W is for Wheel of Fortune

Hello everyone and welcome to my "W" post, where I talk about the Wheel of Fortune in the tarot.

Think about how many images you can come up with that have "around" or "round" in them, or have the image of a wheel or circle. The first one I think of is the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, but there are tons of others. The Wheel of Fortune is one more of these. If you look in the corners of this card, the "wheel of the year" and the progression of time is reinforced by the images there: the bull (Taurus), the lion (Leo), the eagle (Scorpio), and the water-bearer (Aquarius). They are, of course, equidistant from one another in the astrological year, all of them being fixed signs that occur in the middle of a season.

One of the meanings of this card that resonates with me the most is the idea of time, and when I read for people and this card comes up, often it's this idea that comes to the fore. Sometimes it will come up in the context of a relationship that had a time limit. Or it may be the time to do something you've been planning. Of course, sometimes the message is right out of the Tradition of the Witches Circle: "This is your time, this is your hour."

A song that often goes through my head when I think of this card, and it's the October 1965 hit from the Byrds, "Turn, Turn, Turn." As cool as the words are, they come from the book of Ecclesiastes in the King James Bible: "To everything, there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." I also think of Frank Sinatra's "That's Life" as he talks about "this fine ol' world" that "keeps spinnin' around".

Appropriately enough, the Wheel of Fortune can indicate a positive turning point. If things have been crappy or not going your way, this card in your future can describe the break that you'll get. If this represents an opportunity, the card is also telling you that this is only for a limited time, so make your decision quickly.

Finally, the Wheel of Fortune can represent the idea of destiny. When certain things happen in your life, you may look back and feel like everything before it was preparing you for this specific moment. So the card may be asking you if you're prepared to embrace your destiny?

Astrologically, the Wheel of Fortune represents happy-go-lucky planet Jupiter, and as such can indicate the presence of a Sagittarius person, or possibly a Pisces person.

Thanks once again for tuning in! Hang in there for a few more days with me, folks! Come back tomorrow for my "X" post.