Monday, April 6, 2026

The World — XXI

Because the world is round, it turns me on
Because the world is round

Because the wind is high, it blows my mind
Because the wind is high

Love is old, love is new
Love is all, love is you

Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry
Because the sky is blue     
Because, The Beetles (1969)

With trump XXI, The World, we arrive at the completion of the cycle, and what better way to complete a cycle than with something circular or whirled/whorled as is our world!

Shadowscapes Tarot, by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

 ". . . When one's goals have been reached, it is a wondrous and precious moment to see your dreams come true and know that elusively mythical treasure promised in fairy tales: the heart's desire."

The world is our universe and our universe is our world. It is our portion, enclosure, covering. Like the ancient Egyptian goddess Nut portrayed as a a star covered woman arching over over the sky(pt in ancient Egyptian), 

1
Nut, Tomb of Ramses IV, Valley of the Kings

whose name(the phonetic portion) was written with a nw/nu "pot" hieroglyph and also contained the pt "sky" hieroglyph as a determinative[not spoken🤫].

                                                                

Nut - nw/nu "pot" +  "bread bun"(feminine) + pt "sky"[det.] 

So, visually her name is the [female] container of the sky.

Nu-"et" came out of Nu. 

In the beginning the universe only consisted of a great chaotic cosmic ocean, and the ocean itself was referred to as [*Nu]Nun. Nun, Creation Myth, wikipedia. 

Nun was the great none or nothing, the Nu-thing from which EVERYTHING arose. Nun's name was written with three nw "pot" + three n "wavy lines/water ripples"  pt "sky" [also as a determinative].

                                                      

 [3] nw/nu "pot" + [3] n "wavy lines/water ripples"  pt "sky" [det.]+ seated god [det.]

So his name seems to visually represents the many/plural waters of the sky/heaven, while Nut is visually the single pot of the pet "sky".

Nut/nwt/Nuit is our pot/portion which arose out of Nun, namely, our visible or known universe

Here in the Crawley deck trump XXI is named The Universe. The figure in the middle and the snake are enclosed/ in utero/ in the belly of the starry sky[∴ Nut, aka, Nuit, who is apparent at night]. The starry sky is not merely a circle or a band, after all, but rather, is all encompassing or spherical like a pot[nw]. . . in a nut shell, like Nwt[aka, Nut/Nuit]. 

The Universe  [in a Nut] The Book of Thoth
Essential questions. Synthesis. Delay. Completion. Opposition. Inertia. Perseverence. Patience. Crystalized thinking. — Instructions for Alister Crowley's Thoth Tarot Deck, written by James Wasserman

The universe is the unus "one"+ versus "turned" or "turned into one," therefore the universus "whole, entire, all things" which is our place or physical enclosure in the sea of eternity[Nun]. 

If Judgment was a revealing, exposing, dis-clothing. The World is clothing, covering, wrapping [The World wraps up the fool's journey by wrapping things up]. The opposite of being naked or exposed is to be dressed which is to be covered. In the coffin above Nut is literally a three dimensional covering/enclosure for the body of the deceased.

In Latin mundus has the meaning "universe, world," however, mundus was also used to describe a woman's "ornaments, dress"[like Nut's star covered body], so things that cover but also have intentional arrangement. Adornments/Ornaments make a thing look put together, that is ordered(from Latin onare "equip, adorn"), equipped(Old Norse skipa "arrange, place in order"), ship-shape, which in Greek would be kosmos "orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; the world," from which we get cosmos the Latinized version in English. 

Tarot de Marseilles 
[A woman enclosed/enclothed by a wreath and wrapped in a wrap, looking like an ornament]
"Attainment, completion, perfection, ultimate change, the end result of all efforts, success, assurance, synthesis, accomplishment, capability, the rewards that come from hard work, the path of liberation, eternal life."

Another primordial ancient Egyptian goddess like the cosmic Nut(our starry dressing/mundus), whose name is similar sounding to mundus/le monde, is Mut/Maut/Mout. 

