The World

Upright

The twenty-second and final arcanum, Tau — the letter that ends the alphabet and, in Papus's reading, closes the circle back onto Aleph. The figure stands within a wreath with the four living creatures at the corners: the four worlds, the four suits, all four present at once and reconciled. Completion, and a reward that consists in the thing being finished rather than in anything added to it. Divinatory sense: reward, completion.

Reversed

Completion claimed early — the wreath drawn around something still visibly unfinished, so that it can be set down. Or a thing genuinely complete that the querent will not close, which in Papus's scheme holds the entire series open and prevents the next Aleph from starting.

Correspondences

Papus's number

22

Hebrew letter

Tau (ת)

Hieroglyph

The breast, the thorax; a sign, a mark

Septenary

Outside the three septenaries — the twenty-second term, which closes the whole series and returns it to Aleph

Divinatory sense

Reward; completion

In a Spread

At the commencement, the matter begins from something genuinely finished, which is the strongest possible footing. In opposition, a completion elsewhere that leaves no room for the querent's part. At equilibrium everything is in place and the reading is about not disturbing it. As the result: the thing closes, and in Papus's system a close is also a return — expect the next question to begin where this one ends.