Fresh from his time with the hermit, the fool is puzzled by card 10, the wheel of fortune. It’s the most mystical card he’s encountered so far and he isn’t sure what to make of it.
Familiar with the concepts of change, lucky streaks and plain misfortune, especially when things happen outside his control, the fool knows these are often represented as a turning wheel, but the symbols on the card appear confusing.
Before the fool can learn what it means, he needs a better understanding of how the card is constructed.
The wheel of fortune represents Rota Fortunae, the wheel of Roman goddess Fortuna, derived from the Greek goddess Tyche or luck. Both were responsible for fate or destiny.
Nearly all historical versions show a wheel, with a variety of different figures attached. All of the cards represent the turning wheel of life.
The idea of fate derives from the ancient greek sisters Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Together they were the Moirai (Roman Parcae) who created the threads of each individual life. Clotho spun the thread, Lachesis alloted the thread’s length, while Atropos decided the point at which the thread was cut and life ended.
Fate was fickle.
Unpredictable.
Beyond control.
Destiny however, suggested each life was predetermined, its pattern set at birth.
This aligns with the buddhist principle of karma and reincarnation where the soul was immortal and each earthly life a result of actions taken in previous ones.
It aligns with card 1, the magician, where the fool was shown the principles of like attracts like through the hermetic principle of as above, so below.
More about these connections later in the post.
Eliphas Levi was the first to introduce symbols from the Kabbalah and Egyptian myth to the tarot. The Waite/Coleman Smith design also incorporates figures from Egyptian mythology as well as the bible.
The card shows jackal headed god Anubis rising on the wheel, while a snake or serpent (Typhon or Python) descends.
The balance represents creation and destruction, and the duality of good and evil.
In the Waite/Coleman Smith pack, the snake is Set, an Egyptian deity who embodied wickedness. Anubis was the god responsible for the opening of the mouth ceremony as well as weighing the heart of the deceased next to a feather. The weight of the heart determined what would happen next.
The sphinx at the top of the wheel signifies Horus, Egyptian god of wisdom, life and death, as well as representing stability.
In renaissance tarot, this figure was often a king, the symbol of ultimate control.
The wheel has four letters with a number of interpretations:
- TARO (for tarot)
- TORA (Hebrew for law or teaching)
- ROTA (Latin for wheel)
- ORAT (Latin for speaks)
- ATOR (for Hathor the Egyptian goddess of joy, childbirth and motherhood who also guided souls to life after death)
In between are the hebrew letters י-ה-ו-ה for YHWH or Yahweh.
The spokes carry alchemical symbols of the four classical elements: mercury in the north for earth, sulphur in the east for air, water in the south and salt for fire in the west.
These elements align with the corner figures which Waite took from thefour Living Creatures of Ezekiel. In the book of Ezekial (1:1–3:27) the prophet is visited by god who rides a chariot.
It has wheels within wheels known as Ophanim, and is drawn by winged creatures with four faces, a man, lion, ox, and eagle.
On the Waite/Coleman Smith card, top left is the angel (air), top right an eagle (water), bottom right a lion (fire) and bottom left has the bull or ox (earth) The four figures are all reading books which symbolise knowledge.
The eight spokes of the wheel are said to represent the equinox points of the turning year.
This is another image of eternal cycles; the summer solstice and winter solstice in June and December, and quarterly equinox points for Imbolc (February), Beltane (May), Lamas or Lughnasadh (August) and All Hallows Eve (October).
The fool is exhausted.
There’s too much to take in.
He’s become used to the concept of archetypes but this card is beyond him.
We’re almost half way through the major arcana. Each card has contained lessons. While the symbolism of the cards matters, it’s enough to focus on what the cards have to say.
Deeper study can come later.
Maybe once the fool has reached the end of the major arcana, he will be better placed to understand.
After all, the purpose of symbols is to trigger thoughts and feelings, to see previously unseen conections, in particular on this second line which is designed to trigger hidden elements of the unconscious self.
What lessons can the fool learn from this card?
The wheel of fortune represents the literal ups and downs of life. Birth and death, creation and destruction, joy and sorrow, are all part of the pattern.
The wheel also reminds the fool of how everything contains within itself the binary opposite. To be born is to die. Good is defined by bad. What goes right is always the opposite of what can go wrong.
To live is to be caught within a circle of time. The passage of years can’t be stopped, but just as the world spins and we don’t notice, we often don’t see the wheel turning within our own lives.
Like the fool, we’re all caught in a complex nagivation of negative and positive experiences.
The purpose of this card is to encourage us to look deeper.
Now is a good time to revisit the magician. He showed the fool how everything in his life is connected. As above so below is a universal harmony.
The fool didn’t take much notice at the time. The cards were new and he’d only just started his walk through the tarot. The wheel is there to remind him of foundational facts.
Life goes on regardless.
Nothing happens without a reason.
wheel of fortune from Morgan Greer tarotIt’s not easy.
Life is a state of constant change but the tarot journey is about stimulating personal growth and awareness.
Some people believe the external controls them, making them victims of circumstance. Others take steps to detach themselves from the material world, to focus adaptability and resilience.
The wheel of fortune is a reminder we’re the sum total of what we do, whether it’s making the same mistakes over and over, or being brave enough to open doors to new experiences. The fool realises he the choice to fall apart or find strength to pick himself for a fresh start.
During his time with the hermit, he learned about stepping back from the helter skelter of day-to-day life. To make time for himself. Be at peace with isolation, without distractions.
To understand the wheel is a similar experience. The fool realises he can detatch from the continual process of movement, which up to now has always felt beyond his control.
Only by stepping back from the endless cycles of external influence can he make the next step on this journey towards himself.
The next card is Justice. It marks a return to an archetypal figure, this time a more familar one.
Justice represents one of the cardinal virtues. We’ve already met fortitude in the strength card and prudence in the hermit, while temperance lies ahead.
Join me on the next step on a walk through the tarot, where the figure of justice awaits us.
images my own, or copyright free from wikipedia commons and https://pixabay.com/
