La Tempérance (14)

The Wheel of Fortune makes me think of the time my father and I rode the Ferris wheel. As we went up, my father got more and more anxious. He asked the conductor to stop the ride, but alas, we were too high and he could not hear us. When you are up high on the wheel, you cannot see people’s faces anymore, but that means instead you see the big picture. We saw the scummy neighborhood where we lived, we saw the creek and the train tracks, then we saw the mall and the big, rich redwood trees.

On this tarot card we see many forces coming together: all the elements of earth, all manner of animals, and we see the sky. This is a mental card – it is all about stepping back from the everyday and tapping into what you know rather than what you think you know. It is about accepting your fate, but not just that, it is about not being in denial about what you fate is. As Mark Twain says, “it’s not what you don’t know that kills you, it’s what you know for sure that ain’t true!”

Part of accepting our fate is really seeing some of the destruction that has taken place in our lives, if not your life directly, than in the world around you. The snake and the dog-god Anubis represent the reality of destruction, whether made by man or nature. However, Anubis is the god of reincarnation – where there is destruction there is also the capacity for transformation. Maybe you are ready for transformation beginning at your core aka in your soul. This is not a flippant change such as a new hairstyle, but a change that requires you to really get out of your comfort zone and take a risk, perhaps on behalf of others.

When my father and I came down from the Ferris wheel, we were again bombarded by the cotton candy and caramel apple sellers. It was frightening to be up high; sometimes it feels like you are not meant to be up there. But you are, and it is your job to keep your eyes open, to transform your soul, and to help others do the same, too.