The Wheel of Fortune – Turning the Great Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Fortune, numbered X in the Major Arcana, is the axis on which fate turns—the ever-shifting wheel of karma, cycles, and cosmic timing. It is one of the most mystical and elusive cards in the deck, marking a turning point in the soul’s journey where destiny intervenes and nothing is truly within our control—except how we respond.
This card has always held a special place in my heart. My own understanding of it deepened profoundly through my relationship with the Kalachakra, the Tibetan Buddhist teaching known as the “Wheel of Time.” I was fortunate enough to receive the Kalachakra initiation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama—an experience that changed me forever. I sat among thousands in Washington, D.C., and again in India, breathing in the mantra, the mandala, the transmission of a lineage that sees time not as linear but as a spiral—interconnected and eternal.
To witness the creation of a sand mandala for Kalachakra is to watch the Wheel of Fortune embodied. Grain by grain, monks devote days to its formation, only to destroy it upon completion. Creation and dissolution, joy and loss, fortune and misfortune—these are not opposites. They are partners in the great dance of time.
The Wheel of Fortune reminds us that life is impermanent, but not random. There is order in the chaos. There is timing in the turning. And there is deep spiritual truth in surrendering to cycles that cannot be controlled, only honored.
The Esoteric Symbolism of the Wheel of Fortune
The imagery of the Wheel of Fortune card is packed with rich symbolism pulled from alchemy, astrology, and ancient mystery traditions:
· The Wheel (Rota): The central wheel often contains the letters TARO, which can also spell ROTA (Latin for "wheel") and hints at the cyclical nature of fate, Tarot, and time itself.
· The Four Winged Creatures: A human, eagle, lion, and bull occupy the four corners of the card—representing the four evangelists, the fixed signs of the zodiac (Aquarius, Scorpio, Leo, Taurus), and the stability that surrounds change.
· Anubis and the Sphinx: In many versions, Anubis rises on one side of the wheel while a Sphinx sits atop it. Anubis, the Egyptian god of death and rebirth, represents the underworld journey. The Sphinx, guardian of mysteries, sits serenely above the chaos, asking us to find stillness in motion.
· The Snake (Typhon): Descending on the side of the wheel is Typhon, the force of entropy, reminding us that what rises must fall—and vice versa.
· The Alchemical Letters: Sometimes Hebrew letters spelling the name of God (YHVH) are woven into the wheel, uniting divine will with material experience.
This card is a visual representation of impermanence—a teaching at the heart of both Eastern and Western mysticism. No state—high or low—is permanent. The only constant is change.
The Wheel of Fortune in the Soul’s Evolution
In the Major Arcana’s journey, the Wheel of Fortune is the first time the Fool encounters forces beyond their personal control. After developing identity through the Lovers and discipline through the Chariot, and deepening inward through the Hermit, the Fool now faces fate itself. The wheel turns—ready or not.
Spiritually, the Wheel of Fortune teaches us:
· To accept what we cannot change
· To recognize divine timing at work
· To surrender control while staying aligned
· To ride the cycles with grace, not resistance
When the Wheel appears in a reading, it often signals that the universe is moving the pieces on your behalf—but you must pay attention. Something is shifting. A new phase is beginning. Your task is not to grasp or force but to align and flow.
This card echoes the Buddhist principle of anicca, or impermanence. All things arise, exist, and fall away. To cling to any one phase—success, failure, grief, ecstasy—is to suffer. The Wheel teaches detachment with compassion. We are not at the mercy of fate; we are partners in its dance.
My Kalachakra Initiation: A Personal Turning of the Wheel
When I received the Kalachakra empowerment, I felt the Wheel of Fortune turn within me. I didn’t just study the wheel—I became it. I saw how time spirals, how past lives whisper through the present, how lineage flows through us like a river of light. I was no longer just Lisa, the seeker—I was a node in a vast net of dharma, turning with all things.
The Kalachakra mandala holds the image of the great wheel, each spoke representing aspects of body, speech, and mind, and each movement synchronizing with the breath of the cosmos. I wept through the chants, not from sadness but recognition—this was the language of the Wheel, and it had always lived inside me.
Like the Tarot, Kalachakra is both map and mirror. It reflects the fractal nature of reality, showing us that every moment contains the whole. Every rise and fall is part of the same breath.
The Wheel has taught me that fortune isn’t luck. It’s alignment. And that destiny isn’t fixed—it’s revealed through cycles we learn to read, trust, and flow with.
Carl Jung and the Wheel of Fate
Carl Jung viewed fate not as an external force but as the unconscious unfolding of the Self. In Jungian terms, the Wheel of Fortune corresponds to the process of individuation itself—an unpredictable path of integration, shadow work, and synchronicity.
The wheel, for Jung, represents archetypal time—a spiraling pattern of psychological growth. He wrote of circumambulation—the process of walking around a center, returning to the same themes again and again, but from higher levels of consciousness.
In this sense, the Wheel is the spiral staircase of the soul. What seems like repetition is evolution. What feels like chaos is initiation. The ego may resist, but the Self knows: we must pass through the wheel again and again until we remember our true center.
Jung’s work with mandalas also mirrors the Kalachakra mandala—both are sacred geometries that reveal the wholeness of the psyche and the cosmos. Each turn of the wheel is an invitation to see more clearly, act more wisely, and align more deeply with the rhythms of the universe.
Conclusion: Becoming the Still Point
The Wheel of Fortune doesn’t ask us to stop the wheel. It asks us to become the still point at its center—the calm in the storm, the consciousness in the spin. Life will rise and fall. Fortune will come and go. But when we stand in alignment with the deeper order, we are no longer victims of fate—we are students of the divine pattern.
So ask yourself:
· What cycle am I currently moving through?
· Am I resisting change, or flowing with it?
· What deeper timing is trying to unfold in my life?
· How can I trust the wheel without losing my grounding?
To live the Wheel of Fortune is to dance with time, to bow to the unseen forces shaping our path, and to hold the paradox that while we cannot control life, we can always meet it with grace.
And perhaps, like the monks brushing away the final grains of a sacred mandala, we too can learn to let go in awe, knowing that the wheel turns again, and again, and again—carrying us closer to the heart of all things.
