X La Rove de Fortvne

catboxer

This card, right near the middle of the deck, is in some respects very simple and easy to understand. During the middle ages and the Renaissance, churches built throughout Europe contained sculpted, carved, or painted representations of this wheel, and they can still be seen in many places today. Even the most illiterate worshiper instantly understood this image as a reference to the vicissitudes of life's ups and downs. A belief in "Fortuna" had been a major element in Mediterranean culture since before the classical era.

Here again, there were pictorial elements incorporated into the Marseilles decks different from those in the earliest Italian cards, in this case chiefly the substitution of animals for the human figures seen in the Visconti decks. But I would hope that even the animals are understood as a reference to the human fate all of us share, of having to ride the wheel.

Despite its relative simplicity, I find that this trump, at least for me, carries a number of potent ramifications pertaining to the entire deck, because it's a wheel. There are two wheels among the trumps, this one, near the center of the sequence, and the World, at the very end. Whenever I think of the two of them together, I also think of this passage from Ezekiel:

"...behold one wheel upon the earth by living creatures with his four faces...and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up...for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. (Ezekiel 1:15-21 KJV)

Now, this is just me, and I'm certainly not putting this forward as the "correct" interpretation of the trumps as a system (for as I've said many times, I don't believe they are a system), but I always think of the Wheel of Fortune as "the wheel in the middle of a wheel," with the outer part of the same wheel being the World. It's a way of saying that the chance sequence of random events is a central part, the hub you might say, of the cosmic master plan. In other words, just because there is a cosmic master plan doesn't mean there's no such thing as random events.

Am I making sense? Anyway, I thought I'd just throw that out.

Love 'n' Kisses,
(catboxer)

PS: Thanks for the birthday wishes for my daughter Rachel, who is a true artiste in the San Francisco tradition.
 

jmd

Thank you for that wonderful post, catboxer. It is certainly worth reflecting on that quote from Ezekiel.

Personally, I tend to relate it more to the Chariot (on which, incidently, occurs two visible wheels - but of course, not in the symbolic sense you implied).

I was, per chance, re-reading some Epictetus last night (I haven't been well this week, so have had much time at home reading various ancient philosophers). Not being well certainly makes one reflect quite easily on the obvious symbology of this card, and the vissicitudes of the wheel of Fate carried upon the waves of Earthly life. Getting back to Epictetus, the Enchiridion finishes with a number of quotes from earlier authors, and thought the following lines certainly captured an element of the card (especially when read in conjunction with the earlier portions of this Stoic's work):
Conduct me, Zeus, and thou, O Destiny,
Wherever your decrees have fixed my lot.
I follow cheerfully; and, did I not,
Wicked and wretched, I must follow still.
What is very interesting about this Wheel is, as catboxer indicated, that it appears in so many places during mediaeval and early Renaissance times. At times, the form it takes is clearly indicative of the planetary influences, and the Wheel is surrounded not by three or four, but by seven clear representations planetary personages (I'll see if I can scan one of these next week, and attach it).

The Arabic influence during the early Renaissance also introduced, in the understanding of Astrology, what is known as the part of Fortune (which is simply calculated as a relationship between the Moon, the Sun and the Ascendant, giving the position of the Moon at Sunrise). The main point I suggest here is that the Wheel of Fortune may very well have astrological implications.

This of course ties in very well with catboxer's observation that the card, and hence Fortuna, is placed in a central position in the sequence, and his wonderful statement which indicates 'that the chance sequence of random events is a central part, the hub you might say, of the cosmic master plan' (I am certain Zeno would have very much liked conversing with you!).

The location of this card within the Marseilles sequence I too find highly significant, especially if one considers an aspect of the previous and subsequent cards. In VI, Choice between Vice and Virtue has to be made, which can only be made with Caritas - Love, to which one then becomes Joyfully 'married', and then enters VII the Chariot which will be the vehicle which can ascend towards the Throne, though one clearly has to have gained mastery over one's 'horses' - without the need for reins! Only then are the Cardinal virtues experienced, and VIII Justice - as Maat (divine order/truth) or Dikaioo (straightness/right order) enters one (the Hermetica uses the term 'dikaiousthai' to refer to an inner metamorphosis experienced by the initiate as a consequence of 'meeting' Justice). Having permitted Justice to enter and transform one's very being, one can now VIIII properly shed Light on the path for others to see - becoming mindful that X 'there are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power' (Epictetus again, ibid.). This will of course lead to that invincible inner Strength of card XI.

