When asked if I believe in magic, the short answer is yes. But it’s not the stirring the cauldron full of potions and hexing people kind of magic. It is more of a belief in the synchronicities of life which present as magic, because they are unexplainable and real. We are all subject to lucky coincidences at times, which bring a consciousness of some kind of middle ground between the active and passive ways we live our lives. We might describe them as fate, or as if there is something operating around us which we don’t understand. Think about a time you ran into someone, and it changed the course of your life. I ran into The Wheel of Fortune this week, and I would like to tell you about it.
I’ll be honest. The Wheel of Fortune card made me uncomfortable. With its numerous incongruent symbols I think it intends to be such, especially for those of us who crave stability and control, or who believe in some small way that with free will we can conquer uncertainty. I pulled apart the imagery and analyzed the figures, the words, the various depictions, and unlike some other cards in the deck I was left with more questions than answers.
The Wheel of Fortune is depicted really differently in the fifteenth century Visconte Sforza deck than it is in later decks. Four figures surround a circle in which a blindfolded woman stands her hands outstretched to the sides. There are four statements near each of the figures. At the top, “I reign,” to the left “I shall reign,” to the right “I reigned,” and at the bottom an old man on hand and knees “I am without reign.” This depiction is somewhat simpler and less unsettling I think, as it tells the story of time, of the life cycle, of aspiration, attainment, memory, and death. We cannot escape our fate it tells us, but it also reminds us of the will of man with the use of the verb “reign.” As much as we may try to control our lives, the same cycle is true for each of us.
The later depictions in the Marseilles, Waite Smith, Dali, and other decks have more disjointed elements, which especially in twentieth century decks seems intentionally disorienting.
But wait. They all, even the Visconti Sforza, have circles in the middle. This commonality is key to my understanding this card in all its renditions.
Robert Wang, in his book on the Jungian Tarot talks about the archetype of the mandala:
“The mandala is the most important visual sign of Jungian psychology in that it represents the totality of Self, both conscious and unconscious. It is enclosing and protecting, like the Greek temenos (temple compound)…the practical value of the mandala is to focus what would otherwise be diffused and chaotic.”*
It becomes clear that the circle is a protected sacred space around which disparate elements exist, sometimes right at the edges. So the Wheel of Fortune is time and the life cycle and is also what happens as we move through time and experience events which are out of control, bad luck say, or tragedy. The Wheel of Fortune doesn’t just say “well, that’s life,” it says this is life, what you have been handed, but you are always protected, whether it be by faith in God, in the four elements of nature which provide stability, a belief in the wonders of astrology, or whatever else you can come back to. For Jung it was the Self. For me it helps to balance what I feel is luck or fate, and what I know is self and faith.
The elements around the sacred circle or mandala, are supposed to be disorienting, and in the Waite Smith rendition, decidedly unpleasant. Typhon, the monstrous serpent of Greek mythology, flanks the circle, while Anubis, the Egyptian symbol of graves and death sits atop. We are shown the contrast between the inner life and outer events, many of which are out of our control. But the circle cannot be broken.
This card whispers to me: “Keep coming back. You know where you need to be.” The disorientation then transmogrifies into comfort and protection. The Wheel of Fortune is the tenth card of the Major Arcana and comes right in the middle. Ten indicates completion and wholeness, which provides an actual stability to this card, where I once found uneasiness.
I wonder, where do you find yourself when you think about the Wheel of Fortune?
Offerings
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xo Hanna
Notes:
Robert Wang, The Jungian Tarot and Its Archtypal Imagery, p.147