(Walking) The World

I step upon the boggy field, which tries to suck my wellies into its depths. I imagine that I am the World Dancer: naked all but for a flowing scarf, and yet not cold, just open, exposed and part of it all.

Above: The World card from Tarot de Marseille (Paul Marteau version)

I visualise my friends, the four mysterious beings in the corner of the Tarot of Marseille (and Waite-Smith) Tarot, they who surround the dancer. I try to inhabit an inbetween world as icy winds whip my face and the scent of soggy grass fills my nose. In the physical world, there is the squelching, the grey of the sky and the sight of the distant city beyond the forest, its volcanic mountain at the centre. In the imaginal world, the lion is here. I walk with his presence, truly feeling him by my side, one foot in this world and one foot in another.

The lion brings with him the warmth of fire and a strange sort of comfort, a sense that I am protected by him, that he has my back. Were danger to come, he would defend me. I can really feel it, and my body relaxes in response, as if I don’t have to worry about defending myself if need be (I hadn’t realised that I was holding that). Lion is taking care of me.

Down swoops the eagle now, up and down, ten metres or so ahead of me, leading the way. She keeps an eye out for us all with her element of air. I don’t visualise how she looks as such, but I sense the movement, the swooping. There is a sense that she is ahead of myself and Lion, on the lookout for what is ahead, but mostly she just draws my attention to the sky. Where did that blue come from? I seemed to have assumed a grey duller than led. Thank you, Eagle.

Then comes Temperance, the Angel, to my left. She was above me to begin with, she dropped a little water on me – rain, probably – as if to announce her presence. Blessings of compassion from a jug, like Guan Yin/Kannon. She lands to my left, my receptive side, and begins to walk slowly; besides me, but a little behind, so that I just feel her presence, as I do with the Lion on my right. Out of the corner of my eye I see the many colours of her wings, rainbow warmth just oozing love and care as she walks lightly, softly, motherly. She is not quite my mum, but she is made of the same stuff, the same gentle care, emotional intelligence in every step. I know that if I were hungry, food would be offered, and if I were cold, clothing would come. That’s just how she operates, and I feel it in her warmth as the colours of red, green, purple, orange and more are seen from the corner of my eye, as if I were being followed by a rainbow. My chest fills with warmth and a knowing that that compassion is present in everything if I call it.

Eagle soars down and up again. Lion’s paws are heavy, squelching to my right. Temperance floats to my left. And behind now comes the bull. I don’t turn around to face him, but I hear his sturdy, earthy feet on the soil, heavier than a herd of horses, vibrations reaching me from his hooves as he pounds the earth. He is the element of Earth itself speaking to me, his vibrations felt in my body, echoing in my bones.

Above: The World card from the Metanoia Marseille Tarot.

I reach out my right hand and I stroke the lion’s back. It is soft and comforting. (He’s not all about fierceness, you know: he’s also a big kitty.)

I watch the eagle soar again, floating on the wind with lazy wings, an expert of the air element, feeling the breeze on my face. I feel her lightness inside of me, expanding my chest where there was previously restriction and tenseness, a holding on to things from work which don’t need holding on to.

There is compassion by my left side again from the Angel, and there, so solid is the bull’s step, holding us all in its heaviness.

I walk as the World Dancer, open, free, one with the elements, not bemoaning a single one.

Eventually, my four friends fall away, but they have left their essence inside of me. I become aware of the clothes I am wearing, their heaviness, and know that the bull’s earthiness is within them.

I see a crow soar, I hear it crow; the mythical eagle is here in the physical land. There again is the eagle, rustling the leaves, entering and leaving my nostrils through the air.

I feel the warmth in my body, particularly in a spot in my chest, near my heart but not quite in my heart, around the ribcage. Lion is a gift from the Sun (the element of Fire), but I don’t need to visualise him, I feel the Sun in my chest. This is miracle enough.

And finally, Temperance, here in all signs of water – a puddle, a cloud, the distant sea view that stretches beyond the city. She is inside my veins, in my blood. My Mum is my Angel, and I know that there, in the formation of my very veins, where the water flows endlessly, is her mysterious gift of life itself.

I am the World Dancer, and right now I am without a sense of identity, gender, anything. I contain the whole in my body, because I am Nature, a microcosm of the Universe, and everything that I need is right here in the physical land, right now, in this fleeting, incredible life. 

That’s all for now, friends. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Therapeutic Tarot Sessions and my courses embracing Tarot and Nature if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive occasional email updates (roughly monthly) with the latest posts.

Smiles from Scotland,

Stephen