Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune is the eleventh Major Arcana card, numbered X. Its central image — a wheel that raises and lowers figures — did not originate with Tarot; it is a much older medieval symbol, inherited and incorporated into the deck.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-18
Historical fact
The image of a wheel with figures rising and falling is a medieval symbol that long predates Tarot. The so-called 'Rota Fortunae' appears in European manuscripts and texts since at least the 12th century, associated above all with Boethius's writing on the fickleness of fortune. By including this card, Tarot inherited a symbol already established in medieval visual culture — it did not invent it.
Interpretation — Rider-Waite-Smith / Golden Dawn
In the 1909 version, a large wheel bears Hebrew letters and alchemical symbols, with a sphinx on top and figures of a serpent and an Anubis-like figure (tied to Typhon) at the sides. It represents cycles, changes of fortune, turning points, and larger forces beyond direct individual control.
Interpretation — Thoth (Aleister Crowley)
In the Thoth deck, the card is tied to Jupiter and the Hebrew letter Kaph. It represents cosmic cycles, the wheel of destiny driven by the combination of chance and necessity — the larger pattern governing constant change.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Did Tarot invent the Wheel of Fortune symbol?
- No. The image of a wheel that raises and topples figures already existed in medieval European visual culture since at least the 12th century, tied to the idea of the 'Rota Fortunae' found in Boethius's work. Tarot incorporated a symbol that was already widely known.
- What does Wheel of Fortune represent in a Tarot reading?
- It typically indicates changes in circumstance, cycles completing or beginning, and the presence of external factors influencing the course of events beyond individual control.
Sources
- Michael Dummett. The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City (1980).
- Arthur Edward Waite. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).
- Aleister Crowley. The Book of Thoth (1944).
- Stuart R. Kaplan. The Encyclopedia of Tarot (1978).