that finally showed us our own cosmic face. It was a thing that some weren't ready to accept, though for many this concrete image came at the perfect time, as the myriad countercultural movements that were forming had already begun to challenge humanity's concept of our place in the universe. (I'll always wonder whether Steve Brand's 1966 "Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?" campaign actually played a role in bringing it about...)

The journey that we take through the Tarot's Trump cards is a model of the path each human being walks through life, and possibly beyond. Arriving at the final card, one stands at the perfect point from which to observe all the elements of one's own universe in motion, to consider all of the experiences leading up to this point as having been a part of that complete picture. We are, each of us, utterly embroiled in the work of being alive, but occasionally a combination of virtue, discipline and fortune allow us to climb above the clouds and see it all as a visitor from another world might. How small it is, yet how brilliant! The World card is a graduation in that sense, a glimpse of both the past and the future without the trappings of appetite or ego.

The concept of macrocosm/microcosm has been explored in this blog when I posted about the four Nines -- what was true on a small scale was also true on a large scale. However impossible it seems at times, what you learn at your life's high points is still true, even when you're buried in worldly muck; the never-ending process of leading yourself back up the mountain is the essence of our life's work. Of course, once you reach the peak, traveling in any direction from that point will require you to climb down. Whether you consider this cycle to be inimical or enlightening, a clear view of your own role in it can't help but inspire you to evolve. [Via]