The Wheel of Fortune, there's been that television programme for how long? It seems forever.

The tarot card the Wheel of Fortune has something of that quality; the eternal wheeling of life through life.

And it has something of that game of chance. What hand does fate deal us?

Wheeling and dealing, there's that phrase too.

It suggests something of skill; we can wheel and deal our way through life, and we can even try and escape life, one way or the other, but then that is our life.

One of the questions that the tarot card the Wheel of Fortune in the major arcana brings to mind is that of free will versus fate.

To what extent do we control our own destiny, do we shape our own lives?

In the Rider Waite version of the tenth card in the major Arcana, the Wheel of fortune, the wheel itself appears as something apart from us; it's highly symbolic with its representations of the zodiac and the four directions.

In the Druidcraft tarot we see another, quite different, version.

Here the Wheel (as it is called) is actually a circle cast by the Celtic Goddess, Arianrhod. She is the Goddess associated with the Wheel and the Milky Way.

Her Circle is the Circle of Life.

The tenth card in the major Arcana of the tarot is the Wheel of Fortune.

It usually shows a sphinx at the top of the wheel; this symbolizes the soul in it's passage through life; and, as with the Rider Waite version of this tarot card, there are also the four fixed signs of the zodiac placed at the four quarters of the wheel.

At its simplest, the wheel of fortune means precisely that - the revolving wheel of success/failure/good fortune/misfortune.

How would you summarise your life, in general?

Specifically?

We all want the wheel of fortune to turn our way! And when we have a tarot card reading we can anxiously await the fall of the tarot cards! (see www.infinitytarot.com)

Will they be good? Bad?

The clouds in the Hermit tarot card in the Druidcraft tarot appear almost green.

It is as though the sky has become a landscape, a kind of mirror of the land below.

There's a marine-like feel to the whole tarot card; even the rocky outcrop looks like a seal's head.

The varying shades of green, the autumnal coolness, the Hermit's darkish robes, the fact his face is half hidden by his hood, all give this an almost ethereal feel to the tarot card.

A Tarot card reading can show you what the year ahead will bring.

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The Hermit in the major Arcana of the Druidcraft tarot stands near the edge of a rocky outcrop. There's a sense of power and strength present.

The path is narrow but well worn.

It looks firm.

It takes on a greenish hue, lit by the light of the Hermit's lantern and the bright waning, crescent moon.

A wolf stands close by, poised, alert.

There's a sense of antiquity shining through in this version of the Hermit tarot card.

If the lantern is a common feature - and symbol - of the Major Arcana tarot card, the Hermit, it's worth exploring more.

In which hand is the lantern held?

Is the lantern held high? And, if so, what might that mean?

If the lantern casts light, it also casts a shadow. So what areas in the tarot card are shaded, or cast into shadow?

Pieter Middelkoop in his fascinating book, The Wise Old Man, wrote of the healing power of images.

One of these was the archetypal figure, the Wise Old Man, found in the tarot as the Hermit.

In a tarot card reading (www.infinitytarot.com), the presence of the Hermit cautions us: this is a time of reflection, of taking time out, of seeking the answer within.

When you feel it is time to withdraw a little, where do you go? What do you define as a sanctuary?

The eighth card in the major Arcana is generally known as the Strength tarot card.

In some decks, the eighth card is Justice. In those Tarot decks, Strength will appear as card number eleven.

In a Tarot card reading, the Strength card would indicate balance, the movement within to a place of compassion, gentleness combined with strength.

Thus in the Druidcraft tarot we encounter a strong woman who has tamed a wild boar simply by her presence and her touch.

In the Rider Waite version, it is a more angelic-looking woman, robed in white, who calms a lion.

Both tarot decks empathize the same point: strength comes from knowing the wilder sides of oneself, as well as the more 'civilized' parts.

The Fool card in the major Arcana of the tarot beckons like a rainbow sparkling in a crystal.

And, like that crystalline gaze, the Fool says ; dare to be, dare to be alive, to take on life.

Reading tarot cards can outline the patterns of our life like a geographer's map.

The four elements of fire, air, earth and water are the building blocks of life.

These are represented in a tarot deck by the suits of wands, swords, discs or coins, and cups respectively.

These cards- the minor Arcana in the tarot -tell us about our daily lives.

In reading tarot cards we need to be aware of the inter-relatedness of life.

Reading tarot cards means making choices.

