The 78 Cards

The Wheel of Fortune

Major Arcana, card 10. Astrology: Jupiter.

The wheel turns. What goes up comes round again.

The picture

A great orange wheel hangs in a blue sky among the clouds. Letters are written around its rim, and inside it are more symbols. A sphinx holding a sword sits on top of the wheel. A snake slides down the left side, and a red figure with the head of a jackal rises up the right. In the four corners, on clouds, sit an angel, an eagle, a lion and a bull, each with wings and each with a book. The bull and the lion have their heads bent over theirs.

Upright

Everything on this card is moving except the sphinx at the top and the four creatures in the corners. The wheel turns, and whatever is riding it goes up and comes down again.

When it turns up, a cycle is changing. Luck is part of it, and Jupiter, the planet of growth and good fortune, rules this card, so the turn is often a lucky one. Doors open, timing falls your way, the right person rings at the right moment. The wheel also reminds you that nothing stays put. The good run will ease off one day and the bad patch will pass too.

The creatures in the corners are calm, their books open while everything spins. I take that as the lesson. You cannot stop the wheel, and you can learn its rhythm and stay steady while it turns.

Reversed

Reversed, I read the Wheel as delayed or blocked. Delayed is the change that is coming but has not arrived yet, the lucky break that is running late. Blocked is when you are holding the wheel still yourself, clinging to how things were and fighting a turn that has already started.

The way to tell them apart is to look at your own hands. If you are waiting and doing what you can, it is probably delay, and patience will do the rest. If you are gripping the rim with all your strength, the card is asking you to let go and let it turn.

When it turns up

Which part of your life is turning right now, and are you riding it or holding it back?

The Wheel of Fortune has also been a Tarot Card of the Week. Read that post to see the card at work on a real week.

If you would like the cards read against your own chart, my readings are here.

The 78 Cards

Every card in the deck, upright and reversed.

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