Although we have free will, there are also times when we are at the mercy of Fate or Karma. Sometimes we simply cannot escape what is in store for us. But even at those times, we can choose how we will respond to events. We may complain and object, or we can choose to learn from the experience.
The four creatures in the corners correspond to the four creatures described in the vision of Ezekiel in the Bible.
Ezekiel 1:10
10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Further in Ezekiel 1:15-16 we have:
15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
Meaning: Karma, destiny, vagaries of fortune, circle of life;
Reversed: Upheaval, disruption, setback, unpleasant change.
There are Hebrew letters in the circle that spell out the Name of God, reading in either direction. Yod-He-Vav-He.
The word “Tarot” can be reversed to spell out “Tora.” This isn’t quite “Torah,” but I think the hint is strong enough. Torah is the Law.
There is a quasi-Latin phrase composed of anagrams of the letters: ROTA TARO ORAT TORA ATOR: The wheel of Tarot speaks the law of Ator (Hathor, an Egyptian goddess). Mrs. Crotty, my high-school Latin teacher, would be horrified at this travesty, but there we are.
Hathor: love, beauty, music, dancing, fertility, and pleasure. She was the protector of women, though men also worshiped her.
Alchemical symbols, from top, clockwise:
- Mercury: mind; feminine.
- Sulfur: Dryness; heat; masculine; soul;
- Water:
- Salt: Body; physical matter;
Animals:
- Human: Aquarius
- Eagle: Scorpio
- Lion: Leo
- Ox: Taurus
Snake on Wheel: Typhon, Egyptian god of evil.
Anubis: Egyptian god of the dead.
Sphinx: Knowledge, strength.
Keywords: Luck. Fate.