This month’s card for us to explore is the Universe. This card is the last of the major arcana and as such is about endings – however unlike the dramatic transformation of the Death card, here we experience a more harmonious, natural ending to things and a letting go of the struggle to change as all has been done that can be done. What we have learned through the process now stays with us and protects us for the future ahead. We can be free and innocent, naked as the dancer is, offering our transformation process up now as we no longer need it. We can trust in ourselves deeply to see and understand our responsibility and action in any situation, to know our choices and to decide from a clear place without us hiding important information from ourselves out of historical protective mechanisms.
Looking at the origin of the symbolism on this card we see it is astrologically connected with Saturn. The planet of structure, solidity, reliability and trustworthiness. So we see these traits in ourselves when this card appears. We can depend on ourselves. We also have no need to rush forward, but can take our time, there is nothing to escape from and no urgency – we are happy to be where we are in the moment. Saturn is the reality checker and here in this card we see that we are fully connected with reality as we have travelled the Major Arcana’s challenges in order to arrive at this place. We are able to set boundaries where needed and able to be disciplined and ordered in order to travel the path in life we decide upon.
Tau is the Hebrew letter associated with this card. It means cross or mark and could be seen as a signature or a signing off of something. On the Kabbalah it is the path between Yesod and Malkuth so the journey of final manifestation on the Earth and then the return to spirit. So we have here more connections with the natural ending of one thing and the beginning of a new journey with a different focus. As we travel down the tree of life we are incarnating and becoming more fully present on the earth plane avoiding nothing and embracing it all – as we then turn round and travel up towards spirit so we are being aware of all that is on the earth plane – our personality, our inner nature and the limitations of being incarnated and having embraced it all we can now transcend without it being a journey of avoidance of pain, it becomes a journey which acknowledges pain and uses it for enlightenment.
The four corners of the card show the 4 Kerubim, the guardians and protectors. They also represent the 4 elements and so indication our inner protection through our wholeness.
The building is the building of the earth plane and Crowley called this “the skeleton plan of the building of the house of Matter” it shows 92 chemical elements as seen by J Sullivan. So there is a strong symbol of the building blocks of all matter here in this card too and represents final manifestation in another way too. As Crowley also said it represents the celebration of the completion of the Great Work (which is our individuation here on this plane.)