For the most part the Wheel of Fortune is the most obviously self-explanatory
of the Tarot trumps. This is a card of luck and of the apparently random ups and downs and roundabouts of fate. It shows
life as a giant game of roullete, where the wheel is set in motion and the outcome is all down to chance. One is tempted
to suggest that an alternative image could be of God throwing dice with the devil for the game of life.
In some packs human figures cling to the edge of the wheel, and as it spins
around one is born upwards and another downwards, whilst the third finds itself at the top. They may be seen to say: "I will
rule", "I have ruled" and "I rule". This shows us the temporary nature of all earthly power and success. For a person who
is very succesful the appearance of this card may be taken as a warning not to take their fortune for granted, or to think
they have some innate right to their position, becuase what fate giveth, fate can taketh away. On the other hand it
can be a message of hope, because all suffering and misfortune are temporary, and when you are at your lowest point things
can only get better.
The Wheel of Fortune shows the natural cycles of existence, and the waxing
and waning of all things, be they people, ideas, organiations, religions, places or whatever. The astrological symbol of this
card is Jupiter, the ruler of the Gods, and the Wheel of Fortune shows that ultimately the fate of all things is in the hands
of the Gods. The qabalistic letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Kaph, the cupped hand, which shows humanity as passive, with
out hands outstreratched to recieve that which is given. The Wheel of fortune counsels compassion as 'there but for the grace
of God go I'.
In many modern packs the sybolism is more esoteric, drawing n the mythological
images of antiquity. On these cards the ascending figure is depicted as a baboon. The baboon is the symbol of the Egyptian
diety Thoth, the God of writing, reason and science and so on. The classical equivalent of Thoth is mercury, the fast thinking,
fast talking trickster God, who also presides over science and technology. In keeping with the classical notion of the hero
or the magus who straddles both heaven and earth, this shows the human potential to improve on the lot we are given, as opposed
to the fatalism of the medieval pack.
The descending figure is symbolic of Set, another Egyptian God who is an
evildoer, Lord or the Desert Storm and murderer of his own brother. In this moral message that evil actions will cause us
to fall from grace and suffer bad fortune you can see a clear conception of what eastern philosophers hav called Karma. It
is worth noting that the wheel is the universal symbol of Karma. It is interesting, however, to note that in the symbolism
of this card whilst evil actions cause bad luck, good fortune does not go automatically to the virtuous, but is earned through
the power of the mind, through intelligence, confidence and throug swift thinking and action.
The sphinx at the top of the wheel possesses the head of a man, the wings
of an eagle, the body of a lion, and the tail of a bull. It therefore displays the qualities of the four elements - water,
air, fire and earth - the four fixed signs of the zodiac, the four directions, and seasons, and so on. The sphinx is
therefore the symbol of an ascended master who has takenm heaven by force, and wrestled his fate from the hands of the Gods
to become his own master.
The meaning of the apearance of the Wheel of Fortune in areeading is highly
sensitive to the surrounding cards, potentialy showing good or bad luck in any or all areas of your life, depending on the
other cards. It may also suggest, if coming out of a preponderance of cups (especially with the Queen of cups) or moving towards
a card like the Emperor or the 2 of Wands, that you are allowing yourself to be blown along by the winds of fortune when you
should (and perhaps will in the future) be taking control of your own fate.
