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The World
Queen of the Witches
The World is a card of completion and success, and this
final image in the major arcana marks the successful completion of your
first year of classes at Mandrake Academy. It depicts the Queen of the
Witches.
Like you, the Queen of the Witches was once a student
herself. She walked the path of the Initiate, and now she guards the secret
world of magic and mystery for all who follow in her footsteps.
Key Symbols
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Mandrake Academy rises up in three dimensions from the
pages of an open book. The text represents the permanent records of the
Akashic plane — a cosmic compendium of human experience and spiritual
wisdom.
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The book also symbolizes the tarot, an unbound
manuscript that can be shuffled and re-read, time after time, like a
never-ending story.
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The book seems to be floating in mid-air — a sign of
its ethereal nature.
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The young woman in the card is crowned with wisdom, in
the circular shape of a victory wreath.
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The wreath is held together by ribbons in the shape of
a lemniscate, the figure-eight symbol of infinity.
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She wears a flowing white scarf, a gauzy piece of
fabric that suggests three milestones in the journey of life: a
swaddling cloth for a newborn, a veil for a bride, and a shroud for a
corpse.
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In the background, four silhouettes take shape in the
contours of the clouds: an eagle, a lion, a bull, and an angel. They
represent the four fixed signs of the zodiac: Scorpio, Leo, Taurus, and
Aquarius. They also symbolize the four dimensions of width, length,
height, and time, the four directions, the four seasons, the four
elements, and the four suits of the minor arcana.
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The World card corresponds to Saturn, the ringed
planet, and the woman in the card wears the symbol of Saturn on a chain
around her neck. While Saturn’s rings do imply a certain number of
limitations and restrictions, they also delineate boundaries that can
help us define our position and relate to other people without losing
our own individuality. In other words, Saturn’s boundaries don’t merely
confine us: they define us.
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The young woman is using a pendulum that features the
Hebrew letter Tav, which
means cross. Historically, both Saturn and the earthly world have been
symbolized by an equilateral cross — a plus sign — which symbolizes the
intersection of mind and body, heaven and earth, and the four fixed
signs of the zodiac.
Practical Magic
The queen in the card is using a pendulum to make magic
happen at Mandrake Academy. Pendulums are remarkably simple to use. Simply
hold your pendulum so it dangles from your fingertips. Make sure it’s
motionless, and then ask it to show you which direction it will move for
“yes,” and which way it will swing for “no.”
Typically, a pendulum will indicate its response in one of
several ways:
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Yes — up and down, like someone nodding his head.
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No — back and forth, like someone shaking his head
from side to side.
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Maybe — a diagonal movement from the lower left to the
upper right.
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Don’t want to answer — a diagonal swing from the lower
right to the upper left.
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Probably — a clockwise circle.
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Probably not — a counter-clockwise circle.
Pendulums aren’t limited to simple yes-and-no questions.
If you’re looking for a lost object, hold your pendulum over a map of the
area in which you are searching. If you’re trying to schedule an important
event, hold your pendulum over a calendar. And if you’re trying to select
cards for a tarot reading, fan them out and hold a pendulum over the deck.
The World’s Seven Planets Spread
This variation of an old gypsy spread can be read both
vertically and horizontally. It incorporates the symbolism of the seven
ancient planets, all of which can be seen from our vantage point on earth
without the aid of a telescope.
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