X. Wheel of Fortune

Cycles, change, fate, karma

“Change moves me forward,

trusting life's cycles."

 

The Wheel of Fortune spins beyond our control. It can lift us, spin us sideways or put us at the bottom watching others going up. It just never stops and neither do we.

The Wheel teaches humility, but also hope. If you're on top now, be grateful for that moment! If you're below, remember that it won't be forever. Life is not punishing or rewarding, it’s evolving. It’s showing you the rhythm of change and it will ask you: How will you face this change: with fear or with faith?

The image on this card is not just any wheel, it is a Dharma wheel, a sacred symbol of cosmic order and the cycles of existence. In the background, mountains rise in stillness, like a solid base. While the wheel turns, the mountains remain. They remind us that no matter how things change, something constant always stays within us.

The Dharma wheel itself is a symbol of the lessons we learn. In Buddhist tradition, the turning of the Dharma wheel marks the transmission of wisdom, a shift in how we think and see things. In tarot, the Wheel of Fortune tends to have the same message. Life isn't just some random events, it's a mix of timing and choices. And when life feels out of control, it invites us to return to our mountain: our values, our core and the things that matter most to us.

It’s easy to feel helpless when life gets overwhelming. The Wheel isn’t a passive fate; it’s about being aware and actively accepting how things go. When we stop trying to control every movement, we begin to recognize that every up contains the seed of a down and every down carries the potential for an up. Nothing lasts. And strangely, that can be comforting to realize.

So when this card appears... Pause. Breathe. Look around. What cycle are you in right now? Are you desperately trying to stay at the top? Are you forgetting that at a certain time the wheel will rise again?

You are not powerless here. You are part of this cycle. Let the wheel turn and let the mountains steady you. 

Reflections

  • What cycles or patterns are currently shifting in my life? How can I stay open to change?

 

  • Do I feel like life is happening to me instead of for me? Why do I feel that way?

 

  • When have unexpected changes led me to something better than I could have planned myself?