Upright Meaning
When the Wheel of Fortune appears upright in a reading it means a change has happened or will happen, in the enquirer’s life; that this change will probably have been brought on or be brought on by circumstances out of this person’s control: life has just happened. More important, though, than the change the card suggests, is the response to it. Change can be an opportunity to rediscover ourselves, to rewrite our own narratives. On a practical level the unexpected loss of a job, for example, could be the catalyst to train for a job that we’ve always dreamed of doing. The message of the upright Wheel is that change is inevitable, but how we deal with it is up to us.
Reversed Meaning
In a reversed position, most usually this card points to a situation where the life change - be it big or small - is being resisted. The person is fighting against the turning of the Wheel and this will nearly always be in vain and simply serve to deplete both energy and resources. However, in cases where the querent has ‘let things happen’ to them without ever taking definitive action, the reversed card can suggest the need for a different approach.
The Wheel of Fortune comforts us in that, just as the Wheel can fall, it must also rise again, taking us with it. Go with the flow, is the advice of this card; and know that, sometimes just as we can’t always claim to have earned the good luck that has befallen us, we too, are often not responsible for the difficult things that are thrown in our path. The Wheel will always turn.