drwitz
Hello all,
I'm not sure if this is the appropriate thread for this, so if not, I apologize.
I am struggling a bit with the conception of the Wheel of Fortune card as attributable to Ezekiel's wheel (at least as depicted in many of the images I am familiar with). I understand that traditionally the four figures pictured on the card (ox, man, eagle, lion) are supposed to refer back to Ezekiel's vision of the Wheel in the Sky. My issue here relates to the actual text of the vision (from Chabad's online edition of the Tanach):
Ezekiel Chapter 1, verse 5: And from its midst was the likeness of four living beings, and this is their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. verse 6: And [each] one had four faces, and [each] one had four wings. (omitting several verses) verse 10: And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man, and the face of a lion was on their right, to the four of them, and the face of an ox to their left, to the four of them, and the face of an eagle [was] to the four of them.
So why do most cards picture 4 separate creatures at the corners with each only having one face? Shouldn't they have, each of them 4 faces?
The rest of the chapter describes the operation of the 4 creatures and the wheels beside each of them (the so-called wheel-within-a-wheel). These sections seem to indicate that the entire function was that of a chariot with four wheels and at each wheel a creature. On the chariot is the throne with YHVH on the throne (or as Rashi says, his angel). -- see verse 26 and Rashi's commentary.
So wouldn't the more natural connection be between this section or vision and the Chariot? The pathway on the tree of life traditionally assigned to the Chariot is between Binah (wisdom) and Gevurah (will). This seems a more natural placement for Ezekial's vision than between Chesed (mercy) and Netsach (Victory).
Interested in other people's thoughts...
I'm not sure if this is the appropriate thread for this, so if not, I apologize.
I am struggling a bit with the conception of the Wheel of Fortune card as attributable to Ezekiel's wheel (at least as depicted in many of the images I am familiar with). I understand that traditionally the four figures pictured on the card (ox, man, eagle, lion) are supposed to refer back to Ezekiel's vision of the Wheel in the Sky. My issue here relates to the actual text of the vision (from Chabad's online edition of the Tanach):
Ezekiel Chapter 1, verse 5: And from its midst was the likeness of four living beings, and this is their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. verse 6: And [each] one had four faces, and [each] one had four wings. (omitting several verses) verse 10: And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man, and the face of a lion was on their right, to the four of them, and the face of an ox to their left, to the four of them, and the face of an eagle [was] to the four of them.
So why do most cards picture 4 separate creatures at the corners with each only having one face? Shouldn't they have, each of them 4 faces?
The rest of the chapter describes the operation of the 4 creatures and the wheels beside each of them (the so-called wheel-within-a-wheel). These sections seem to indicate that the entire function was that of a chariot with four wheels and at each wheel a creature. On the chariot is the throne with YHVH on the throne (or as Rashi says, his angel). -- see verse 26 and Rashi's commentary.
So wouldn't the more natural connection be between this section or vision and the Chariot? The pathway on the tree of life traditionally assigned to the Chariot is between Binah (wisdom) and Gevurah (will). This seems a more natural placement for Ezekial's vision than between Chesed (mercy) and Netsach (Victory).
Interested in other people's thoughts...