10. The Wheel

[Wanderer]

Rather than trying to deal with cards in a particular order, I'd like us to cover them as they come up and force us to interpret them. It's too easy to fall into the 'intended' meanings, following the order through the deck, or the wheel of the year, and I worry that this will colour our interpretations if we're too aware of the sequence in the background. So, please start threads on cards that have turned up in readings and proven particularly interesting or unclear, and let's tease apart the different facets that they hold on their own. Relating them to the greater cycles is welcome too, of course (especially in such a wheel-oriented deck as this), but I don't want that 'book learning' aspect to dominate too much.

 

But despite all that, where better to start off with than The Wheel itself?

 

 

The wheel is not, "of Fortune". There's no luck, here. The Wheel is being woven on the loom, with the sun and moon overhead, shining through summer and winter trees and onto land and water respectively. There are hazelnuts in front (in sunlight) and three herons behind (in moonlight on water), representing acquired wisdom and guardianship of the Otherworld; the heron is the King of Vessels in this deck. The warp of the loom is weighted by four stones ('Protection'). The loom also stands on Earth, adjacent to Water, with feathers (Air) tucked into the sleeves of the shirt. All the elements are present and all have their role in creating the whole.

    Although there are a lot of references to other cards in this image, most of the cards are not referenced directly; the obvious ones have been chosen for a reason.

 

    The Wheel is the process of inevitable change.  Most obviously, it is the cycle of day and night, and the turning of the seasons, but it is also the shift of light and shadow, of knowledge and intuition, of solid and fluid. In Chinese tradition, it is yin-yang (not yin and yang, because the two are not separate). Although it is most obvious with the regular cycles, all of these dualities shift and blend into each other. Trying to stay within one side of the balance is harmful and makes us incomplete. There are those who try to live their entire lives in the sun, but they are missing half of our reality in the process. The more we cut ourselves off from one half of the Wheel's cycles, the more powerful the revelation is when we are forced to rediscover it. The weaving of the Wheel on the loom makes sure that we experience everything; it protects us from missing out on half of our lives. We have to work hard to pretend to live only on one side of it.

 

    The Wheel's changes (unlike, for example, the Blasted Oak) are inevitable. They are not random, but follow their own sequence, which can be intuited, anticipated, and prepared for. It is this understanding of life's changes that, for me, is at the heart of the Wildwood. The inhabitants know what they must do in order to survive and thrive in this world, but we humans have often forgotten. This deck is about helping us to navigate the paths and the cycles of the year - and of life.

 

 

 

Please add your own thoughts, additions, disagreements, etc. This isn't anything like an authoritative view - it's just my own interpretation, and as always, different aspects will come to  the fore in different readings. I'll have missed things that you have seen, and perhaps vice versa. We'll also find new insights as we use it more. Study involves discussion and the exchange of ideas, so please don't be shy about putting your own thoughts down here as well!

[Wanderer]

This just came up again tonight with a more obvious and prosaic meaning that I'd like to add here. I was trying to find out what opportunities for learning I had missed when spending a night outside in the forest. I asked for what I had learned (Kingfisher; King of Vessels), what I should have learned but failed (The Hooded Man), and how I could learn more (The Wheel). In short, I paid too much attention to observing specific details of the surrounding wildlife, and failed to meditate or focus on myself and my place in the wood... but the point is the wheel.

 

In this case, the Wheel represents the whole of the natural cycles: the daily cycle, the seasonal cycle, the changing weather, and the cycles of human emotions. To learn more, I need to not cherry-pick a warm, clear night, but be willing to go out and be part of nature at any time. It is telling me that to learn, I need to be present through the whole range of circumstances, because all those circumstances are components of the whole. To understand my relationship to Nature and the Wild, I need to be willing to be part of it, comfort or not.

 

It reminds me a little of the ancient Chinese monks meditating in a high mountain cave through harsh winters. They didn't do that for no reason. Truly understanding the Wheel of the Wildwood takes sacrifices; its wisdom is available, but the question is how willing we are to really travel down that path.