The real meaning of the tarot – ‘the Wheel of Fortune’

The Rider-Waite tarot deck is the most popular Tarot deck in use today in the English-speaking world.

It has been vastly influential in the development of later divinatory tarot decks to the extent that many are called 'Rider-Waite clones' because they closely follow its symbolism and imagery.

The cards were originally published in December 1909 by the publisher William Rider & Son of London.

While the images are deceptively simple, almost childlike, the details and backgrounds hold a wealth of symbolism.

Many people use tarot cards for divination, but this is to miss their true significance and meaning.

It is far better to seek to understand their symbolism and the ancient wisdom that lies behind it.

Now you may be familiar with tarot cards or you may not. But take a careful look at the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ above.

The most prominent feature of this card is the central wheel from which tarot cards get their name. If you follow the letters clockwise from the top and include the top letter ‘t’ twice you get TAROT.

But you can also read it from the bottom. The four letters then spell ROTA meaning wheel.

But even more important are the symbols between these letters (pictured left). These also are four letters but not in Latin script.

These letters are the key to the tarot’s true meaning.

They are actually four ancient Hebrew letters known as the ‘tetragrammaton’ – the Latin transliteration is YHWH – the ‘theonym’ or secret name of God – translated alternatively Yahweh or Jehovah (read them clockwise from bottom right).

That this refers to the God of the Old Testament of the Bible is further confirmed by the four winged creatures in each corner of the card.

These are a man, an eagle, a lion and a bull – the four features of the four living creatures which support the throne of God in the first chapter of Ezekiel.

The fifth creature atop the wheel is a lion – symbolising Judah, the fourth tribe of ancient Israel. We are told of Judah that ‘like a lion he crouches and lies down’(Genesis 49:9).

The next verse in Genesis (49:10) tells us that from Judah will come a descendant who will eventually rule over all the nations.

The Lion of Judah is Jesus Christ. Jesus was from the tribe of Judah and he is mentioned as the ‘Lion of Judah’ in Revelation 5:5.

The two-edged sword he holds is the word of God (Hebrews 4:12), the Bible, which all four of the creatures are reading.

The clouds surrounding the central image are a reference to the fact that Christ would come ‘with the clouds’ into the presence of God. Daniel 7:13 tells us that ‘he was given ‘authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him’.

The next verse (7:14) tells us that ‘his dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed’.

I’m sure you will also have noticed two other creatures in the picture. The red creature with two horns sliding under the wheel is the devil, the deceiver who tries to lead people astray and stop them from believing the truth.

He is the usurper who will attempt to wrest authority from the Lion of Judah. He makes his appearance first in human history as a serpent in the Garden of Eden – the yellow snake in the picture – who attempts to deceive human beings and get them to worship him rather than the true God. He will also one day appear as a man.

This is the real meaning of the tarot. It is revealing important truths about the world in which we live to all who are open to them.

This deeper meaning and purpose will be more fully revealed as we examine the other cards in subsequent posts.

The mystery of the thirteenth constellation of the zodiac and its connection to medicine

The zodiac is that band in the sky followed by the sun, moon and planets. Just 13 of the 88 named constellations cross the ecliptic, its midline.

13? But aren’t there just twelve constellations in the zodiac? Yes indeed – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

So what’s this about a thirteenth?

Well it’s called Ophiuchus and it lies between Scorpio and Sagittarius.

Ophiuchus is the serpent carrier and it has a rather interesting history, with connections both to Christianity and medicine.

According to Greek mythology, Asclepius, the Son of Apollo, was said to have learned the art of healing from Chiron.

Asclepius was so skilled in the medical arts that he was reputed to have brought patients back from the dead. For this he was punished and placed in the heavens as the constellation Ophiuchus (meaning ‘serpent-bearer’).

The rod of Asclepius, a snake on a pole, has been adopted as the symbol of the medical profession and still features in the logo of the British Medical Association and many other medical organisations around the world. Asclepius also features in the Hippocratic Oath.

But the snake on a pole also has three strong Christian associations.

When the Israelites expressed ingratitude for the daily portion of manna during their exodus from Egypt, God punished them by sending fiery serpents that bit and killed many. The story is told in Numbers 21:4-9 as follows:

‘They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.'

Ever since a serpent on a pole has been recognised as a symbol of healing and I was interested just this week to find it referred to in a Jewish website which linked it to the BMA logo.

In early Christianity, the constellation Ophiuchus was associated with Saint Paul holding the Maltese Viper. Paul, after surviving a shipwreck was bitten by a snake which wriggled out from a woodpile and fastened itself on his arm.

The islanders, in seeing that he did not swell up and die, assumed that he must be a God. Medically speaking Paul survived by somehow not mounting an immune reaction to the venom, but as Christians we also see it as a fulfilment of the prophecy given by Jesus in Mark 16:17,18 that the apostles would be able to pick up snakes and not be hurt.

‘And these signs will accompany those who believe… they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.’

In confirmation of this Paul then healed the father of the chief official and later went on to heal all the sick people on the island (Acts 28:1-10).

Finally, and most importantly Jesus himself makes reference to the snake on a pole in explaining the purpose of his coming crucifixion to the Jewish elder Nicodemus in John 3:14-15.

‘Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’

This account immediately precedes the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, which distils the Gospel message, clearly and concisely.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

You may never have heard of Ophiuchus or even Asclepius before, but this set of links is a useful way of getting to explain the Gospel to astrologers and doctors.

Ask the astrologer if they have heard of the thirteenth constellation of the zodiac and take it from there. Or with a doctor, ask about the origin of the ‘snake on a pole’ symbol and its connection with medicine.

One more thing. If someone tries to tell you that the symbol of the medical profession is two snakes on a pole with wings, then tell them that they are confusing the rod of Asclepius with the caduceus of Hermes.

The caduceus was carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings.

It has mistakenly been used as a symbol of medicine and/or medical practice, especially in North America but this is simply due to historical confusion.