T he next card on the major arcana journey is the Wheel of Fortune. Here the Fool encounters a date with destiny. More than any other card, this one indicates a powerful destined effect on our life journey, one that may feel fated or predetermined. If we look back over the course of our life, we may notice certain choices, moments, or meetings with others who altered our life forever. These are the moments of the Wheel of Fortune. They cannot be planned or arranged or understood; they are the times in our journey when we feel as if our lives have been “written” ahead of time. This reminds us of the possibility and potency of our soul contract, a kind of manifesto in which we determined the lessons we want to learn in life before birth.
This card is numbered ten, which symbolizes the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. Tens are final fruitings that offer riches, beauty, delights, but also indicate that with them come endings, letting go, and dissolving. Just as fruits offer sweet, nutritious goodness they also carry the end of one cycle of a tree and the seed of the new beginning. We see that in the numerology of tens, which contain both 1 (the seed) and 0 (the beginning and end). These numbers connect the Wheel of Fortune to the Magician and the Fool cards.
On the major arcana journey, the Fool encounters the Wheel of Fortune through destined calls to action. Here we can see how we as the Fool received a fiery soul seed which later comes to fruition at this moment in the journey. To use our two examples explored in the Magician card, a next call of action appears when Luke Skywalker must face his father in the guise of Darth Vader to support the rebel cause against the Empire. Similarly, T’Challa in Black Panther receives another call of action when he discovers he has a long-lost cousin, decides he must reestablish a connection with him, and make subsequent choices about the fate of oppressed black people in the world. These calls to action are both seeded and destined on our path and help us to understand our own soul journey as a map or unfolding story. The Wheel of Fortune is a literal and metaphorical profound turning moment in our lives.
At the Wheel of Fortune, we return to the awareness of our magical gifts illuminated but in the context of the world: our connection to the earth, relationships, work, money, health, and communities. The seeds planted during the Magician time have sprouted into full blossom and the winds bring cross-pollination, connection, and a rich sense of growth. We cannot control change; we can only attempt to ride the energy of the wheel and embrace the movement of the winds that move through our lives.
The Wheel of Fortune may evoke images of games, gambling, and card play. There is a quality of luck and destiny sparkling within this card, the offering of a potential swift change. There may be some strategy involved in gambling or playing cards, but there is always room for error and luck. When I do ceremony, I often have a notion that in addition to creating a good and safe container, it is also wise to leave the back door slightly cracked … just enough for spirit to enter. This does not mean the container is unsafe—the opening is where opportunity can appear and magic can happen. When we stay open to the possibility of luck and chance without trying to overtly plan and force our life to go in a certain direction, limitless possibilities may unfold. The Wheel of Fortune turning endlessly is a powerful reminder of this limitless nature.
The circular nature of the Wheel of Fortune reminds us of circular sacred spaces found in medicine wheels, labyrinth-style mazes, and mandalas of east Asian traditions. Indigenous traditions often use a circular cosmological map to understand their order, place, and story in the universe’s unfolding. These maps contain the entire universe in their representation and give us a symbolic way into the infinite. These various wheels or circles are usually divided into four sections symbolizing the four directions, four chambers of the heart, the four seasons, four winds, four energetic bodies, and so on. As we are embodied in mortal forms, we cannot fully conceive of the vastness of the universe; the Wheel offers us an ordered and creative way to anchor ourselves in the context of the path. This might be a good time to revisit the directional ceremony in the Magician card and perhaps perform it again to deepen your own connection to the directions, anchoring in a sense of context for your path, and creating your own cosmology of the universe.
In the Waite-Smith imagery, we see symbolic representations of the four fixed signs of the zodiac: the angel is Aquarius, the eagle is Scorpio, the lion is Leo, and the bull is Taurus. Each creature has wings, which may suggest movement as well as divinity and wisdom. This is one of the few cards that points out a possible connection between the tarot and the Kabbalah. The wheel includes the four Hebrew letters YHVH (yod heh vau heh), which are considered to be the unpronounceable name of God. You may want to consider delving deeper into the mysteries that connect the tarot to the Kabbalah; references appear in the resources section at the end of the book.
