Fortune is card X of the Major Arcana in the Thoth Tarot. In a reading it speaks of change, cycle, luck and destiny. In the Golden Dawn system it corresponds to the Hebrew letter Kaph, path 21 of the Tree of Life between Chesed and Netzach, the element Spirit and Jupiter in astrology.
change · cycle · luck · destiny · movement
What does Fortune mean?
A cycle changes: seize the opportunity. Expansion, good luck and new possibilities are on their way.
Everyday meaning
Changes of fortune, unforeseen events, turning points. Generally favourable, it shows that the wheel has begun to turn.
Psychological meaning
It shows your relationship with what you cannot control; it invites you to stay in the movement without clinging to either the high or the low.
Initiatic meaning
Path 21 from Chesed to Netzach, the letter Kaph (the palm, 20) and Jupiter, the great benefic: the expansion that sets life in motion. The wheel turns, driven by the three qualities of nature, while at its motionless centre dwells Spirit.
The shadow side
Ill-dignified, it signals instability, chaotic chance, passive reliance on luck, sudden falls.
Fortune reversed
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading:
Resistance to change, or a sense of being at the mercy of events; the wheel turns anyway, so it is better to work with its motion.
Fortune in love, work and spirit
In love
Sudden turns, meetings that feel destined; a relationship in a phase of transformation.
At work and career
Opportunities, expansion, strokes of luck; beware the volatility of earnings.
In spiritual practice
Seeking the motionless centre of the wheel, where change cannot reach.
Kabbalah, astrology and the Hebrew letter of Fortune
Kaph כ (20) · path 21: Chesed – Netzach · Spirit · Jupiter
Crowley on Fortune
On the ten-spoked wheel Crowley places Typhon, Hermanubis and the Sphinx, corresponding to the three gunas (tamas, rajas, sattva) and to the three alchemical principles, in perpetual alternation between lightning and stars.
Frequently asked questions
What does Fortune mean in the Thoth Tarot?
A cycle changes: seize the opportunity. Expansion, good luck and new possibilities are on their way.
What does Fortune mean in love?
Sudden turns, meetings that feel destined; a relationship in a phase of transformation.
What does Fortune mean for work and career?
Opportunities, expansion, strokes of luck; beware the volatility of earnings.
What does Fortune mean reversed?
The Thoth Tarot is traditionally read without reversed cards: the reader judges from the cards around it whether a card is well or ill dignified. This is its ill-dignified or blocked reading: Resistance to change, or a sense of being at the mercy of events; the wheel turns anyway, so it is better to work with its motion.
What are the Kabbalah and astrology correspondences of Fortune?
In the Golden Dawn system Fortune corresponds to the Hebrew letter Kaph, path 21 of the Tree of Life between Chesed and Netzach, the element Spirit and Jupiter in astrology.
