The Making of Tarot: the Meaning of the Wheel of Fortune Card
I have mentioned in my previous articles about the influence of Eliphas Levi on the Rider-Waite tarot, the most common tarot pack in the world today. Today, I want to look slightly more in depth at how Levi’s Kabbalistico-Egyptian theory of tarot origins blended together with A.E. Waite’s own interpretations to yield the well-known cards of modern tarot. To do so, I will look at the symbolism and meaning of the 10th Rider-Waite tarot card: the Wheel of Fortune.
The Wheel of Fortune is usually considered a good card, bringing about luck, change, and good fortune (1). Yet other people deem it is a bad card, because it signals major change, even if usually of a good sort (2). Obviously, the value that we bestow on this card is linked with the perception we have of change in general.
A.E. Waite, the spiritual author of the Rider-Waite tarot, openly attributed the conception of the Wheel of Fortune card to Eliphas Levi (3). Therefore, a good starting point to understanding this card would be to delve into Levi’s vision of the Wheel of Fortune.
Levi built an entire philosophy surrounding the word “Rota” which means “wheel” in Latin. He believed that Rota stood for the enigmatic Labarum, or the monogram of Christ, and that it hid the whole of magical science within it (4). He furthermore affirmed that Rota was transliterated into Taro by esoteric adepts. He also played with the letters in the tradition of the Kabbala to form the word “Tora” as well – the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. This word play is clearly visible on the card’s wheel spokes: you can read clockwise Taro, counterclockwise Tora and starting on the bottom Rota. This is of course, not all there is, because the four letters also point out to the cardinal signs. Thus one can also imagine the movement of the sun from east (Alpha) to west (Omega). Interspersed between this circulatory movement is the name of God (YHWH) inscribed on the wheel, to suggest that all this change is overseen by the divine will. Also on the spokes of the inner wheel (there are three enclosed wheels one into the other) are the alchemical symbols of sulphur, salt and mercury as well as water. This reflects Levi’s desire of combining all esoteric knowledge, including alchemy, into the “Taro”. Nevertheless, these particular symbols were introduced by Waite according to Golden Dawn imagery (5).
Levi also combined the Rota motif with the Biblical story of the vision of Ezekiel. According to the book of Ezekiel, the prophet had a vision of God as a wheel inside a wheel, which is here reflected in the inner wheels of the Rota. He also saw the Cherubim as four-faced angels (6). Each ‘face’ is shown in the card as the Eagle, the Lion, the Bull and the Man (or angel). In Waite’s interpretation, each of these symbols is reading a book, presumably the Tora or the Taro.
The overtly Biblical references of Ezekiel are also paralleled by an Egyptian imagery. By the wheel three Egyptian figures are figured: the Sphinx on top, carrying the sword of justice; the serpent, who is an image of Seth, the mythical killer of the god Osiris, and Hermanubis, a Late Antique combination between the Greek god Hermes and Anubis, the jackal-faced god of the dead. These are the gods of the wheel, that put it in motion: the descending motion of Seth counterbalanced by the rising motion of Hermanubis; in the midst of it all, the Sphinx confers stability (7).
These are, in a rough sketch, an explanation of Levi’s vision of the Tarot’s 10th card. Waite made some minor changes to the card, by putting the serpent as an image of Seth, the alchemical symbols on the wheel and the Sphinx directly on the wheel (it used to be on a pedestal) (8). However, as we saw, the major symbolism was preserved.
In light of this analysis, it is rather obvious that Levi and Waite saw this card as an image of life – ever changing on the outside, yet betraying the divine purpose underneath. There is no chance in change, no blind fortune – all movement is an intention of God. The Wheel of Fortune betrays a change that has been divinely pre-ordained and that is part of God’s design. Hence there is no pessimistic view in this card: change is Divinity’s way of unfolding His intentions. There is no ‘bad’ change – just a continuous motion within God. The 10th card is then a pivotal card for Tarot – the one that shows us the divine truth beneath existence. Of course, change is never pleasant, but in the Tarot scheme of things it always leads to evolution, a becoming that brings us closer to divinity.
References:
(1) Aecletic Tarot. (2009). Wheel of Fortune. Online. Available at: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/basics/wheel.shtml. Accessed: 21 April 2009.
(2) Wagenheim, S. (2009). Tarot Card Meanings - Wheel Of Fortune. Ezine Articles. Online. Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Tarot-Card-Meanings—Wheel-Of-Fortune&id=660709. Accessed: 21 April 2009.
(3), (7) Waite, A.E. (1910). The Pictorial Key of the Tarot. Online. Available at : http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/index.htm. Accessed on 04 December 2008
(4) Levi, E. (1896). Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual, trans. by A. E. Waite. London: George Redway.
(5), (8) Tarot Passages. Sources of Waite/Smith Tarot Symbols. Online. Available at: http://www.tarotpassages.com/old_moonstruck/oneill/10.htm. Accessed: 21 April 2009.
(6) Bible Study (2009). What is your interpretation of Ezekiel’s wheel in the middle of a wheel vision? Online. Available at: http://www.biblestudy.org/question/ezekiel-and-wheel-inside-wheel-vision.html. Accessed: 22 April 2009.
Tags: 10th card, egyptian, eliphas levi, ezekiel, hermanubis, Kabbalah, Osiris, rider-waite, seth, taro, Tarot, waite, wheel of fortune card
