When I saw this card, the first thing I thought of when I noticed how the girl is standing on a
pipe was "pipe dream." ...It's as though she's standing on this dream of hers that may or may not amount to anything. A pipe dream is defined as something so far out or unattainable that it won't ever actually come to manifest...
Perhaps this card actually challenges that sort of idea of what is or isn't possible. Maybe this girl (with her
bunny ears ...or I at least THINK they're bunny ears?) has an innocence (much like the Fool can be traditionally seen) from which she sees the worth in taking a risk in order to challenge the supposed impossibility of an "impossible" dream. Maybe she actually chose to climb up there onto the Wheel of Fortune, to take a chance, to play her luck, because she truly believes in herself and she sees the worth in taking that climb (or jump).
The
mouse staring up at her from the ground can represent ideas of what's more "rational" or "practical" to do. What's more "safe." It looks like it's risky for the girl to be balancing herself up there. But even if the girl were to hypothetically fall (as cards in other Tarot decks do depict characters actually being thrown off the Wheel), she gets to have a unique experience - an alternate view - something that the mouse will not dare to have...
Mice have generally been thought of as representing fear; allowing yourself to feel small, afraid, or insignificant... a victim of circumstance or limitation. In the film, "The Wizard of Oz," the Cowardly Lion sings,
"I'm afraid there's no denyin' / I'm just a dandy-lion / A fate I don't deserve / I'm sure I could show my prowess / Be a lion, not a mouse / If I only had the nerve."
Then again, maybe the girl will just stand there indefinitely, teeter-tottering back and forth (but what's the rush?) ...Maybe it's not even her dream; maybe it's just what's there for her, all that's available in her eyes, her only option. Maybe she doesn't have or know of anything better to do. Maybe it's all just a game to her, not to be taken seriously, and maybe the mouse knows better... or maybe not! Maybe life itself really is just like a game in some ways, and she knows that there's nothing to lose if it's all about following your heart and allowing yourself to climb and to grow - like the
tree.
So perhaps this card is showing the idea of triumphing over your fears (over the parts of ourselves that want to behave like mice), and to dare to dream; to take initiative or seize the opportunity in order to bring that dream into reality.