Attached is the Conver 1760 version.
 

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catboxer

jmd:

I feel a little sheepish about what I'm going to say here, considering that I've argued long and hard against the idea that the tarot trumps were designed as a systematic exposition of any kind. I suppose what happens is, that because of the demands of mental processes involved in divination and other esoteric applications of the cards, it becomes necessary for us to conceptualize them in a systematic way. Systematic approaches probably played no part in the origins of the tarot deck, as it was not used for divination, meditation, etc., at the beginning. Our best guess is that 300 years went buy before those applications began to evolve.

What I'm saying, and have said many times, is that systems of interpretation have been applied to the cards. Some say that such systems have no validity because they are being imposed on the deck from without rather than drawn from within it. But I have to disagree, because the uses to which the cards are put in our time require us to create a comprehensive interpretation, not just of the individual images but of the deck as a whole. What surprises me is the number of differing, sometimes conflicting systems I've seen applied to the deck that seem to work well.

My own system of interpretation, which I haven't seen considered anywhere else, involves encasing nearly the whole set of trumps within the two wheels, numbers X and XXI. I see trumps I through VIIII as contained in the Wheel of Fortune -- the wheel of individual existence, and numbers XII through XX as contained in the World -- the wheel of universal existence. My placement of Justice follows Waite's, for the balance pans of this picture, if they come at the precise center of the sequence, each contain one of the wheels. This brings to mind any number of dichotomies that apply to the deck: as you sew, so shall you reap; as above, so below; the microcosm of trump X and the macrocosm of XXI, etc. In addition, Justice's number written in Arabic numerals is 11, or 1 and 1 -- this wheel and that wheel.

In addition, I see all 21 cards as being contained inside the Fool's zero.

This arrangement, this system if you will, came to me as the result of an experience very much like a vision in 1967, and I've always used it. I bring it up because the last paragraph of your previous post came very close to beginning a formal expostion of a trump system.

What does all this mean? The founder of the branch of the Unitarian Church I belong to, David Burton, recently said that "By exercising the gift of free will, we become co-creators of the Universe." Certainly, if we are able to override the instinctive impulses programmed into our brains and decide how we will behave, and make decisions among alternatives, this is true. In the same way, I believe we have all become co-creators of the tarot, for in becoming what it was originally not, the deck makes demands on us that require creative responses which would have been unimagineable to the people responsible for the origins of the cards.

Here's a picture of a schematic of my interpretative system.
 

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jmd

At times, I've been a little reluctant to freely share some of my thoughts, as I consider at least some of them to be, as yours, original and warranting publication and just financial reward. Then I consider that thoughts, insights and understandings shared are certainly more rewarding than kept to myself or a small group with whom I may happen to be in the same locality. I posted, at one stage, part of an insight, or if you like, vision (for it was that too) concerning the Major Arcana, only to find from De Lani that the same had recently been published by Nigel Jackson in his booklet accompanying his Tarot (either he had this insight independently, or, remote but possible, word of my 'system' has spread through narrow channels across parts of the world).

Over the last twenty odd years, I have only found few authors with truly impressive original insights which truly add to the understanding of the sequence or holistic sense of the Major Arcana. I say this not meaning to imply that I haven't gained much from reading various other excellent authors, nor do I mean to imply that I agree with everything - or even anything - said by these people. G. Knight is one, M. Filipas another - and your schema a third. So thank you!

For me, also striving in understanding Kabbalistic material, I have always thought that placing the Hebrew letters upon the 'paths' which (may) connect the Sefirot of the Tree of Life was incorrect, for the simple reason that it directly contradicts what I take to be more correct: ie, the text of the Sefer Yetzirah, which states that the letters are placed in a (or three, depending on the version) circle(s). Also, the Tree does not have Da'at as a Sephirah. One revelation was precisely that this Da'at (Knowledge) isn't upon the Tree of Life, for is arises from the living human being partaking of Life, thereby also developing Knowledge - to be sure, then, one has to partake of the Tree of Knowledge when one enters life. In Da'at are the fruits which reveal: the Letters... all twenty-two of them.

