The essential meanings of this Major Arcana card from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.

Upright: The World upright signifies completion, achievement, and wholeness. It’s the grand finale of the Major Arcana, indicating that a long journey has come full circle. This card heralds a time of celebration for achieving a goal or reaching the end of an important chapter with wisdom gained along the way. Upright, The World encourages you to savour your accomplishments and maybe even share your experience with a wider world (travel or communicate broadly). It’s a card of integration and fulfilment, where you see how far you’ve come and feel at one with yourself and your place in the bigger picture.

Reversed: The World reversed suggests an unfinished lesson or a feeling of incomplete closure. You might be near the end of a journey but not quite there, or perhaps you’re lingering in a comfort zone and hesitant to step into a new world. This reversal asks you to identify what’s holding you back from your full sense of completion – it could be a loose end, a fear of moving on, or a need for closure in some area. Tie up those loose ends, learn that final lesson, and prepare to graduate to the next phase. The reversed World reminds you that fulfilment is within reach, but you may need to put in a bit more effort or accept the end of a cycle to truly move forward.

Three Possibilities

The secrets of this card for heart, mind and soul.

Love: In love, The World is the final triumphant chapter — a sense of wholeness and fulfilment in a relationship. This card can signify achieving a long-sought goal in love, such as a deep commitment or marriage, where both partners feel complete in one another. If you’ve been on a journey to find or grow love, The World indicates you’ve reached a joyful milestone: a love that makes you feel whole and understood. For those single, it may mean finding completeness in yourself, which opens the door for a destined union to enter, completing the circle.

Career: In your career, The World symbolizes completion, success, and recognition on a grand scale. A major project wraps up triumphantly or you achieve a milestone — you’ve mastered a phase of your professional journey and earned the right to celebrate. This card often brings worldly opportunities as well: perhaps travel, international connections, or expanding your work to a wider audience. Standing victorious, you both enjoy the reward of hard work and glimpse new horizons beyond, as one cycle ends and a new one begins.

Spirituality: Spiritually, The World represents unity, enlightenment, and integration. It’s a moment of cosmic harmony where you feel at one with the universe and with yourself — all the lessons of your journey have come together in understanding. You’ve integrated mind, heart, body, and spirit (the four elements represented by the figures at the corners of the World card) into a complete whole. This card celebrates the joy of spiritual fulfilment and graduation to a new level; as you dance in the wreath of victory, you are both ending one journey and poised to begin a new adventure on a higher plane of awareness.