78 Weeks of Tarot: The Wheel of Fortune

[Trogon]

For information on what these threads refer to, see this thread;

 

78 Weeks of Tarot - Informational Thread

 

The above linked thread gives suggested dates for the cards as well as links to the individual topics.

 

Some of us may be working through the study in a different order and using different decks. If you have general questions or comments regarding the 78 Weeks of Tarot study group, please post in the topic in the above link.

 

Have fun.

[Hemera]

Everyday Witch Tarot

Wheel of Fortune

 

Description:

A witch stands next to a prize wheel about to spin the wheel. There are many prizes pictured on the wheel. We are facing a multitude of wide-open possibilities.

 

What action is going on:

The witch appears to be looking towards an audience where we also are seated.

Her cat is playing with the two dice on the floor.

 

Images and Symbolism:

-House

-Money

-Caduceus: Health

-Shooting Star: When you wish upon a star..

-Diamond Ring

-Book: Knowledge, learning, studying

-Heart: Love, friendship, emotions

-Sun: Enlightenment, energy, joy

 

Colours:

The red and black of the witch’s dress catches the eye. The raspberry red is really beautiful and the black looks more like grey.

 

This card encourages:

-Recognizing one’s destiny and shaping it

 

Warns against:

-Something unexpected

-Fatalism

-Burnout

 

Traditional meanings (J. Bunning):

-Using what chance offers, destiny

-Altering the present course; turning point

-Experiencing change, movement

-discovering your purpose, personal vision

From the Book:

-Heads up, pay attention!

-Grab the opportunity before it slips out of your reach

-Fortune favours the bold

-If you don’t choose the Universe will choose for you

 

Sallie Nichols: (in Jung and Tarot. An Archetypal Journey. Weiser 1984)

-Nichols speaks about the Sphinx (of the traditional RWS) and it being the parody of the Empress. She says it represents the shadow side of the Empress.

Yes, I like the idea. In our card it could very well be the witch. She looks mischievous. She looks like someone who’d probably scorn and avoid the Empress the best she could. This witch is very down to earth and practical but in a very different way than the Empress. There could be a bit of the Dark Goddess in her.

-Fortune has indifference to man’s plight. She makes asses of those who, out of hubris, elevate themselves above her.

-The Wheel is an energy system whose essence is motion.

- The introvert learns to do by being and the extravert learns to be by doing.

-Don’t get stuck on the Wheel;  He who forgets history is condemned to repeat it.

 

Notes:

-The witch is a mature woman, could be in her 40’s.

- I think her red painted nails are a fun detail. It could signify her being shallow. (Not that nail polish is shallow, of course! But on her and on this particular card..)

-In the card the arrow is on the house and the sun is at the bottom. Is that significant?

 

Quote:

Turn the Wheel, Guide the gold thread’s flow,

Weave the words, “As above, So Below”.

(Cunningham)

 

 

[Bookworm]

Deck: Fairytale Tarot

 

Card name: The Wheel of Fortune

First impressions:

 

A middle-aged couple stands, the main with his arm around the woman. He is dressed in a blue robe and a broad green hat. She wears a long orange dress and a white head covering. They are staring and smiling at two large sacks full of gold coins On the other side of the sacks stand two grey horses or donkeys who are also looking at the sacks. The sacks seem to be in some kind of cart, because at the very bottom front of the card, right in front of one of the sacks, is a wheel. The man’s left hand is wrapped around a sword or stick or something, the end of which rests on the ground. A small house stands to the left. A large, gnarled, leafy tree is right behind them. One white and one brown bird are on its branches. Some whitish sky is visible through the branches. Barely visible behind them is a light brownish, hilly landscape.

 

They look like something amazing and wonderful has just happened to them, but I can’t help but think that all that gold could just as easily disappear.

 

From the book:

 

Keywords and phrases: Luck, fate and fortune; the inevitable cycle of chance; outside influences on your destiny; a change, for better or worse

 

In a sense nothing magical happens, but the magic of luck runs throughout the story. What if the man had chosen a different day to stay in bed? What if the mules had met someone on their way home? Etc. The story tells us that fortune can be capricious, rewarding us not for hard work and effort but for -- well, in fact, for nothing much. The wheel turns and perhaps there are time when we can’t influence it at all -- we can only wait and hope.