It also occured to me that (and this is the part I mentioned earlier which De Lani has pointed out has since been published, and which I have mentioned in another post), the additive Roman numeration of the Marseilles easily leads to sequencing and pairing. Placing the cards I through to VIIII one can see a particular kind of 'progression'. Then what happens? X turns everything around! Therefore, let us go to the 'turned-inward' aspect of each card (X-I, X-II, etc.). In this sense, X does not really form part of the series. When one reaches XX, a similar 'event' occurs, but one is now 're-called' back to the outer from out of the depths, to emerge as a fully incarnated being (XXI), having, to many, the outward appearance of a Fool (this 'interpretation' also makes sense of the positioning of the Fool between XX and XXI).

The next visionary insight was that this pairing easily fitted upon the Tree of Life, as pairs within each Sephirah, moving from our current position on Malkuth (10) upwards, entering the Spheres not in their reverse order of emanation, but upwards according to their levels: X-I in 10; X-II in 9; X-III in 7; X-IIII in 8; X-V in 6; X-VI in 4; X-VII in 5; [X-XX in Da'at, above the abyss]; X-VIII in 3; X-VIIII in 2; and ... (Fool)-XXI in 1.

I know I've gone off too, but I do think that this is very much part of the nature of this card, to somehow seek to integrate the whole, to seek for understanding using insights which we have, to reflect on the insights of others, and to acknowledge our own partial insights which characterise some of the wonderful depths which can be discovered, and inherent, despite the limitations of their human co-creators, in the cards.

Attached is the 1701 Dodal version.
 

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Kaz

visconti sforza

kaz
 

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Kaz

cary yale visconti

kaz
 

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jmd

What an incredible resource this site has become in the way it has developed over the past year. Thanks everyone (where can one place this thanks so that all are thanked!?!)

I've scanned the woodcut I was referring to. I was trying to find my notes as to where I obtained it from, but to no avail, other than it dates from the 14th century (I've had the image for around eight or nine years). Accorcing to my notes, the sub-text called this the Wheel of Fortune, and one can also see Fortune turning the handle of the Wheel.

Here one can easily also see why the top character has a sword and is armored: it is Mars. If the image is flipped, then it is also possible that the forked branch of Jupiter has inadvertantly become the 'tail' of the being one the left-hand side of the card of later representations.

Incidently, the personages are arranged in standard Ptolemaic order, with the Moon and Mercury 'closest' (at the bottom of the Wheel).

Catboxer may also be pleased to not that the central items are reminiscent of representations of the World (in, for example, Visconti-Sforza type cards).

For me, discovering this woodcut made me more fully appreciate the relationship between the influence of Fate operating through its astrological influences and its representations in, amongst other places, the Tarot.

Attached is the Wheel of Fortuna.
 

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Kaz

that is a beautiful wheel jmd !

kaz
 

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jmd

It is a beautiful Wheel indeed, Kaz.

I thought it appropriate to post this at this time, as it is the Solstice (Winter here, and Summer for most readers on this international Forum).

In ancient Greece, what the Romans later reveered as Fortuna was named Tyche, and was a sister of the Fates and daughter of Zeus. Her special day was celebrated on the 24th June (which, during mediaeval times and since, has been given over to the two St John's days) - coinciding with the Solstice (which has usually 'lasted' longer than our current single day, and usually had around twelve days).

As Tyche or Fortuna, she was often depicted with the Cornucopia with which she could either bless or with-hold, a ball or wheel to show the caprices of her whims, and a rudder with which she could steer human affairs.

But to return to Marseilles representations, attached is the Camoin 1998 version.
 

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catlin

The image of Fortuna was a pretty often used "topoi" in Middle Age and early Enlightenment period.

As for Da'at I remember having heard that it is related to a vanished/forgotten planet.

What a pity I am not more into Qabala.