The Wheel of Fortune is one of the most well-known and powerful cards in a tarot deck. As a Major Arcana card, the Wheel of Fortune represents big shifts, fateful events, and unexpected luck or misfortune in our lives. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the upright and reversed the Wheel of Fortune card meanings in love, career, finances, health, spirituality, and more. Read on to learn how this karmic card appears in your tarot readings!
An Introduction To The Problem The Reader Has
When the Wheel of Fortune appears in a tarot reading, it often signals that change is afoot. The Wheel turns, cycles end and begin, and life keeps moving in rhythms beyond our control. For many querents (questioners), this unpredictability causes anxiety and concern. They ask: What new phase is beginning? Is this change for good or ill? How can I prepare and respond? The shifting winds of fortune can leave us feeling powerless and confused.
The Benefit They’ll Get From Reading Your Post in short
This post offers clarity on the Wheel of Fortune by illuminating its divinatory meanings across life’s key realms: love, career, finances, health, and spirituality. You’ll learn how to interpret the Wheel in different situations and approach its changes with wisdom. Most importantly, you’ll gain insight on aligning with the Wheel’s cycles so you can flow with (rather than resist) the river of life.
Wheel of Fortune Key Facts
| Upright Meaning | Reversed Meaning | Yes/No | Numerology | Element | Planet | Astrological Sign |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Change, cycles, destiny, luck, fortune | Resisting change, breaking cycles, misfortune | Yes, signifies positive change | 10/1, new beginnings and manifestation | Fire | Jupiter | Sagittarius |
Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card Description
The Wheel of Fortune shows a giant wheel, with three figures on the outer edges. At the top of the wheel is a sphinx, or lion with a human head; at the bottom is a snake or serpent biting its own tail; to the left is the figure of anubis, the egyptian god of the dead and afterlife; and to the right is a human, with wings like an eagle. The wheel is inscribed with symbols for the four fixed signs of the zodiac – taurus, leo, scorpio and aquarius. In the center is a hand holding a wand pointed upwards and a hand holding a downward pointing sword. On the wheel we can see the alchemical symbols for mercury, sulfur, water and salt. The background is yellow, representing energetic action, and has an ouroboros border, representing infinity, eternity and the cyclical nature of the universe.
There are many layers of symbolism in this card indicating ups and downs, highs and lows, light and dark. The wheel keeps turning – what is up now will come down and vice versa. Change is the only constant. The figures clinging to the wheel show the perpetual cycles of life and the passage of time.
The Winged Human at the right side of the card stands for intellect and awareness. The Serpent at the bottom signifies primitive drives, subconscious forces and toxicity. The Sphinx at the top of the wheel stands for strength, nobility and power. Anubis, the jackal headed ancient Egyptian god of the dead and afterlife, at the left side stands as the guardian and protector of the Wheel.
The Upright Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card Meaning
When the Wheel of Fortune turns up in an upright position, it signals a time of destiny, fortune and change. Things are happening that seem directed by a ‘higher power’ or the hand of fate, taking you into a new cycle or phase. Though you cannot control the forces in motion, you can accept and align yourself with their direction for the best outcome. Major ups and downs are on the horizon – you may find yourself effortlessly ‘riding high’ one moment and plunged into disaster the next. Approach the Wheel’s erratic nature with centeredness. Trust that the time is right for karmic rewards and life lessons. Though the Wheel brings tumultuous events, in its highest form it arrives to push you toward your greatest good…if you can find the faith to flow with its erratic rhythms.
Love relationship
Upright, the Wheel of Fortune signals important turning points and progressive new stages in love and relationships. If single, you may suddenly meet someone destined for your life. In committed relationships, leveling up and deepening your bond comes naturally. There is a sense of ‘perfect timing’ and doors opening that propel the relationship forward with ease and flow. Harmony prevails and you can expect positive growth.
Weddings, engagements, pregnancies, births and other new beginnings in love arise effortlessly now, as the Wheel smiles on you. There is little need to ‘force’ anything – powerful energies are moving and opportunities arise of their own accord. Release control and allow your love life to blossom.
Career
The Wheel brings lucky breaks and fated encounters in your career. Networking and outreach bear unexpected fruit. Synchronicities appear as if perfectly timed by destiny. Career expansion comes with ease – new opportunities ‘fall in your lap’, you land promotions or raises naturally. Allow coworkers to support and guide you. Listen to your intuition during meetings, negotiations and interviews. The Wheel of Fortune card reminds you that there are cosmic forces giving shape to your career path.
Do not fear the Wheel’s ups and downs but flow with them. Even an apparent stroke of bad luck (a lost opportunity, missed sale, sudden loss) carries hidden beneficial purpose that will become clear later. Trust in the larger unfolding.
Finances
Wheel of Fortune finances often arrive as sudden windfalls, lucky gambles, and rewards from past good karma. Expect golden opportunities, special offers, surprise inheritances, and other financial blessings to ‘fall in your lap.’ Make big purchases and investments now, as your luck is ripe. But be mindful – the Wheel may bring rapid gains yet also sudden losses. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes or foolish risks. Allow both abundance and scarcity to flow through your hands. Your role is to stay balanced through the Wheel’s spins.
