Tarot: The Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune represents the impermanence of life and its ever changing cycles, highlighting the notion that the only constant is change.

The card points to synchronicity, destiny and fate, highlighting that life is unpredictable and ever changing. It’s important to accept all which we cannot control, and to become comfortable with the ebb and flow of life, understanding that no state is permanent and all are transient. The card reminds us that we must find stillness within to avoid becoming trapped in the ever spinning wheel of chaos. Understanding this can bring about peace and a sense of presence. Without solid grounding we can become unsettled with change and reluctant to seek it, choosing instead to remain in the comfort of the known.

Many people find making decisions difficult, which can lead to inner conflict, distress and the feeling of being stuck. What underpins this are underlying, often unconscious, existential fears, such as the fear of freedom, which relates to the anxiety many of us feel when we are aware that we are solely responsible for our choices and actions, and the fear of the unknown, an awareness that outcomes from decisions cannot be controlled nor ever truly be known.

We can’t ever know for certain the outcome of any choice or any path as it’s never given, however predictable it may seem. We can guess and hope but we can’t ever truly know, which can hold us back from taking what we perceive as risks in life. This can manifest in the fear of changing careers from a stable, yet unfulfilling role, to one which is more in line with our purpose and passions. We might feel unable to make this decision through fear of the uncertainty of whether or not it is the right choice for us, despite the discomfort experienced in the current job. There may be other factors involved in making a decision such as this, but often they're underpinned by the fear of not knowing.

To move forward in situations such as this, we have to be able to develop the faith to embrace uncertainty or we will remain uncomfortable when making choices. It’s paradoxical that in life we tend to enjoy the element of surprise – most of us don’t want to know the ending of a book or film as it spoils the enjoyment for us, yet in our own lives often it pains us on a subconscious level that the outcome of a decision or choice cannot ever be known. This fear, which is often not conscious, can prevent us from moving forward and stepping into a life we truly want to live. Factors can be put in place to mitigate risk, for example creating a financial plan to forecast the risks of making a move out of a stable career, or preparing for the change, however it will be more easily achieved with an awareness of the fear that underpins it, and the knowing that the outcome of a choice can never be one hundred percent certain.

There is a great freedom to be found in letting go of the need to find certainty in a life that is full of unknowns. We don’t even know for certain why we exist, therefore there is no right or wrong way to live our independent lives. There are no external forces which determine this, and we are only bound by restrictions that are self-created or learned from others. The card warns against resisting the inevitability of change and feeling powerless as a result.

The card points to the elements of fate and free will. As the wheel spins, fate is inevitable, however there is complete free will in how we navigate all which the wheel presents us with. In life there’s a need to relinquish some control and understand that events simply happen, positive or negative, as though they are ‘meant to be’. Although we cannot control life's unpredictable events, there is great power in understanding that we have full control over how we respond to them. It’s not always understood that we have free will over our reactions – we’re not victims of the wheel, we are active participants in it. The card teaches us that awareness of this existential fear of freedom is one step towards freeing ourselves from it and living a more fulfilling life.

If you feel drawn to learn more about existentialism or fears that could be holding you back from change, reach out or book an online session with me.