Mut was considered a primal deity, associated with the primordial waters of Nu from which everything in the world was born. Mut, wikipedia

Her name had the meaning "mother," so Mut, Mother[Mut-er], was the Mater (L.)"origin, source, mother" of matter and the primordial mound of le monde, the world

To have things ornamented is to have them arranged or ordered which is to have things organized or have things in hand. And in Middle English mounde was "the hand ✋; protection, guardianship, power," from Old English mund, however in Old English mounde meant "the world." So, hand(mounde) and the world(mounde) are connected via the idea of protection or covering . He's got the whole world in his hands, or the whole mounde in his moundes. . . or the whole handiwork in his hands. Which would be the whole mound in his mounds 🤲, 

Print T-shirt from Target, Modern Lux,  photo by Julie O.

and a mound is a moat(in its original sense), from mote c. 1300  "a mound, a hill," from Medieval Latin mota "mound, fortified height," said to be "perhaps from Gaulish mutt, mutta," which is similar sounding to the divine mother(Mut).

The Mut Temple Complex had a kind of moat around the temple itself which sat on a mote "mound," and moats are also a form of mounde "protection" whether they are mounds(protection by height) or moats(protection by water). Very handy!

Precinct of Mut / Ruins of the Mut Temple Complex[from Ancient Thebes], Luxor, East Bank of the Nile South Karnak

At the macroscopic level the world(which is itself just a mote in the vastness of space/infinity) is our womb/enclosure/place of protection[mounde] therefore our mut "mother." At the microcosmic level, when we are in the womb, our mother[mutis our world[mounde]. 

A Mother Wombing, photo credit Julie O., May 18, 2012

In Hebrew a word meaning "womb" is rechemalso translated in the King James Bible as matrix(from Latin meaning "womb, uterus," from mãter, mãtris "[of the] mother"),  from racham (racham/rechem) "compasion, love, mercy," which is also the name for a kind of vulture, racham.

In ancient Egypt the vulture hieroglyph  represented the phonogram(i.e. word forming sound) for mut/mwt  meaning "mother," and it was also used as a phonogram for neret/nrt meaning "griffon vulture."

Mut (goddess) hieroglyph, Vulture with Nekhakha "flail"[aka, a claw/rake]

So, the vulture hieroglyph had the meaning mut "mother" and Mut was represented by the vulture. She was also called "Mut the great, mistress of Isheru," the isheru meaning "lake"[i.e., the "moat" at the temple complex] being a representation in the microcosm of the "waters above," namely, of the sky/heaven(pt), which we could say is our womb/mother. Therefore the vulture had correspondence in ancient Hebrew and ancient Egyptian with the concepts of womb, compassion, mother, protection and world/universe.

Vultures were thought of as being good and protective mothers to their young, i.e. nurturing (nrt-ing/vulturing), and their large outstretched wings were a sign of protection[mounde]. Vultures had very positive symbolic significance in ancient Egypt, like this rachaph "hovering" racham "vulture" below 👇. And to hover is to "move gently"[rachaph] like a "brooding"[rachaph] mother bird, or move gently as the rocking of a baby in the rechem "womb."

Nekhbet, Tutelary Goddess of Upper Egypt, Deir el-Bahari temple, Thebes, Egypt
Carrying a shen("encircling," symbolizing eternal protection) in her talons 
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit[ruach] of God[elohim]was hovering[rachaph] over the face of the waters. Gen. 1:2 ESV

So, the "Spirit of God" was hovering / covering / wombing / momming / incubating / mounde-ing. . . moving gently/rocking. . . perhaps we could say, whirring / purring / humming / thrumming / vibrating(as wings do, think of hummingbirds), or idling. . .  but not idle. A LOT is going on in an egg or a womb even though what  is going on is hidden.  Just as a bird that is hovering in the sky is actually exerting a lot of controlled force and effort to remain balanced and aloft, yet appears motionless, or an idling engine appears to be idle, yet is full of potential power just waiting for the command/word that will set it loose. . . run! 

And God said, "let there be light," and there was light. Gen. 1:3

Likewise, there is a lot going on in a brain even though it has a lot "covering/wrapping/veil" over it. We can't see the workings of the mind until a person acts in some way. But if a brain has a good womb/mother/mounde/world/protection it has a good chance of developing well and being capable of acting/doing well.

Here is a vulture headdress/crown which is a bejeweled kind of covering[lot] that is cast/wrapped[lut] over a woman's head and is a part of a woman's mundus "dress" and is very adorned[mundus] and elegant[mundus]. It is a lot. 

Ptolemaic Period, c. 100—1 B.C., Denera, Egypt, Egypt Museum

It is depicted upon the crowns of goddesses associated with the vulture, such as Mut and Nekhbet ["{she} of Nekheb", (the city later called after the Greek equivalent, Eileiythia, goddess of childbirth). Nekhbet was another early predynastic creator goddess symbolizing protection and motherhood], and the crown was later worn by royalty and priestesses. 

