lettering on Wheel of fortune

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Dec 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jez Jones	14 Dec 2001
I've noticed on a lot of decks that some lettering and symbols appear onthe Wheel of Fortune - notably the letter T at the top, A to the right, R at the bottom, O on the left; with symbols interspersed between them. Can anyone clarify the meanings of these? Anyone recommend a graphic on the internet somewhere that actually shows the interspersing symbols clearly? Thanks.. Love & Light.

jmd	14 Dec 2001
The 'symbols' are the Hebrew letters Yod Heh Vau Heh, the Hebrew writing of the God of the Old Testament/Torah: Jehovah/Yahweh. It is often referred to as the tetragrammaton. The symbols within the wheel (on the Rider-Waite and related decks) correspond to the three alchemical transformative elements of Salt (circle with a line), Mercury (circle with a crescent above and a cross and arrow below) and Sulphur (triangle with a cross below). The fourth symbol (wavy lines) represents Aquarius.

paola	22 Dec 2001
It's an anagram, the letters could be read as: TARO = tarot ROTA = wheel ORAT = pray TORA = law (torah) or dharma merry xmas

purplelady	18 Jan 2002
Having just used the wheel of fortune in the Nigel Jackson deck for a meditation , I feel I must throw this in , which May only pertain to the Nigel Jackson deck? The 4 words on the wheel read "Regno , Regnavi, SVM Sine Regno , Regnabo" According to the book that came with the deck - The 10 th card, the wheel of fortune , is the circle of destinies revolved by the goddess Fortuna-Tyche, Lady Luck herself , blindfolded to show her impartiality. The Latin inscriptions on her wheel run " I shall reign, I reign, I have reigned , I am without reign ". The wheel is always turning.It signifies the karmic circles within the circle of Anangke (Necessity) or transmigratory wheel of rebirth ((Kuklos Geneseon) of the Orphic doctrines in which souls reincarnate. Ancient writers term 10 "Fate" and "Necessity". Proclus stated that "All things by the number 10 make a round"(multiples of 10 are still called a round figure.)

The lettering on Wheel of fortune thread was originally posted on 14 Dec 2001 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.