Choices about how things work or don't work in a person's life.

Seeing beyond the usual seeing.

That's why it's worth spending time with the different suits of Tarot cards in the minor Arcana.

Swords represent the element air; cups, water; wands, fire, and pentacles or coins, the element earth.

What star sign are you?

Reading tarot cards requires practice, perseverance and preparation.

After all, a tarot reading is a viewing into aspects of our life which we may at times keep to ourselves, or with which we are even unaware.

That's the beauty of the tarot reading; it calls forth what's close to the surface.

So it's good, whenever you are going to have a tarot card reading, to get yourself prepared by thinking about the areas you might like to look at.

At the same time, be open to what may appear.

Tarot card readings do have a life of their own, and respecting that allows a reading to flow more.

If we thought of our lives as a series of landscapes, how would we design them? What would be their texture, their shape, their language of expression?

What would we include? exclude?

Tarot card readings are like landscapes; they have structure; they have depth and contour, and above all they speak of relatedness.

Let's see how that might be.

Tarot card readings offer insights into your future.

That's their purpose.

Having some sense of your future is a great help. It allows us to see whether our plans are likely to succeed.

That we'll be happy, that our lives will be fulfilled.

Vital questions.

Free tarot card readings are available online, and there are many sites which offer that utilizing computer software, and that can really work.

And yet Tarot card readings are also much more than the ask-a-question-get-the-answer format suggested by computer software.

If the tarot is a mandala, then we can also make of it a medicine wheel.

Not in any strict sense of the term, for it is more than a concept. It's a form of spiritual gaze into the world of form and Spirit.

The four directions are entranceways and also doorkeepers.

So let's entice something more of how that might work in a tarot card reading.

We might think of it as a wheel of destiny.

Each tarot card in a tarot deck has a number.

In the major Arcana, the numbers run from zero to twenty two.

You can use those numbers to add to the insights within your readings.

Now you can call upon numerology to inform what you have to say

And you can also step inside the numbers, so to speak, get inside the shapes of the numbers, and see what emerges for you there.

In a tarot card reading, if there are more than three or four major Arcana cards then what is happening in a person's life is not entirely within their control.

At it's simplest, the major Arcana signifies major events, major turning points.

That's why what works in a tarot card reading is to keep in mind the basic proposition: the tarot tells of our journey through life. It brings to the surface what is happening in the seasons of our lives, of our friendships and relationships, jobs and desires.

It's a moving, shifting mosaic.

Images and symbols are the keys to understanding the tarot.

Symbols speak to those deeper levels of our understanding; they are, in a way, a kind of folk memory etched like an imprint.

They can act as triggers to action and comprehension.

So your very choice of a tarot deck will tell you something of your own history (conceivably).

There'll be something about the thematic structure and the context of that particular deck, which will act as a conduit for your intuition.

So if you were asked to design just one tarot card, what would you draw?

Sally Nichols, in her wonderful book, Jung and Tarot, invites us to meditate on the Chariot.

Close your eyes, she suggests, and imagine you are about to take part in the ride of the Chariot. Feel the sway of the chariot; sense the youthful power of the charioteer; listen to the sound of the horses' hooves.

The Chariot card in the tarot deck is a powerful one.

What do you see and hear for yourself in that?

How do we measure success? What constitutes victory?

The Chariot, the seventh Tarot card in the major Arcana, is precisely that: it's a card s9ignifying victory or success.

It's a great card to have turn up in a tarot card reading, especially when you have been feeling down or you have been struggling to get anywhere.

And now, success! Life seems easy!

The Lovers tarot card confronts us with choice: to whom do we listen when we have the chance of becoming more than ourselves?

What part of us calls?

At first glance, it's obvious: this is a card about lovers, about union, joy.

True.

It's also a tarot card which, traditionally, shows a world of potential conflict, of potential indecision, and thus suggests the necessity for making a choice.

Let's look at that in more detail

In the Arthurian tarot deck, the Hierophant is represented as Taliesin.

Taliesin is a mythic figure of heroic and poetic proportions.

It's a beautiful Tarot card to work with, especially if you are drawn to the earth-based traditions of spirituality found around the world.

For Taliesin sits here on a golden throne which creates an aura of light around his head.

He's dressed in a light green robe with a cloak of feathers drawn together around his chest.

How would you dress yourself in the garbs of spirituality?

How would that look for you? How would you recognise that in your life?