Health
The Wheel of Fortune indicates destiny and change in the realm of health. Turning points are ahead – perhaps recovery from illness, a change in diagnoses, shifts in energy levels, or a new health outlook. Whatever unfolds, do not resist the Wheel’s movements.
Allow the old to give way so the new can emerge. This card gives you faith – search for the hidden blessing behind any health challenge. Consult doctors and follow intuitive guidance toward remedies, but also trust in the divine timing of this moment. All is as it should be on your profound journey of healing.
Spirituality
Spiritually, the Wheel of Fortune card points to events outside your control that are reshaping your inner life. You are exactly where you need to be on your soul’s path; even painful experiences now hold precious lessons. Let go of wanting life to be different than it is. The ups and downs, joys and sorrows serve your highest growth.
This is a time of destiny, when greater forces guide you. Synchronicities appear as signs you are aligned with your soul’s purpose. Trust in your spiritual evolution. The Wheel is a reminder that you are being divinely guided – your work is to let go and have faith in the process.
The Reversed Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card Meaning
In the reversed position, the Wheel of Fortune card suggests that you are resisting necessary change and growth. When the Wheel turns, its cycles cannot be avoided – yet you dig in your heels. The forces of change feel destructive and unwelcome rather than lifter you into a higher state. You cannot control the ups and downs – and fighting this truth leads to greater struggle. Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune asks you to reflect on how your attachments, fears, or need for control may be making this challenging time worse. The more you can let go and allow the process, the better outcomes will be. Have courage…this too shall pass.
Love Relationship
Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune marks relationship turmoil, separations, and unwelcome tears in your romantic bonds. The cycles of love are taking you apart rather than together. You cannot control your partner’s behavior or choices. Forcing reconciliation will only cause pain. The breakdown or loss of relationships now is part of a larger turning of fate’s wheel, though that may bring little comfort.
Trust that these endings will lead to better new beginnings in time. All you can do is make peace with reality. Do not despair or analyze failures. Mourn losses mindfully, then let them go wholly. A brighter day dawns ahead.
Career
The reversed Wheel of Fortune card suggests upheaval and unwelcome change in your career. Plans derail, projects fail, jobs are lost, and there is little you can do to control events. You may be passed over for promotions or opportunities that once seemed guaranteed. Criticism may arise from bosses or colleagues.
Progress feels thwarted. But do not lose faith in times of professional turmoil. The seeds of growth and renewal are planted in these apparent setbacks. Adapt as best you can. Maintain your integrity, even as you accept reversals with grace. Your career resurrection will come in time. Stay centered amid the dramas.
Finances
The reversed Wheel of Fortune card in finance warns of sudden and unwelcome losses – investments gone wrong, volatile markets, uninsured damages, and similar misfortunes. Brace yourself through ups and downs. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes or great risks. Seek wise counsel to shore up defenses during this turbulent financial time.
Do not despair over money matters now. Challenges will pass and the Wheel will turn in your favor again in time. Patience and diligence will see you through to prosperity again. For now, rework budgets, settle debts, and focus on foundations more than expansion. This too shall pass.
Health
For health, the reversed Wheel of Fortune card suggests setbacks and unwelcome changes in your wellbeing are ahead. Illnesses may return, energy fades rather than improves, and medical treatments meet roadblocks. You cannot control the winds of fate – deterioration comes despite best efforts.
Do not blame or shame yourself now. Trust that there are deeper currents at work in your mysterious soul’s journey. This downturn carries hidden growth ahead. Seek multiple medical opinions and alternative therapies. But also accept limitations with grace. Let go of false hopes and negotiate this health passage as best you can, keeping faith that the Wheel will turn toward healing again in time.
Spirituality
Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune card points to a spiritual crisis of faith. As life changes unfold contrary to your hopes, bitterness and questions arise. ‘Why is this happening to me? Why can’t I catch a break?’ Your spirit sags without the winds of grace at your back. You may feel abandoned or betrayed by the divine.
Yet this spiritual drought holds purpose. By seeing that you cannot control the Wheel, deeper trust in life’s goodness can take root. Release expectations on how your path ‘should’ look. Practice unconditional acceptance of What Is, even and especially when reality disappoints. Let go of bitterness and judgments. Bring love and presence into darkness. A spiritual rebirth awaits.
Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card in Yes or No Questions
The Wheel of Fortune card typically signifies a positive outcome in Yes or No questions. Its arrival heralds fated events, lucky coincidences, and new cycles unfolding with the ‘hand of God’ directing your affairs. So in most cases, the Wheel indicates a ‘Yes’ outcome.
However, as a card of changes, the Wheel of Fortune can also indicate a surprising ‘No’ answer, reflecting that events may not go as initially hoped or expected. To gain clarity, examine the surrounding cards to better understand how the Wheel’s arrival will shape circumstances. Either way, the Wheel shows powerful forces of destiny are at work behind the scenes – leading to change that serves your soul’s journey.
Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card and Numerology
In the Major Arcana sequence, the Wheel of Fortune corresponds to the number 10. In Numerology, 10 reduces to 1 – the number of new beginnings, invention, progress, willpower, independence, and self-sufficiency. As such, the Wheel of Fortune echoes themes of empowerment, increased agency over life, self-reliance, and bold actions to venture forth into uncharted territory. There is a sense of breaking new ground and starting fresh at a higher level of mastery.
Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card and Astrology
Within the tarot deck, the Wheel of Fortune card corresponds astrologically to the elements of Fire and Jupiter.
Fire energy reflects the Wheel’s themes of changes, cycles, destruction, purification, and dynamic movement. Like Fire, the Wheel of Fortune burns away the old to make space for rebirth.
Jupiter’s abundance, luck, growth, knowledge, breadth, and good fortune shape the Wheel’s expansive and progressive energy. As the planet of opportunity, prosperity, and success, Jupiter imbues this card with its signature optimism and blessings.
Sagittarius is the Wheel of Fortune’s ruling zodiac sign. Sagittarius echoes the card’s themes of luck” faith in life’s goodness, embracing change and adventure, aligning with the ‘higher plan’, and perpetually moving forward toward new horizons.
Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card Combinations
Wheel of Fortune + The World: Massive life changes and completions, reaching the pinnacle, spiritually aligning with ‘what is.’
Wheel of Fortune + The Magician: Seizing opportunities, taking action on fresh potential, taking luck into your own hands.
Wheel of Fortune + Strength: Great willpower to withstand dramatic ups and downs. Drawing on courage and spiritual power to handle change.
Wheel of Fortune + The Hermit: Soulful changes and transformations occurring through reflection, solitude, and inner work.
Wheel of Fortune + Judgement: Powerful callings and awakenings changing your destiny and purpose. Major spiritual renewal.
Wheel of Fortune + The Hanged Man: Letting go of control amid changes. Allowing life to move you. Trusting uncertainty.
Wheel of Fortune + Death: Massive endings and transformations in your life. Radical fresh starts, reinvention.
Wheel of Fortune + The Fool: New adventures, acting on faith. Beginner’s luck. Joyous leaps into the unknown.
Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card Designs
The Wheel of Fortune card has been illustrated in countless styles across the centuries, but several designs are most common in modern decks:
- The Rider Waite Smith deck features a wheel with anubis, typhon and a sphinx. A hand holds a sword pointing down and a wand pointing up in the center.
- In the Thoth Tarot, the wheel has an Egyptian look with wings, a crystal disk, and snakes. Hermetic and astrological symbols adorn the wheel.
- Marseille Tarot decks display a simple wheel with an animal, human head, and inscriptions of T-A-R-O on the wheel. A figure floats above.
- Modern decks like Mystic Mondays show the wheel as aDNA double helix, linking fortune and fate to our genetics and soul blueprint.
No matter the imagery, the Wheel celebrates destiny, karma, and our lack of control amid life’s essential cycles of change.
FAQs
Is the Wheel of Fortune a yes or no card?
The Wheel of Fortune generally signals a ‘yes’ due to its positivity, expansiveness, and good luck associations. But as a card of change, it can sometimes indicate a ‘no’ if destiny takes you on an unexpected turn.
What does the Wheel of Fortune mean in reverse?
Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune suggests resisting necessary change, bad luck, and feeling powerless in the face of external forces and cycles. It asks you to surrender to the ups and downs of life.
How can I be prepared for the Wheel of Fortune?
You cannot control the Wheel! But you can center yourself in faith and adaptability to handle dramatic ups and downs with grace. Allow change to help you grow.
What happens if I don’t learn the Wheel’s lessons?
The Wheel teaches surrender and alignment with divine timing. Resisting that causes more suffering. Flowing with the Wheel’s cycles allows you to actualize its blessings.
Key takeaway:
- The Wheel of Fortune represents the ups and downs of life’s cycles and our powerlessness over the winds of change and fate. Approach this card with faith!
- Major life changes are imminent when the Wheel appears. While the shifts may be dramatic, have courage and know you are being divinely guided.
- Ups and downs in love, career, finances, health and spirituality are meant to help you grow. Move with the changes, rather than resisting them.
- Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune asks you to reflect on how your need for control may be making challenging times worse.
- The Wheel teaches adaptability, surrender and alignment to the rhythms of life. Allow it to strengthen your faith!
Conclusion
The Wheel of Fortune is a powerful Major Arcana card reminding us that much of life is outside our control. We cannot stop the cycles, changes and winds of fate that steer our journey. But we can open our hearts to trust in their hidden blessings – if we learn surrender instead of resistance. Though dramatic ups and downs shake your world when the Wheel turns, have courage! Each spin of the Wheel carries valuable soul lessons to actualize your higher purpose. By aligning yourself with the mysterious cycles of change, and developing equanimity through darkness and light, the Wheel of Fortune ultimately promises to lift you into a state of wisdom, faith and grace.
