Lunar Monday: Wheel of Fortune

By -

The Mother Who Determines Experience

The Wheel of Fortune has been generally accepted to mean fate, to mean chance and, especially, to mean good fortune--because of its traditional assignment to Jupiter, a broadly benevolent planet. Those may not believe in astrology should at least be aware that the same medieval society which created Tarot, and which lacked a psychologically descriptive vocabulary, often used planets to represent types of behaviour and personalities. So, it may be assumed that the inventors of The Wheel of Fortune intended that we interpret it in positive Jupiterian [Jovial] terms.

However in the Jungian Tarot deck, the emphasis on good fortune has been expanded to suggest a wide range of experience. Unlike the card's design in any previous deck, a female figure is shown behind a wheel to which a youthful male figure is attached. This represents one of the most significant contributions of Jungian psychology: it shows the Mother who determines the experience of the Son. In other words as conscious and unconscious move closer together, toward the formation of something new (self-awareness, the Son), consciousness acts on the experiences generated by the unconscious.




...The wheel is divided into twelve sections suggesting each of the signs of the Zodiac as a discrete and different form of life experience. The principle is that the Mother determines the trials, pains, and pleasures of the Son by turning the circle which, in Jungian Psychology means Self. Twelve eyes around the circumference refer to the vision of Ezekial and thus relates The Wheel of Fortune to The Chariot.





For many, conversation with the Mother who is in control, may recall difficult and painful personal experience--haunting and unresolved vestiges of childhood which the figure will help to resolve.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POZ - POZ Army

By -
Image
POZ - POZ Army We have so much going on and now is the time for you to stand with us. You have so many options. If you need to make a donation to our effort AIDS Walk New York go here . If you want to join us for an event where you will hear more about the POZ Army and where you can meet and greet local celebrities for our team effort for AIDS Walk New York go here .
Read more

Sunday Songs: Abbey Lincoln

By -
Image
Recorded in New York, New York in February 1990. ( Thank You, Singers and Saints Blog ) Personnel: Abbey Lincoln (vocals); Jackie McLean (alto saxophone); Clark Terry (trumpet); Alain Jean-Marie (piano); Charlie Haden (bass); Billy Higgins (drums). "Have we been waiting for something like this since Billie, then Dinah passed on--i.e. groovy, in-the-tradition jazz singing that actually means something? Heir apparent Betty Carter is on an ego trip, Cassandra Wilson is too arty... and so on. Abbey Lincoln's trip is something else again (perhaps Parisian) as she poignantly introduces "How High The Moon" in broken French and triumphantly ends the set with Francis Lai's "Live For Life." In between, Lincoln contributes good original lyrics from the point of view of a still-feminine quasi-bag lady--"social secretary" she calls it--an adept witness to hard times past and present. Lincoln gets excellent arrangements from Ron Carter and accompaniment fro
Read more