The Wheel of Fortune – The Three Fates – The Moirai

The Wheel of Fortune – The Three Fates – The Moirai

There are two schools of thought about The Wheel of Fortune. One associates the wheel with Saturn and the idea of fate and destiny. The other attributes Jupiter to the Wheel and here you will see it associated with Fortuna, luck and fortune.

I think that during Renaissance times that Saturn and the Three Fates would most likely be attributed to The Wheel.

The most intriguing part of the myth to me is that the fates were beyond the control of the gods. They weaved the fate and destiny of each person and even the gods could not undo their work. One sister was the spinner (Clotho), one the measurer (Lachesis) and the last sister was the cutter (Atropos). It was considered “hubris” or arrogance in the face of the gods to challenge your fate.

There is an orderly and intelligent plan behind the changes of life. It is sometimes hidden from us and we spend countless hours trying to figure it out. The Moirai are deep within each of us and we only become aware of them when the effects are noticed. There is a time for everything and a reason for the cycles in our lives. I like the quote from the Mythic tarot, “Fate does not come to meet us, we turn to meet our fate”.

The Moirai represent the centre within, the hub of the wheel. It is the hidden part of ourselves that decides our actions, the hub or centre of our inner being. It is not our conscious ego that drives us. It is only an illusion that the ego is in control. This card is a reminder to stay strong in our centre and know that there is a reason behind the outward randomness of life. The wheel turns and we must turn with it. This Trump reminds us that we all have a destiny and that removing the ego and the “I wants” from the picture can bring joy and contentment. It’s not a matter of giving up and letting the world have its way. It’s a matter of listening to your inner self and being able to recognize when the wheel is proclaiming your fate and your destiny.

A lot of people use this meaning in modern tarot decks. I think that sometimes the wheel “seems” to move but it is really only that the client is not paying attention to the “hub” that is the true self. So outer “things” come and go trying to get the attention of that person. Sometimes our inner selves grow and change and the outer wheel turns to reflect this. People drop out of our lives, a hobby that seemed important makes way for another, we move house and we move jobs and we move spouses. All the time this is happening we bemoan our luck and don’t stop to think that maybe, just maybe, the wheel is trying to get us back on our path and in step with our destiny.

I have a feeling that some people would prefer to think of the wheel as Lady Fortuna and that the wheel turning signifies that their luck is changing (hopefully for the better). It might be old-fashioned to think in terms of our major fate being pre-destined. But those who profess to believe in reincarnation should stop to think about that for a minute. Isn’t part of the belief that we choose our lives before we come back? That we incarnate to learn a lesson or to experience something that we missed in previous lives? That is a form of pre-destination. It is all worked out in advance just where we will be born and into what circumstances.

I believe that The Three Fates are still in the back of the cave spinning and weaving and cutting. The Wheel showing up in a spread tells us to look at our life and remember our hub. Something that is not working is about to leave or we are about to rush out and meet something that WILL work.