← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 11/121
Wheel of Fortune
The Wheel of Fortune is the card of cycles: the rise and fall of circumstance, the turning of seasons, the moment when things shift. It is often read as a turning point, a change of fortune, or a sense that events are moving of their own accord. It reminds the reader that no situation stays fixed — and asks how to meet the turn when it comes.
The image
A great wheel floats in the sky, marked with the letters T-A-R-O (which can also be read as ROTA, "wheel"), the four Hebrew letters of the divine name, and alchemical signs. A sphinx with a sword sits on top; a serpent slides down one side and a jackal-headed figure, Hermanubis, rises on the other. In the four corners, winged creatures — an angel, an eagle, a lion and a bull — read from books, the four Living Creatures of Ezekiel's vision. The wheel is usually taken as the flux of life; the sphinx as balance amid movement.
Upright
Change, cycles, opportunity, luck, good timing. Waite gives "destiny, fortune, success, elevation, luck, felicity". The card can point to a stroke of good fortune, a new chapter opening, or a pattern repeating that is worth noticing. It tends to say that the moment is turning — and that how one responds still matters.
Reversed
Waite's reversed meanings are, surprisingly, "increase, abundance, superfluity". Modern readers more often see the wheel turning the other way: a setback, delays, resisting a change that has already begun, or feeling caught in a repeating pattern. Some readers do not use reversals at all.
Correspondences
Major Arcana, card X. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, it carries the Hebrew letter Kaph ("palm of the hand"), the 21st path on the Tree of Life, joining Chesed and Netzach, and the planet Jupiter — the greater benefic, the planet of growth, opportunity and good fortune. French tradition (Papus, the Marseille deck, where it is La Roue de Fortune) gives some Majors different letters and planets.
In a reading
In the past, the Wheel can describe a turning point that changed the course of things. As an obstacle, it may point to circumstances outside one's control. As an outcome, it tends to be read as change arriving, often for the better. Beside The World it is often read as one cycle completing and another about to begin.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Planet: Jupiter