What an opportunity this card brings us for the month of February. The Wheel of Fortune in the tarot is the middle of an existential journey. What does that mean? Well, it’s the moment in our story, in our evolution, where something big shifts and takes our course into a new fortunate direction. And in as much as that sounds super opportune, keep in mind, it is still an upheaval. The Wheel of Fortune spins, regardless of whether or not we’re ready for the change. It whirls around and round with no regard to our grounding, and that’s where our responsibility for ourselves comes into play. You see, the concept of ‘manifesting’ or creating our own reality is very much a possibility, but there are bigger forces at play. These forces take into consideration collective issues and responsibilities. And as an individual in that collective, you have to ride that wave of uncertainty while maintaining your balance. Manifesting a reality that is self-driven and individualized will be short-lived for the novice. We are part of the collective. Each and every one of us. And so when creating our realities, we must surrender some of what we ‘think we want or deserve’ in order to propel our collective wheel of fortune into a more balanced and fortunate outcome for everyone.
I’ve been wanting to speak for a while about some idiosyncrasies I see in ‘spiritual’ or ‘wellness’ communities. Over the last year we have seen a lot of the shadow aspects of our society surface and made visible to the masses. That does not mean these did not exist previous to 2020, but rather have been made more commonly visible. And wellness communities are not unique to any of the other industries and facets of community. There is inequity, privilege and bypassing in these communities as well.
There is a lot I can say about this, and maybe over the course of other posts I will expand further on some of the thoughts I have. But for now, what I will begin with is the concept of shadow work. Reaching higher realms of consciousness comes from working diligently in observing the biases, narratives and baggage that gets in the way of reaching your own enlightenment. This process asks you to look at yourself critically and begs you to understand your demons so you are able to function at your highest level of consciousness. And this is a life long process. It is not something that you do once and then move forward into enlightenment. That being said, if you are acting in ways that are hateful, individualized and divisive, it is likely not coming from a place of light, but rather ego and fear; both of which many esoteric schools of thought teach are the limiting factors in reaching higher consciousness.
So, what the Wheel of Fortune nods to is this concept of surrendering to the universe and knowing that this new horizon of growth will not be short of discomfort. And although we may have to look at some challenging aspects of ourselves and our world, if we do the necessary work, it will evolve into a healthier direction. At least, one can hope.
elfie kalfakis 