Nefertari Meritmut, wife of Ramses II, Ninteenth Dynasty, c. 1255 BCE, Valley of the Queens, Luxor

In a certain sense, the whole world and universe is contained in one head/mound inside one mind[from PIE root *men(1) "to think"] of one/each man, therefore we could say that the vulture crown is an image of divine order and protection of the created universe.

This image of the vulture as a divine protector is similar to the Christian portrayal of the Holy Spirit as an alighting dove.


Or of the action of God in the Old Testament related to a nesher "large bird of prey; griffon vultureeagle," in the Old Testament.
'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles'[nesherim] wings and brought you to myself. Ex. 19:4

Sometimes nesher is translated as "eagle" while at other times it is translated as "vulture"The Biblical Greek, aetos "eagle" is used to translate the Hebrew word, nesher, and so aetos is also translated to English at times as either "eagle" or "vulture."

The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle[aeto]Rev. 4:7 NIV

compare to Hebrew:

Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side of each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle[nesher]. Ez. 1:10 NIV

The Universal Waite Tarot
The four living creatures are portrayed in the corners of the card

We also see this ambiguity in translation through the origins of the name of the bright star Vega. Vega is taken from a shortening of the Arabic an-nasr al-wāqi' commonly translated as the "falling/descending/swooping eagle," however, the word nasr, similar to the Hebrew nesher, can also be translated as vulture.

The bright star Vega has a name that is well-known around the world, but whose meaning continues to be misunderstood. Typically presented as the "Diving Eagle", the original Arabic name for Vega — an-nasr al-wāqi' —  is best represented as the "Alighting Vulture". Together with its partner, Altair— the Flying Vulture—these two stars were well-known to Arabian astronomy as the Two Vultures, a star name that was in use by the early 6th century CE.  From Diving Eagle to Alighting Vulture: The Origin of Vega in Arabian Astronomy, Danielle Adams, American Astronomical Society, 2023 
Deneb[Dhanab al-Dajājah](in Cygnus, Latin "the swan"), Vega[an-nasr al-wāqi',"the Alighting Vulture"](in Lyra), and Altair[al-nasr al tāir, "the Flying Vulture"](in Aquilla, Latin "the eagle"), the three stars known as "The Summer Triangle."  

Interestingly, this Arabic word wāqi' "falling, alighting" also carries the meaning "happening," or "occurring," as we might use the word "falling" when describing the occurrance of night "falling" or an event "falling" or "landing" on a certain day of the week. Chapter 56 of the Quran is called, Al-Wāqi-a, translated as "The Inevitable," or "The Event." In this chapter, the events following Judgment Day and the manner of resurrection and the afterlife are discussed. 

When the Inevitable Event takes place, 
then no one can deny it has come.
It will debase some and elevate others.
When the earth will be violently shaken,
and the mountains will be crushed to pieces,
becoming scattered particles of dust. . .  56. Al Waqi'ah          

If the Vulture represents a place of protection like world and womb, then the Vulture "Falling/Happening/Event," would be similar in meaning to The World XXI which carries the meaning of "attainment," "completion," "perfection," etc., which we could say is a type of birthing(womb) event, and such an event(i.e., birth), when imminent is described as a "falling, lightening, dropping," and birth is a culminating event that is both an ending/death(of pregnancy) and a new beginning(birth), and such events are not completed without a certain amount of drama and/or peril. 

Interestingly enough, on the grand timescale of the history, there was such an event that occurred around the epoch when "The Falling Vulture," i.e., Vega, was slowly but steadily "falling away" from its position as the pole, after ≈ 12,000 BC[after having first risen to this prominence/star status overtaking the previous acting pole star, Deneb, (from Arabic) Dhanab ad-Dajājah "tail of the hen," in Cygnus. Any star given the title of "Pole Star" is just playing a role for a time due to their prominence and position near the paths of the celestial poles over the course of time it takes to complete the 25771.57 year axial procession.

Rough sketch by Julie O.,  from The Changing Pole Star, Exploring Science
The path of the North Celestial Pole [in red], NEP[North Ecliptic Pole]. The NCP was near the star Vega[the Falling Vulture/Eagle]  12,000 BC, thereafter "falling" away until the begging of the Holocene epoch  9,700 BC at which time the NCP was then near ι Herculis in the constellation of Hercules  10,000 BC.

