Joseph Campbell on the Wheel of Fortune

I randomly opened The Power of Myth to page 118-119 this morning and lo and behold - the Wheel. Here's the accompanying text:

Moyers: What happens when you follow your bliss?

Campbell: You come to bliss. In the Middle Ages, a favorite image that occurs in many, many contexts is the wheel of fortune. There's the hub of the wheel, and there is the revolving rim of the wheel. For example, if you are attached to the rim of the wheel of fortune, you will be either above going down or at the bottom coming up. But if you are at the hub, you are in the same place all the time. That is the sense of the marriage vow - I take you in health or sickness, in wealth or poverty: going up or going down. But I take you as my center, and you are my bliss, not the wealth that you might bring me, not the social prestige, but you. That is following your bliss.

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I don't think I've ever turned over the Wheel and focused on the still center as part of a reading, but I could see picking up on that detail intuitively. Have you ever seen the hub of the wheel as the querent's place/mood/state of being?

This quote and your additional insight have just added tremendously to my experience of this card. I thank you.

No, never. Depending on the question asked though, I sometimes see it as saying, 'This too shall pass'.

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you Sword King!

I agree, what a wonderful way to look at this card. Thanks.

Sword King: Some acquaintance with Joseph Campbell, but not familiar with that book or the quoted passage. Still, it reminds me of an occasion whence I drew the Tarot of Prague's Wheel of Fortune as a daily card. My eye was drawn to its center* (more on that to follow) as encouragement to maintain the regular meditative times in order to better integrate body, mind, spirit.

*The center of this particular card depicts a three-towered edifice or castle, with a center opening or door below encircled by latticework.

Kudos on a superb posting & the food for thought!

Sword King, that is a beautiful post with a reference to Joseph Campbell. I am in a Wheel year and thinking about the meaning of it.

I find this a beautiful thought from Joseph Campbell. I'm a fan of his, and I think that everything he says is incredibly poetic and spiritual.

That being said, I don't find that it helps me in terms of the Wheel of Fortune as a tarot card. I always thought that this card came up to focus on the fact that life is in a constant state of change. That it has cycles. That it has highs and lows, bad luck and good, summer and winter. In some decks it even shows a figure, often the goddess Fortuna, turning a handle on the wheel, to show that the wheel is in fact turning.

It seems to me that taking into account the stillness at the center of the wheel is defeating the purpose of the card. The card's message is that there is no such thing as stillness.

From a philosophical perspective it's worth considering. But from a tarot standpoint, I think it just confuses the symbolism.

Well, all right, it confuses ME.

Yes, I do understand what you are saying. I guess the still point though is the 'solution' to the constant and unending changes in life. If we accept that change is inevitable and just 'go with the flow' then we will find life to be far less stressful than if we are constantly fighting against change. So, while the card in a reading may give the message of change, it also provides advice for how best to manage that change. Not sure if that makes sense but that's how I look at the card. Find the still point inside yourself and then the ups and downs of life will flow through you rather than knocking you down. I'm in a bit of a Taoist mindset just now so perhaps that is where I'm coming from.

^^ Interesting view. It reminds me of the phrase, "The only constant thing in life is change." I can see where this idea might apply to the Wheel.