Wheel of Change Study Group - The Tarot Tree ~ Level Six

Tarot Tree Post

In keeping with the theme of equal and opposiing forces, tension, ambivalence and choice, I would like to explore Genetti's Tarot Tree's sixth level:

Wheel of Change Companion Book said:

.............XI..............

.....X..................V...

....VII................IX...

............XVI.............

Click to expand...

This level represents the choice of taking control of one's life and striving for a higher plane of existence through true understanding . . . or the bliss of ignorance, the freedom of blame resting on other shoulders, the perverse satisfaction of the victim complex.

This is hardly a matter of a single, cut-and-dried decision, a forking of the path. This choice is something that could be said to face each and every one of us, every single day.

\m/ Kat

Note: I've kept to traditional RWS numbering for the Majors as that's what I know best, but the Wheel of Change does not use the numbering as such.

Spread designed for this level

X - The Wheel of Fortune

At its heart, it has to do with attitude. Do you take responsibility for the luck in your life, be it bad or good, or is it simply a matter of Fate? Are you a victim of your life? Are you reactive, or proactive? These are the questions posed by the Wheel of Fortune, which, in its place in this hexagram, represents victims of chance who resist the opportunity to take charge of their lives. Outside forces control who gets what kind of luck, to these people, and their mental attitude is less "act" than "be acted upon".

\m/ Kat

V - The Hierophant

The Hierophant, to the right, represents those outside forces. This is the impassive figure at whose unyielding feet the victims of chance may lay the blame for their misery. The Hierophant's eyes look outwards, not even seeing the supplicants before it. This figure is a personification of the utter powerlessness, hopelessness, negativity, lack of motivation and wasted effort that leads people represented by the Wheel of Fortune to believe that, despite their "best efforts", the will never get ahead.

But, as a man-made statue, the Hierophant reveals its fallibility, and its true origin. Humans give their personal authority to figureheads out of fear of responsibility and sheer laziness of spirit. This fact has been used by clever people of questionable moral fibre throughout history, with the chilling resutl we see today - bliind acceptance of authority, elaborate and ultimatley empty houses of modern wrship (shopping centres, museums, banks, government instituions.)

\m/ Kat

XVI - The Tower

By handing over one's personal power, a peson entrusts any incentive to maintain his or her own well-being to an entity with absolutely no interest in it. Thus ensues The Tower - chaotic destruction of this or that or the other structure in one's life because of gross neglect. Because so many people are not used to not being in conrol of their lives, so here we see a cataclysmic demonstration of this lack of control - the person is unable to minimise the damage, mostly because s/he doesn't know where to start. By wilfully ignoring the interplay of forces impinging upon him or her, that person becomes like one of the figures on the card - tiny, lost and woefully ineffective.

This kind of disaster, coming as it does "out of the blue", reinforces the belief exemplified by the Wheel - of being a victim of chance - and thus a person, or even a generation, family lineage or a whole sub-culture, is locked in a cycle of powerlessness. But what if that person were to react to The Tower differently? What if that card signifies the (painful) moment of epiphany that allowed the person to take charge of their life?

That is the downward-pointing triangle. It represnts the pull and temptationj of ignorance and giving into chaos. It is easy. It does not require thought, and generates less in the way of moral dilemmas.

\m/ Kat

VII - The Chariot

The alternative forms an upward-pointing triangle, striving up away from our origins, implying advancement.

The first card, corresponding to the Wheel of Fortune, is the Chariot. In this deck, the usual themes of victory, will and control are developed to include one person's relationships with the world aroudn them. For a start, despite the obvious link between this wheeled vehicle and the Wheel of Fortune, the Chariot is larger than that locked, closed trap of Fate. The Chariot as a Wheeled vehicle makes use of the "ups and downs", or natural cyclic energy, of Life. A person characterised by The Chariot takes responsibility for the direction in which their life takes him or her. S/he has mastery over their own will and direction. A greater sense of perspective gives the Charioteer the ability to see the connections that the spokes of the Wheel make with the Universe. The Chariot card shows this, as one Wheel's spokes link up with to other Wheels, planets, stars and worlds.

This Charioteer has internalised the Wheel, symbolising the feeling that this person is larger than the petty obstaces and vagaries of the Wheel. Having taken responsibility for their own luck, now the Charioteer is able to understand and the incorporate the inteconnections with the world around them. In tihs way, they take responsibiltiy for their own effect upon the world. This person has taken back his/her power. The Charioteer acts, rather than being acted upon.

IX - The Hermit

In contrast to the abstract, externalised notion of authority shown in the Hierophant, The Hernit shows a person who has claimed control over their own thoughts and understanding. Instead of a fixed, fallible human construct, here is the light of inner knowledge and the search through the darkness within for ever more elusive truths. The planets are present again, this time up close. This Hermit gets close to things to intimately understand his place in relation to it all. The planets are no longer vast, insensate bodies whose movements and effects are a mystery - the effects, the connections and consequences, are now known on a cellular, spiritual level. Responsibility has been claimed and internalised.

\m/ Kat

XI - Justice

In taking back his or her power, the Charioteer has accepted that humans have a place in the greater scheme of things. Because this person has kept his/her personal identity close, rather than relinquishing it to abstract power, this man or woman has kept in touch with the subtle changes around them. This gives the ability to fine-tune his/her own energies in accordance with outer shifts, thus avoiding the crushing disasters that follow the Wheel person's cycle. Traditionally, the Justice card represents the triumph of karmic righteousness. Here, that is developed to include our karmic connection with the Earth herself. The message is clear - when a person reclaims responsibility for their actions, then the links to their own fate become clear, and the great schism between humanity and the world may begin to close.

\m/ Kat