 

Unusually, this story points out the arbitrary nature of fortune. It isn’t a story of faith, either. The woodcutter does not turn to God. He just gives up. It may be a harsh truth, but the story seems to be saying that the world we live in is not fair, which we know but choose not to think about very much.

 

When this card comes up in a reading, it may be wise to counsel some passive acceptance. It isn’t always wise to struggle against fate, and sometimes we have to just accept whatever comes -- for better or worse.

 

The original story:

 

Fortune and the Wood Cutter, from Andrew Lang’s The Brown Fairy Book

 

http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/139/the-brown-fairy-book/4298/fortune-and-the-woodcutter/

Traditional meanings:

 

Luck, chance, opportunity, changes, a turning point, movement, winning, the cycle of life, ups and downs, fate, destiny, a chance meeting that can change your life, what goes around comes around, winning at a game of chance, a definite yes, a stroke of bad luck, misfortune, mishaps, failure, things not going your way, entering a period of hardship or difficulty, disappointments, unforeseen or unexpected setbacks, a definite no.

 

My impressions of the card/story combination:

 

I like that the story really is about the arbitrariness of fortune, and also about how people try to understand it as not arbitrary. At the end of the story, the woodcutter tells his wife that he had learned that fortune will always come to you if you don’t go chasing her, which of course is no more (and almost surely less) likely than go after her. We all want rules about how things (and people and our lives) behave even though there is randomness is a large part of our lives.

 

I think the image on the card is clever. The wheel is there, even if it is only the wheel of the cart carrying the gold. 

 

My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it):

 

I think I will be more inclined than before, as Karen suggests, to view the Wheel as the randomness of the Universe.

[Jewel]

DECK:  Wizards Tarot

 

CARD NAME:  The Wheel of Fortune

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:  This Wheel of Fortune card has a very introspective feel to it.  You see the young woman at the spinning wheel, and ghost like images of a child on one side and an old woman on the other.  It is as if she is contemplating her life, what it was and where it will go.  The card has a feeling that it deals with time, change, and karma vs. luck and good fortune.  At the top of the spinning wheel is the glyph for Pisces which speaks to me of intuition and visions.  The spider web at the bottom of the card to me represents connectivity and how everything we do has an impact on something or someone (back to the Karma aspect of the card).

 

ASSOCIATIONS:

Numerical:  #10.  Tens are about completion, the end of a cycle, and renewal.  The number 10 can be reduced to 1 (1 + 0 = 1) which goes back to beginnings, opportunities, potential, and that which takes form.

 

Astrological: Jupiter.  Taken from http://tarotnotes-majorandminor.blogspot.com/2009/03/wheel-of-fortune.html “Jupiter is the planet of luck, expansion, abundance, and wisdom. Traits associated with Jupiter include optimism, cheerfulness, success, extravagance, and overconfidence.”

 

Elemental:  The element of fire is an active element and basic to our life force.  It represents vitality, passion, energy, victory, the will, and the power to act.

 

Hebrew Letter: Kaph (seen etched on the wall on the right hand side).    Means palm of hand, a wing, to allow, to cover, to open the hand, the power to suppress or lift up.

 

TRADITIONAL MEANINGS: from tarotteachings.com: represents events that come out of nowhere (unexpected surprises), luck, chance, change, destiny, revolution, consequence.  From other sources: cycles, karma.

 

MY TAKE:  In this deck I find the card to strongly emphasize the change and karmic aspects of the Wheel of Forutune, and the consequences of our actions good or bad.  With this card I also see an element of having visions and acting on them to effect the outcomes and make appropriate changes to change that future (much like the Tarot).  Because of this I also associate opportunity with this card, because you can react to what you see to change the course.  This card can also point to turning points in your life.  Time will not stop, and change will happen, it is up to us to with that what we will knowing that for every action there is a reaction.