The Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card: Meaning of Arcanum X

In brief: number, names and keywords

The Wheel of Fortune is the tenth card of the major arcana, in the same position and under the same name in both major traditions. It opens the second half of the numbered series. The number ten returns to one: one starts again from 1 after a full turn.

In old Italian decks, it appears as La Ruota della Fortuna, and in French it is sometimes simply called “la Fortune”. Here, “fortune” should be understood in its old sense of fate or chance (the goddess Fortuna), not wealth.

Keywords: cycle, turning point, impermanence, rhythm, movement, destiny.

The image in the Marseille tarot

In Marseille, the wheel is drawn in profile, mounted on a wooden frame with two uprights and turned by a crank. Around the wheel, three figures with animal heads or strange forms: one climbs the wheel, another descends it head down, and a third, crowned, sits at the very top on a platform, sometimes holding a staff or a sword.

The figures are not quite human: they suggest monkeys, dogs or hybrid creatures, depending on the publisher. There is no background, only the wheel, its frame and its passengers. The visual message is simple: what rises will fall, and what is at the very top does not stay still.

The image in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, a large wheel hangs in a blue sky. It carries letters, T-A-R-O, which can be read in several directions, Hebrew letters (YHVH, the divine name) and alchemical symbols (mercury, sulphur, water, salt).

Around it, three creatures: a serpent descending (often called Typhon), a jackal-headed being, evoking Anubis, rising, and a sphinx holding a sword and enthroned at the top. In the four corners of the card, among the clouds, four winged figures read a book: a man, an eagle, a lion and a bull.

Symbolism of the elements in the image

These are the details that come up most often in traditional readings. They are paths for interpretation, not official definitions.

• The wheel: time turning, the cycles of life, of seasons, of fortunes. It has neither beginning nor end.
• The figure rising, the one falling, the one enthroned: three moments of a single cycle: the ascent, the fall, the summit that does not last. A way of accepting alternation.
• The crank (Marseille): someone or something turns the wheel; we do not know who. Chance, destiny or human action?
• The sphinx and the sword (Waite): the wisdom that stays at the centre while the wheel turns: the calm of the summit.
• The serpent and the jackal (Waite): the descent and the return, the material world and the invisible world.
• The four winged beings (Waite): the four figures from Ezekiel's vision and from the Apocalypse (man, eagle, lion, bull), sometimes associated with the four fixed signs of the zodiac: stability around movement.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Wheel of Fortune traditionally evokes a turning point, a change of rhythm, a situation in motion. It suggests that nothing stays fixed: after a difficult period, a change may come; after a peak, a descent is possible. The card recalls impermanence rather than a guaranteed piece of luck.

In a spread, it invites you to recognise the cycle you are in and to go along with it rather than suffer it. Some authors also see in it chance, or what goes beyond us, and advise focusing on what depends on us. It is a card of clarity in the face of movement.

Reversed: two schools of reading

School 1: the opposite. Reversed, the Wheel speaks of a rough patch, a feeling of being at the mercy of events, perceived bad luck, or the repetition of the same patterns.

School 2: a blockage. Movement is held back: one waits for things to “turn” without acting, or refuses a change that is necessary. The card then invites you to look at what can be set in motion right now. Several tarot readers, moreover, only read the upright cards.

In everyday areas of reading

The tarot does not say what will happen: it offers images to reflect on. Here, in symbolic terms, is what this card may evoke depending on the theme of your question.

• Personal reflection: recognising one's cycles, accepting the high and low periods. Possible question: what is changing right now, and what can I do about it?
• Relationships: a bond that evolves, phases of closeness and distance. The card reminds us that relationships have seasons.
• Work: a change of position, the evolution of a project, renewal. Symbolically, a turning point, with no promise of progress or setback.
• Money: alternating easier and tighter periods, the idea of flexibility. It predicts no gain and no loss, and does not replace the opinion of a financial adviser.

Combinations with neighbouring cards

A card is rarely read on its own: its neighbours shade its meaning. Here are some common pairings, to be taken as starting points.

• The Hermit: withdrawal and movement: a time of reflection before the cycle starts again.
• Strength: cycle and patience: getting through a change calmly.
• The Hanged Man: movement and suspension: a pause at the heart of the cycle.
• The Nameless Arcanum: cycle and ending: what turns eventually transforms.
• The World: cycle and fulfilment: one turn of the wheel that comes full circle.

To learn how to combine cards, try the three-card spread. To place this card among the 22 major arcana, see our guide to the major arcana.

Keyword of the day, question and practice

Keyword of the day: Cycle. For the day, observe a rhythm around you (the day, the seasons, your energy) and note where you stand: rising, at the peak or descending?

Question to ask yourself: What is changing right now, and what can you do with it?

Writing (10 minutes). Draw a large wheel and place on it three stages of the past year (a rise, a peak, a fall). For each, note what you learned. End with the sentence: “In this cycle, I choose…”

Short meditation. Sit down and follow your breath like a wheel: an inhale that rises, an exhale that falls, a small pause. For five minutes, let the movement happen without steering it.

History and variants of the card

The wheel of Fortune is a very widespread medieval image: the Roman goddess Fortuna turns a wheel on which men rise, reign and fall. The philosopher Boethius popularised it in The Consolation of Philosophy (6th century), and the famous “O Fortuna” from the Carmina Burana (13th century) alludes to it. In the images, one often reads “I reign, I have reigned, I am without a kingdom, I shall reign”, the four states of the cycle.

Italian tarots of the 15th century take up this image in a card that serves as a pivot of the deck. In Marseille, it takes the form of a wooden machine with a crank. In the 19th century, Court de Gébelin and then the occultists read Egyptian mysteries into it; Waite and Smith added letters, alchemical symbols and symbolic creatures, following the Golden Dawn, which associates the card with Jupiter and the Hebrew letter Kaph.

These variants show one and the same idea: the turning point. The card is often regarded as one of the centres of the tarot, between the withdrawal of the Hermit and the calm strength of Strength.

Frequently asked questions

Also read

The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to The 22 Major Arcana, card by card.