Wheel Wisdom Reading

Wheel Wisdom Question:  How do we let go of the fear of change and embrace, or at least accept, impermanence?

(13th century manuscript illustration of the goddess Fortuna turning her wheel.)

Today I’m using the Four Noble Truths/Medical Model Spread, with Arcana Stones for the four main positions and cards (Lo Scarabeo Visconti Mini) for the path cards.

Symptom:  What is the character of the fear of change?  0-Fool-Clear Quartz.  If we are completely honest with ourselves, impermanence is a very, very obviously a fact of life.  But it is part of the human condition to feel naked before it, and yes, fear it.  Simple survival concerns practically dictate a discomfort with and fear of change.  In fact, routine and stability are an important part of a child’s healthy mental and emotional development.  But for continued emotional health, children and adults also need to accept change’s inescapability.  As soon as that cold fact slaps us in the face, we begin to weave a web of self-deception, fooling ourselves into thinking that we’re resting on a firm foundational base of absolute security and permanence.

Diagnosis:  What causes the fear of change?  12-Hanged One-Sodalite.  Just as the Fool feels naked before change, the Hanged One must acknowledge his/her helplessness before it.  When you’re strung up by your ankles, there’s not much chance of getting out of there, except with help, or at least long, patient effort!  So, the feeling of helplessness is the true cause of the fear of change.  If we felt like we have some control or that we can make change happen in line with what we’re aiming for, fear and discomfort would diminish a good bit.

Prognosis:  Is acceptance of impermanence possible?  4-Emperor-Carnelian.  Speaking of control . . .  Yes, accepting and even embracing impermanence is possible, not by fooling ourselves, but by taking control of it in an active and rational manner as much as we can and accepting the rest.  Serenity Prayer, anyone?  And I mean accepting what we can’t control, not by throwing our hands up in the air and sighing, “whatever,” but by taking control of our own minds and the way we “spin” our role in otherwise uncontrollable events.  Am I a victim of circumstance or a competent person doing the best I can with what I’ve got, with an eye toward the next opportunity I can act on?

Prescription:  So how do we accept and appreciate change?  17-Star-Blue Lace Agate.  Count your blessings, 1, 2, 3!  We need to simply realize that all good changes are changes!  Every blessings is a change!  Yes, there are unpleasant changes, but think of all the wonderful changes we experience every day.  Well, technically every experience is a change.  Growth, of a child, a plant, or an idea, is a change.  Life itself is a product of change.  So here we are again, back to the whole unity of opposites--you can’t have good changes without bad changes, or change itself!  Once again, clear as, uh, the Fool, but so often overlooked or confused as we fool ourselves.

Now the Path of cards.  (Since the Star is 17, we get a true eight-fold path!)  How do we put the advice of the Star into action?  I arranged the cards in a numerically progressing path.

Fool.  Here’s the Fool again, looking particularly naked.  The Fool of historic decks is usually a poor wandering beggar who is not quite in his right mind.  The feathers in his hair are allegorical illustrations for “light thoughts,” perhaps fleeting, uncontrollable, and/or recurring thoughts that don’t have much relation to reality.  So the first step of accepting the reality of impermanence is to realize we are fooling ourselves if we don’t accept it!

Ace of Wands and Ace of Cups.  Acceptance is both an active and receptive step.  The important thing is to make a start. 

3 of Swords.  Accept that bad things happen.  To anyone, good or bad or in between.  The race is not always to the swift.  It’s just a fact of life in an imperfect world.  A more numerological meaning for this card gives us 3=manifestation + swords=thoughts.  Manifest your thoughts.  We can accept the whole imperfect world thing in theory, but when it happens to us, it’s often met with “why me?”  The insights of the Emperor are the advice here:  Take control of what you can change and what you think about what you can’t.

4 of Wands and 4 of Cups.  Celebrate and accept your blessings.  You receive them every day, whether you know it or not!

9 of Cups.  Not only do we receive generic blessings every day (like health, good food and shelter, loving family, etc.), we almost always receive the specific blessings that we wish for!  Consider all the wishes in your life that have come true, or may yet come true.  They’re all the products of change and impermanence!

King of Swords.  This king is here to reiterate the message of the Emperor.  In many ways, we create our reality with our own minds.  If I tell myself I’m a victim, or that I never get what I want, guess what, that’s what I am and that’s what I get!  And the opposite is true.  If I think I’m blessed, I know I am!  And if I have a positive attitude toward change, change will be positive for me!