The Crowley image shows the Wheel in purple and blue, colors that symbolize intuition, higher wisdom, and communication. This is a time to notice the signs and omens appearing on your journey. The energy of the image is in motion, indicating change, swiftness, wind, and movement. There is an electric and dynamic quality to the stars and lightning bolts that pulse from top to bottom while the wheel swirls, its ten spokes turning in endless movement. A sphinx sits on top of the wheel, a symbol of the mystery, unknown, and destiny that affect our lives. On the right is the Typhon who holds an inverted ankh, the symbol of life, upside down. There is also a figure on the left known as the Hermanubis, a combination of Hermes (Mercury) and Anubis, who together symbolize the energy between the worlds. Both gods are psychopomps or mediators between the living and dead who help souls move from the underworld to the light, crossing over.
This powerful imagery reminds us that the Wheel is connected to our fate; when it turns up in a reading, it indicates that powerful forces beyond our control are at work. The Wheel of Fortune may be a positive or negative turn of events, or it may influence us in unlikely ways that at first appears positive but turns out badly and vice versa. It is up to us to learn how to roll with it, so to speak. While I was in the midst of writing this actual chapter, I received an email that one of my previously books published with Llewellyn would be going out of print. The timeliness and reflection on an imminent change is priceless! Tarot (and life) works like this—we are shown the way, reflect on our path, and often need a sense of humor to remind us not to take ourselves too seriously.
The Wheel of Fortune so clearly indicates a turning point—a change in the winds, a change in direction. When you were going one way, suddenly you find yourself going in an entirely new direction. Can you remember a time in your life when it felt as if the Wheel had suddenly turned? Was it when you met someone who has since had an important effect on your life? Perhaps it was a new job, a chance encounter, a loss, news from an old friend, or even a powerful insight. The Wheel of Fortune reminds us that life moves in cycles—birth to life to death and to rebirth once again. As we shift from one of these phases into another, the Wheel is at work.
In a reading, the Wheel of Fortune may indicate that something which seems like a blessing is actually not helpful; and vice versa, things that seem like an obstacle or trouble may actually be a blessing in disguise. We cannot always determine what outcomes will be from events, news, decisions, and things happening out of our own sphere of what we perceive to be in control of. The Wheel reminds us to trust in the divine timing and unfolding, that somehow there is an order to the progression of our path, our soul’s development as we move from one phase of life to another.
Essential Qualities: change, suddenness, luck, destiny, movement, wheel, magic, fortune, blessing or curse in disguise
Suggestions: Find your center. Orient yourself to the cardinal directions: east, south, west, and north. Give thanks to the rising sun in the east, the warmth of the south, the setting waters of sunset in the west, and the cold ice of the north. Play cards! Invite luck and destiny into your life. Wear something sparkly just for fun. Find and walk a labyrinth near you. A labyrinth is an ancient form of walking maze that brings us more fully into the present moment. Find a labyrinth near you and visit it to make the journey into the center, bringing along an offering to leave when you reach the middle such as a flower, coin, or stone. You can set an intention before you begin walking, something to contemplate as you meander through the winding path toward the center. The movement of the labyrinth’s paths has a soothing effect on the mind which allows you to relax into a more contemplative space.
Wheel of Fortune Layout: The Wheel of the Year
This reading is an in-depth look at what is coming up for you or your client in the next year. A good time to do this reading is at a turning point in life or during a solstice, equinox, birthday, or New Year’s Day. Pulling a card for each month gives you a chance to look at what will be likely coming in for you for the year. However, I encourage you to recognize that these cards represent potential outcomes—futures are never written in stone.
Light a candle and shuffle the cards and simply pull one card for each month. Write in your journal about each card, allowing your mind to explore the potential possibilities of what will arise for you in the coming year. Notice any themes in the reading such as a particular suit; a prevalence of majors, minors, or court cards, or certain numbers that appear repeatedly. You may wish to pull a thirteenth card as an overall destiny card for the year to help guide and anchor in your understanding of the reading.
• Card 1: January
• Card 2: February
• Card 3: March
• Card 4: April
• Card 5: May
• Card 6: June
• Card 7: July
• Card 8: August
• Card 9: September
• Card 10: October
• Card 11: November
• Card 12: December
• Card 13: Overall Theme (Optional)