The wreath
A figure dances inside an oval wreath on the World, the last card of the Major Arcana. Waite calls the garland a chain of flowers that stands for all sensible things.
In the tradition
Older World cards had the same oval, sometimes read as a mandorla, the almond-shaped frame medieval painters drew around Christ in glory. The four living creatures sit in the corners in both.
Waite describes the figure as dancing with a wand in each hand, and on this card he quotes Job on the morning stars that sang together.
In the cards
A smaller victor’s wreath crowns the rider of the Six of Wands.
Sources
- A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910). Waite's own guide to the deck he designed with Pamela Colman Smith, with each card's divinatory meanings.
- Various, The Bible (King James Version 1611; the Latin Vulgate, 4th century). The source of much of the Temple, Eden and Revelation imagery in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.
Updated October 9, 2026.
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