This was the period of the Younger Dryas, a sudden cold period lasting 1200 yrs., followed by a period of rapid warming, ending the last glacial period, i.e., the last ice age, which we could say was the worlds's "water breaking," that is, the melting glaciers released/broke the world's water. And civilization was born!

Geological evidence is revealing how conditions during the Younger Dryas remodeled our planet. It created weather so extreme that it also reduced human societies [*hunter gatherers] living on the planet at this time.

Importantly, it marks the prehistory period just before human civilization arises. The Younger Dryas Event and the Prehistoric Period Extinction, by The Human Origin Project,

Following this period, was the advent of sedentary cultures in the eastern Mediterranean region that culminated in the rise of agriculture and the emergence of the first megalithic structures(such as the temple complex at Göbekli Tepe in Anatolia, c. 9600 BC, modern day Turkey, aka, the cradle of civilization), at the birth/dawn of civilization [and dawn is a birth event as well; when the sun(Ra) is born anew from the sky(Nut)].

How did these people view vultures?

Generally today, eagles are given a positive roll as symbols of strength and freedom, while vultures are given a negative roll as harbingers of death and decay, however in certain cultures, and at certain times in history, such as in ancient Egypt, vultures were regarded very positively. {even though the word for mother, mut, was similar to the word for death, mut. So death maybe meaning something like, returning to the mother/womb/tomb/mound}.

After the unification of ancient Egypt the vulture (patron of Upper Egypt, Nekhbet) and the fiery serpent (patron of Lower Egypt, Wadjet) were joined as nebty, literally meaning "The Two Ladies," and were often depicted together as protectors of a unified Egypt.

The Two Ladies, Mask of Tutankhamun - Egypt Museum

If they were protectors, then they were shields or coverers[from *wer-(4) "to cover"] which as shown above, certain people would wear as coverings for the head. And a protector is a keeper or a watcher over something which we could say is a Lord[from hlaf+weardfrom *wer-(3)"perceive, watch out for"]/Lady who is a lofty/airy(air/*awer) being, which is *wer-(1) "raised lifted" wer "man"[Old English], from Latin vir/viri which is said to be the origin of our English word World, reconstructed as a Proto-Germanic compound of wer "man" + ald "age," meaning literally "the age of man." However, this etymology of "world" seems to be the word taken in a more secular "worldly" sense than that of Le Monde. Yet, men(wer) are those who *men-(1) "think," and in thinking they *men-(2) "project" themselves mentally like mountains[from men-(2)],  motes or mounds and contain the whole mundus (sometimes even making mountains out of mole hills).

Mental painting by Ailis O'Reilly 2017, ailis_art 

The "world" is the "age of the thinker(i.e., men)" or we could say, the "age of the story teller." 

We are the music makers,
    And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
    And sitting by desolate streams; —
World-losers and world-forsakers,
    On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
    Of the world for ever, it seems.

With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world's great cities,
    And out of a fabulous story
    We fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
    Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure
    Can trample a kingdom down . . . 

 Ode — stanzas 1 & 2, by Arthur O'Shaunghnessey, The Poetry Foundation

An ald "age" is a period of time or period of history, so we could say that the world(wer+ald) is a tale/telling or a spell(from Old English spell "story, saying, tale; history, narrative, fable; discourse, command") of wer "man." Or is it a spell put over man? Or perhaps is it both at the same time? Our thoughts create our reality both individually and collectively and we inherit or are born into a world(story) of sin(i.e., the esse "being"ness or essentia "beingness" we experience which involves the experience of both good and evil). The world is our reality(realis) or the res "things" that are or have come to life through our thought. The spell is cast[lut] which creates a casting or veil[lot]. But perhaps we could call this state of things[i.e., the world of sin and death] a false mother/world/matrix. This story/world of sin and death is not our true mother, just like the woman in the Bible who did not protect 🤲 the living baby was not his mother.

The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!" But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two! Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother." 1 Kings 3:25-26

In reality, the world, our (true) mother, who covers us(wombs us), is a story that protects us. The world gives us a place in the vastness of eternity(which is Nu-thing/Nun). We need to have a point. . . and point of origin. The point 👉, the YOU ARE HERE on the map, is our anchor ⚓︎, and is life giving, an ankh-er ☥. Nothing comes from nothing, so we are the newthing(creation) from the knowthing 🧠 that came out of the Nuthing or Nun. Our world gives us space ✨ to exist, to grow, to evolve, to become more. . . As the world turns. Which brings us back again to The Fool

And a one, a two, a one, two, three, four!

Shaddowscapes Tarot, by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law