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X- The Wheel of Fortune
Associated Astrology: Jupiter
Key words: Change, Expansion, Trepidation, Excitement, Circular motion, Seasons, Shift, Fortune, Movement, Openness, Sacred Geometry, Cusp, Incalculable factor
"This too shall pass" - Anon
Welcome to the revolutionary Wheel of Fortune. The card is laden with enigmatic symbolism and as such can prove to be a tough card to grasp. Don’t let this put you off. It's truly fascinating stuff.
Although this card is layered with many levels of meaning, it generally indicates an expansive dramatic change in our lives, and asks us to broaden our perspective accordingly.
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​When the Wheel shows up, we may feel a sense of trepidation or excitement. We may already know the shape of the changes to come. While sitting at the Roulette table of life, we have already spun the wheel and now we're waiting to see where the ball lands. We are at a cusp in our lives and in the realm of Fortune. Anything can happen from here, and we know it. Like all big change, how we greet it is our choice entirely.
Will the Wheel challenge our existing concepts about how life is supposed to work? Very likely!
Will we become better people for it? Very likely! Fortune has something profound to teach us. She asks "What is your relationship with change? Are you ready to find out? What is the value of risk without the potential for failure?"
The traditional imagery on such decks as the Rider White show four enigmatic winged creatures in each corner. These are the ancient symbols of the four directions, or the four fixed zodiac signs of Leo (the lion), Taurus (the bull), Aquarius (the angel) and Scorpio (the eagle). These constellations contained one particular star used as a point of reference in creating a map of the sky. These four stars, know as 'the guardians of the heavens' were used to as compass points by the ancient Egyptians.
Egyptian imagery is a stable of the artwork of this card.
Like compass points, the diagonal Angel/Lion axis, as well as the Eagle/Bull axis formed two intersecting spokes in the wheel of the heavens - measuring time as well as space. Some suggest the sphinx is an artistic representation of the Angel/Lion axis and is positioned on the line that connected Leo and Aquarius at the time of its construction. The intersection of these lines cross the Great Pyramid at Giza, like a great ancient timepiece. If this is true, the monument is indicating the date of it's construction, which is not the date commonly held by historians. I told you it was fascinating stuff. Charles Smyth, astronomer Royal for Scotland, attempted to have the Great Pyramid be labeled as the prime meridian because that location meant it would "pass over more land than any other".
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Our ancestors knew a great deal more than we give them credit for.
Certainly the traditional tarot card has a distinctly esoteric flavour. The Wheel is approaching the allegorical chiming of the hour, heralding a new cycle. Cycles are intrinsic to this card, and to tarot in general.
Like stars, fixed points are essential if you want to measure progress. So the card highlights a need to use our familiar reference points to deal with the changes on the horizon.
If the spokes are not fixed we cannot have reliable rotation. In a grand sense, without the familiar, we cannot grasp the idea of what is unfamiliar. Change is so inevitable that it becomes the ultimate constant. From this perspective, we can handle whatever result we encounter. The result, after all, is also subject to change. The Wheel is a force beyond our control and why it's often viewed as a 'Hand of God' card! Other cards that deal with the intervention of the godlike forces include The Tower (sudden upheaval) and Justice (karma).
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Around the wheel are the letters T, A, R, and O. A full revolution would spell the word ‘tarot’ and reversed would spell ‘torat’, which can be translated as ‘teaching’ and is another word for ‘torah’. The letters also spell out the word ‘rota’, Latin for ‘wheel’ and ‘rotar’ the verb associated with rotation about the axis. The various ways of reading these letters further highlights the significance of seeing this new cycle from a variety of perspectives.
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Also, around the wheel are four letters of the Jewish alphabet spelling out the Hebrew name of God, also referred to as the Tetragrammaton. This has been variously translated to mean ‘the constant manifestation of being’, ‘I am that I am’ and ‘he who brings to pass’. It highlights the concept of infinite change, wheels within wheels and the idea of everything being subject to universal law. We are only aware of the cycles we can see, let alone those we cannot. The quicker we accept these movements as the natural ebb and flow of life, the less turbulence we will encounter.
In both negative and positive shifts of fortune, the tarot’s advice is the same – let go of investment in any position other than where you are now. Good times will not last forever, so make the most of them. Bad times will not last forever so do not dwell on the past. This approach is easier said than done when we are standing at such pivot points.
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This card represents a whole new season, and even a whole new location. We may be understandably unnerved about what we feel is to come. Our familiar constellations are shedding new perspective on our sky.
This is not an invitation to attempt to manipulate the result. To do so is could be as painful as it is futile. The wheel already has momentum. Instead, we must embrace the lack of control we have. We have tossed the coin and it is spinning in the air. Observe the changing conditions and let go of any expectation of how it will land. This is why beginners have so much luck. They lack nothing and expect nothing.
Surrender to outcome and try and relax. The metaphorical centre point is where we should stand - releasing on the outcome of what may come, and doing what we can to be adaptable. Luck is fickle, but the neutral space is one of peace. Lao Tzu sums it up when he says 'We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the centre hole that makes the wagon move.’
​If we can find our spiritual centre, then neither the up, nor the down, can knock us off balance.
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