“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.” – Epictetus
The Wheel of Fortune in Tarot: A Card of Surrendering to Fate
In the last post, we saw The Hermit, who challenged us to withdraw and reflect so we could integrate what we've learned and later apply those lessons on the journey.
Now the Wheel of Fortune challenges us in a new way: to be the calm center when life’s events and happenings pick up all around us.
If The Hermit represents pausing, slowing down, and going within, The Wheel of Fortune represents a pivot, transformation…and destiny. It is an emergence back into the world, carrying the lessons of the Hermit and integrating that wisdom into the new landscape of the Wheel of Fortune.
Our heroine is now halfway through the journey through the archetypes. She is in Act 2: the Descent, where she encounters challenges, shadows, and transformation. She now encounters the scene of the Wheel of Fortune. From the dark, spacious scene of the forest back into the light, she discovers different elements of air, fire, water, and earth at the scene of the Wheel of Fortune.
Our heroine understands she needs to build a wheel. She takes the elements and channels the Magician to become an alchemist: she will create the wheel, which symbolizes her understanding that much of life is not in her control. She can control the wheel’s creation, how she responds, where she places her attention, and how she expresses what she has learned. But outside of that, life organizes itself beyond her control.
Symbolism of The Hermit in the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck
In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, The Wheel of Fortune is card number ten, the first double-digit card in the Major Arcana. Ten is associated with “Cycle Completion” leading to new beginnings. Numerologically, it reduces to 1, linking it to card number 1, The Magician. It also links to the Sun, which is card number 19. 1+9=10 and 1+0=1. We set our intentions with The Magician, transform with The WOF, and experience the joy as the result of our intentions and transformation with the Sun.
The journey so far has balanced both outer experiences and inner growth. With the Wheel of Fortune, however, the focus shifts toward how we respond to change itself. With the Wheel, the journey pivots to become more internal, even as it becomes more spiritual. It is meant to test our inner resolve and present the very lessons that will help us evolve into higher versions of ourselves.
The Wheel of Fortune can bring good fortune, but that is a simplistic interpretation. It is a card that reminds you that you’re on a path of destiny – whatever that may bring. It’s not about controlling the future. Rather, it is a reminder that we can influence our actions and reactions. Beyond that, there are forces outside our control. The idea is to “roll with it” and surrender to our fate. That is the lesson.
On the Rider-Waite-Smith card, the Wheel is associated with Jupiter and the great cycles of fate, movement, and expansion.
Around the wheel are four fixed signs of the Zodiac: Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio. These are symbolic angelic guardians that represent the elemental forces of air, earth, fire, and water.
These fixed energies create a sense of stability within motion… they are anchors around the spinning wheel.
For this interpretation, I wanted to explore these elemental forces as directional forces because life will cause us to pivot, to move in different directions according to what we’re experiencing:
We have the element of Air in the East – the place of emergence and new beginnings.
Then to the South is Fire — manifestation, action, and expression.
We experience Water in the West — release, emotion, and surrender.
And Earth in the North — vision, perspective, and expanding awareness.
The letters on the wheel itself: T-A-R-O…can also be rearranged into ‘ROTA,’ the Latin word for wheel… and ‘TORA,’ echoing the scroll held by the High Priestess.
The wheel shows cycles within cycles, reflecting the cyclical aspects of life. We often return again and again to similar patterns and themes, especially as we deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
The Wheel of Fortune in a Tarot Reading
If The Wheel of Fortune appears in a reading, it often signals that life events have picked up the pace. You cannot control it. You must witness it and remember the lessons of the journey that you have already traveled, especially the Hermit where you were meant to integrate and digest what you learned.
Now is the time to apply what you know: where you maintain a sense of calm as the “axis” in the center of the wheel. You want to cultivate stillness as you watch the world around you. By doing this, you can understand what is happening, what you need to do, and where you need to go next.
This pivotal moment may be part of a larger unfolding in your life. Even if things don’t seem all that great right now, the end result works in your favor. Remain open to what will come your way.
If you can do this, anything is possible: things you’ve been struggling with suddenly click into place. A new opportunity appears precisely because you’ve done the work. Synchronicities happen because you remained calm and open to possibility.
The stillness within you emerges as heightened intuition, allowing you to explore and discover more about yourself and the people around you, both in terms of light and shadow. In fact, you may find that family and friends from your past or who don’t live near you may enter your orbit, playing specific roles to keep you rolling along.
The stillness you cultivate also cultivates an expanding repertoire of knowledge that will inform the next segment of your journey. This allows you to understand your role in the universe more clearly even as you know you cannot control what fate has in store for you. Detach from what you cannot control.
This is a time to petition your angels and guides (if that is something you align with) to help you on your path, and/or to trust even more in yourself that you are exactly where you need to be.
And remember: the wheel teaches that what is meant for you will find you. Trust the process, even if it gets intense. The other side of it means more harmony, and more alignment than you had currently.
My Personal Journey with The Hermit
One powerful way to deepen your understanding of the Tarot is to apply each card to real moments in your own life.
