Not in Circles

From the Tarot of the Master, the World; from the Paracelsus Oracle, Populus:

We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps. ―Hermann Hesse

The Vacchetta World card has the Italian names for the seasons at the top and bottom, implying coming full circle. Yet it's not a circle we travel but a spiral. Every person we meet and experience we have changes us in some way, widening our knowledge and outlook. Populus means "the people;" the dots themselves remind me of two rows of people sitting in pews. This is a collection of people who share the same ideas and use peer pressure to squash independent thinking. Here, life moves on around us while we stay stuck in one place unless we break from the collective. As Leo Tolstoy explains, “Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking...”