x-Fortune

I was looking at this card last night and it seems to have a multiplicity of meanings, but I'm not sure how they all relate to 'fortune'. The wheel of fortune is obvious as the sphinx is comfy at the top while the monkee climbs and the reptile dangles off the side.
Acutally these three characters and the background are where the card gets strange...
The reptile hangs off the side, towards the bottom.
The monkee climbs, trying to reach the highest point.
The sphinx (is there a better name for it?) sits at the top.
I think these three characters represent our triune brain - reptillian, mamillian, and neo-cortex or what the cat might represent as sentience (notice the sword held upright to indicate mastery of mind/thought.
Also interesting is the background of this card. Most of it is a swirling purple, but above the sentient cat we see three dimensional, geometric, ordered shapes.

Does this make sense to anyone? Can anyone make more sense of what this combination of images and concepts might be saying? It seems like a very complex layered card.

I agree. I used to think that this was a fairly 'simple' card until I looked a little closer. It is one of those cards by which if I stare at too long, I become dizzy. LOL.

According to Ziegler, in his book Tarot: Mirrors Of The Soul, the three beasts attached to the wheel represent Egyptian godheads. The sphinx represents wisdom and thus sits at the top of the wheel. The monkey represents flexibility and clings to the side of the wheel. Ziegler points out that the monkey looks as though it is the one keeping the wheel in motion. And finally, the crocodile represents creativity, and is on the downward spiral of the wheel. Wisdom, creativity, and flexibility. Any more thoughts on this?

The Sun is also at the centre of the wheel. Ziegler writes:

'It is the eye of the centre - the eye of the cyclone that remains calm and unchanging despite the movement along the edges'

I think that this card looks almost very mechanical. There is something very machinistic about it. It almost looks as though the objects above the shpinx are stars... perhaps representing higher forms of consciousness?

C

You see all three of those creatures in the Fortune cards of the Thoth deck, the RWS deck, and the Tarot de Marseille.

According to my Tarot de Marseille commentary by Sédillot, the figure in the middle is, of course, the sphynx. The figures at the right and the left of the card "are often associated with Hermanubis (Hermes/Anubis, jackal-headed Egyptian god), genie of good, and Typhon (Greek monster, half human, half beast), the genie of evil." The sphynx relates to the enigma of life, and solving it.

Wang concurs as to the identity of these three figures in all three decks. Most importantly, since your question is about the Thoth card specifically, Crowley expressly says, in _Book of Thoth_, that that's who those three figures are in the Thoth deck.

Kosmos said:

Also interesting is the background of this card. Most of it is a swirling purple, but above the sentient cat we see three dimensional, geometric, ordered shapes.

Click to expand...

The order in the chaos? That even though events may seem to be wholly unconnected, that they are indeed connected? That coincedence is not always truly coincedence?

more on the wheel of fortune:

http://www.tryskelion.com/wof.htm

The Three Creatures

This was my daily card, and I didn't really know what to think until I started browsing through all the old posts on Fortune. In my notes - which I probably got from the little book that came with the cards (or eslewhere on this forum, not sure where) have the creatures as follows:

Sphinx at the top = intelligence and balance
Hermanubus climbing = unstable yet brilliant reason
Typhon flailing at the bottom = ignorance and sluggishness

I'm not sure to which extent the descriptions can be accepted, but they've helped me come to a possible understanding of their meaning here.

Fortune is a card about luck, be it good or bad. Forces beyond your control that are bringing about change. Though the forces cannot be stopped, we do have the power to react how we choose. Assuming that things happen for a reason, whether we are aware of the reason or unaware, life always gives us the opportunity to learn and grow from experience.

I think the "ignorant and sluggish" Typhon is at the bottom because those traits aren't going to get him anywhere. He's flailing around with the Ankh and the other thingy and he looks like he's about to fall right off the wheel. Is that a snake holding him to the wheel or his own crazy tail? Maybe somebody can shed some light as to why and how he got hold of the Ankh and the other thingy... my bet is he stole them, but perhaps they'll be of use to him in his next aventure.

Hermanubus is reacting to the change with what he knows - brilliance, restlessness, activity. He's climbing and trying to stabilize and grasp at the sword, but he might actually be what's making the wheel go round in the first place.

The balanced and clever Sphinx perches majestically on the top, sword in hand. See, I think the Sphinx gets it. He's got those shapes above his head - clearly the master of intellect and/or ordered thought. If he can maintain that position, he's in pretty good shape.

I don't know if I'm really making myself clear - I had this idea in my head and just felt like I needed to get it down... anyway. I see the three creatures as being reactions to change. If we ignore it and go on our merry way things can be chaotic and we won't know where we're going next. If we fight it, we'll be forever trying to claw our way to the top. If we relax and try to make sense of it.... maybe we can see where it's gonna take us next.

Uh-oh.. tangent time. Or we could be all three at once. Maybe it helps us put bad habits out of our mind, inspires us to improve ourselves, and helps us become masters of our own destiny.

I don't know. I'm stopping now.