If you have been following this journey, you’ll know that as I work on each archetype, they begin to show up in my life in profound ways. The Wheel of Fortune is no exception. This card can be a wild ride.
Once I finished the Hermit, I hadn’t even started on the script for the Wheel of Fortune. I always write scripts for these archetype videos because there is a lot to research, remember, and relate… and life picked up. Fast.
In the Strength video, I spoke about working with my elderly parents to get a guardian for my mom, who has dementia. I pursued that option because I care so much for her and for my dad. I couldn’t get my mom to stop driving, stop taking out loans from the bank that she couldn’t remember getting. There was so much more to this, but I kept thinking about how she wasn’t safe. I couldn’t keep her safe. I knew that professional intervention was my only option.
The hearing happened a few weeks ago, just before I started writing the script for this Wheel of Fortune video. My mom had a new guardian. The result of that took an unexpected turn. My mom became violent towards those closest to her…and to her guardian. She took a trip to the hospital and, from there, had to go to Memory Care. That was not in the plan for her, but it now means she’s getting the treatment and care that she needs. The same day my mom went to the hospital, my dad received a terminal cancer diagnosis. His time would be short without treatment, and doctors estimated about a year for him with treatment. I wasn’t going to tell him what to do: it is his life, and he alone should decide how to proceed.
Meanwhile, I needed to start making arrangements for my special needs brother, who is still dependent on my parents. Mix in the goings-on of the world and the uncertainty of existing in 2026…
A few days after this news, my cat Emma, with whom I am extremely bonded, developed crystals in her bladder along with idiopathic cystitis. In an incontinent cat, these things are life-threatening. She had two trips to the emergency vet and another follow-up visit with our regular vet. I know that the heaviness around my family was affecting me enough that it also affected my girl.
It was a sign to get back to center. Stat. And to ground. To meditate and regulate my nervous system. To call in my angels and guides for help, to sleep, and get out in nature as much as possible. It took a few days, and I started to feel expansive again. I began engaging in creative activities once more, after those weeks of survival mode – of just getting through the day.
I arrived at surrender, knowing that life was organizing beyond my control. I didn’t publish here for a few weeks while I navigated the maze of the court system, guardians, conservators, and my own grief about everything happening. I continued to put one foot in front of the other, taking time to get bike rides in, visit the forest, sit and stare at the sky. These weren’t frivolous moments of self-care. Rather, they were anchoring me, tethering me so that I didn’t get lost in the thought-filled world of decisions, action, and events. I couldn’t do much about it all, anyway.
I was utterly reminded that I could only control what I did next. I could control my emotions: my anxiety around these lived experiences, and the cultivation of calm. Of returning to center. I could practice Reiki on myself and on my cat. And breathe. Then breathe some more.
The Wheel of Fortune generally heralds a period of better luck and a more uplifting outcome than imagined after the grand pivot. That is the case here: my mom is HAPPY where she landed: she is loving the community and happy that the pressures of daily life have been removed. My dad is pursuing treatment, and who knows? Maybe he’ll live longer than a year. Maybe MUCH longer. I’m sending that intention and energy his way. I’m getting my brother’s situation sorted out. Emma is doing much better. Things have worked out better than I thought.
I regained my sense of calm within the chaos. The lesson is to remember this when life starts spinning again, sending me in a whole new direction once again.
Chakra Connection
The Wheel of Fortune connects with the following main chakras: the crown and root chakras. It is associated with the crown chakra because trust in the unfolding of life comes into play. It’s connecting to the universe and trusting that things will work out as they should. But it’s also a root chakra card because of the anchoring piece: the four pillars that speak to laying the foundation of staying connected to earth energy. Their elements of air and earth play a role in the energy of this card.
The Wheel of Fortune also connects with the Soul Star Main Chakra. It’s considered the 8th chakra. Here, our soul reaches beyond the crown chakra to connect with the universe above our heads. But this chakra also keeps us materially grounded in our bodies. As we evolve to ever-higher versions of ourselves, the Soul Star plays a role in helping us to achieve that through transcendence. Within the Soul Star, our human experience intersects with our higher spiritual selves. Balancing the Soul Star allows us to truly roll with life as it happens and to surrender more easily.
That is why the Soul Star, Crown, and Root Chakras all get represented with this card.
Even as these chakras are represented, the sacral and solar plexus come into play, through their elemental representation of water and fire.
Your Story + Invitation
The Wheel of Fortune is complete. It represents a pivotal transformation that often leads to better outcomes than we envisioned. Then, we move in that new direction, and this wheel is left behind. It’s ephemeral: meant to only last a while until we arrive at the next wheel to be built or witnessed for another pivot. Another direction.
To support your tarot journey, I’ve created a simple Tarot Cheat Sheet with key meanings for every card. You’ll find the link below.
And if you’re standing at your own threshold – ready to leap – a personal tarot reading can bring clarity. Book a 1:1 tarot reading with me, and we can explore the cards as they show up for you in the past, present, and future.
When has The Hermit shown up for you?
“At the still point of the turning world… there the dance is.” – T.S. Eliot
