The Wheel of Fortune (Reversed) | Tarot Card of the Day
"When the Wheel of Life feels like it is moving in reverse."
When the Wheel of Fortune appears reversed, it illuminates repetitive cycles, patterns and recurring life-lessons.
Just as a wheel that moves in reverse brings a vehicle backward, so too the Wheel of Fortune reversed can take you back to an old life-lesson that seems to be repeating itself over and over. Getting frustrated at the repeated lesson is fruitless. The lesson is recurring because it holds the key to moving forward. Once you accept the lesson, and do the work on self-improvement, the wheel will begin to move forward once again. Surrounding cards may illuminate what this life-lesson is rooted in. Human lives are governed by cycles. Sometimes you are up, and sometimes you are down. The key is not to link your whole identity with the place you find yourself on the wheel at this moment.
How does the journey towards success often involve bending, curving, and spiraling, and why is revisiting challenges important for accumulating wisdom?
It can feel frustrating when you eagerly wish to move forward, only to find that seemingly keep moving backwards. However, success is hardly ever arrived at in a straight line. The journey toward success bends, and curves and spirals. Like a spiral it sometimes looping back over itself. Sometimes you will feel like you are back where you started, with no progress being made.... but this is an illusion. Wisdom is accumulated with each cycle. Each time you revisit a challenge you know it more intimately and are able to see dimensions that were not apparent before.
The Wheel of Fortune is a powerful symbol that represents both fortunate and unfortunate events that occur seemingly out of nowhere. Life is full of cycles, where you may experience periods of great success, followed by moments of utter defeat. These chaotic events can leave you feeling powerless and at the mercy of fate. The figures on the wheel serve as a reminder that external events are often beyond our control, but we can still find peace and stability by reconnecting with our inner selves.
If you find yourself constantly caught up in the ups and downs of life, it may be time to reassess your perspective. Alexandra Collins Dickerman, in her book "Following Your Path," suggests that identifying too closely with external circumstances can lead to emotional turmoil. Instead, by focusing on your inner center, you can gain greater control over your life and become less reactive to external events.
When faced with unexpected challenges, it's important to remain calm and centered. Life rarely goes exactly according to plan, but how we choose to respond to these situations is entirely up to us. By operating from a place of inner wisdom, we can reclaim our personal power and choose to respond with excellence. The Wheel of Fortune signifies that good luck awaits those who can find their way back to their center and maintain a sense of peace in the face of chaos.
The Wheel’s outer rim is a symbol for the external world, it's source of strength is its center, and the hub is the symbol for the divine center within you
Don’t get angry at recurring cycles for there is an important lesson to be received from them. The Universe is always showing you ways to move forward through patterns. Sometimes you do need to go back and pick up an important part of your center that was left behind.
Don't personalize the ever-turning Wheel, whether it is upright or reversed, whether you find yourself rising or falling. Ask yourself what the Universe is teaching you through the cyclical patterns you are experiencing. Are you learning about your true worth? Perhaps you are remembering how to reclaim your courage. Often, revisiting the place you are stalled to reclaim the part of you that seemed lost, is just the remedy needed to begin progressing forward again.
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Learn what the Wheel of Fortune means in matters of love, as part of my ‘Tarot in Love’ series.
