At A Glance
Positive: Turning point, good luck, destiny
Negative: Karma, bad luck, resistant to change
Description
The Wheel of Fortune is numbered 10 in the Major Arcana.
The Wheel of Fortune sits in the centre with the outer circle having two types of inscriptions, the Hebrew for YHWH or Yahweh, and the letters TARO(T) which may hint how the cards came to be known as the tarot. The letters may also form ROTA, which is the Latin word for wheel.
Surrounding the Wheel of Fortune are three creatures, the Sphinx which is a symbol of knowledge and wisdom, the snake (which has a few possible interpretations) is a symbol of rebirth, health and sickness, and the red creature is supposedly Anubis, symbolizing death and the afterlife.
At the four corners are four winged creatures, an angel, a bird, an ox and a lion. Some people might say the bird is an eagle, but I beg to differ because an eagle doesn’t have such a long neck. It could be a goose or a vulture. Regardless, each winged creature has a book which represents learning and wisdom.
Side note: It will be interesting if the bird is indeed a vulture because there exist an angel called Cherubim who has four heads, one of a man, one of a lion, one of an ox and one of a vulture.
