[Grizabella]

I don't really understand the Golden's take on the Wheel. It's a beautiful and homey little Nativity scene and I love it for that, but I'm not sure how it co-relates to the Wheel of Fortune. I looked in the little book, but that didn't give me any clue.

[Apocalipstick]

Just took a look at the card on the creator's website.

I think the Wheel associations are still there, but in a subtler, more associative form. It's almost like the image invites knowledge of Christian myth.

For instance, the birth of Jesus altered the fortunes of the world, so the baby on the card could be a symbol of the Wheel's possibility and renewal. The setting, which was the sole refuge Mary and Joseph found, was found by chance -- another reminder of the Wheel's association with chance, luck and fortune. The fire being lit by the wise man(?) could symbolize the transformative, purifying power of a new cycle, while the presence of the mother can suggest the most basic level of trust that's necessary for going in a completely new direction.

If you correlate the card with the Biblical narrative surrounding the scene portayed on the card, you'll come up with a lot more.

Lovely deck, btw. Congratulations on your acquisition!

[Debra]

Originally Posted by Lyric

I don't really understand the Golden's take on the Wheel. It's a beautiful and homey little Nativity scene and I love it for that, but I'm not sure how it co-relates to the Wheel of Fortune. I looked in the little book, but that didn't give me any clue.

Similar to the Victorian Romantic wheel...not what we're used to!

[Grizabella]

Well, I just went back and re-read the book's entry on the card, and she describes it as a "nativity" scene, without capitalizing the word, and goes on to say "a woman" is in bed nursing the child while "the father" cooks food on an open fire.

So I don't see this as Mary, Joseph and Jesus or this being a Wise Man, I just see it as being a normal family scene. The only way I can associate it with the Wheel of Fortune, I guess, is by seeing the new baby and thinking of it as "life goes on" and one generation of people is leading on to the next, new one.

Apocalipstick, I like your association with the birth of Jesus changing the fortunes of the world. If this is Jesus, Mary and Joseph, then your interpretation is probably right.

[Apocalipstick]

However she may define the image, though, there is exactly one nativity in a stable scene that would be esily recognizable to a western audience. Maybe avoiding religion-specific language is a way to both keep things open ended, and encourage some free association?

Originally Posted by Lyric

while "the father" cooks food on an open fire

You know, that looked nothing like cooking food to me. All I could see was "strange and possibly mystical man lighting highly symbolic fire." LOL Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[Grizabella]

Well, I first thought it was one of those warming pans that held coals and then were put into the bed to warm the bed. It makes more sense that it's food being cooked. It's so charming seeing the man cooking something for the new mother, and especially when he has to get right down on the ground by the fire to do it.

I really, really love how this deck has different art work for the cards than what's the usual. It makes the deck so fresh even in its antiquity, you might say. Every single card has layers of things to prompt new thoughts and new imaginings about what the card means.

My daughter mentioned she wanted a relationship reading the other day, so I can't wait to sit her down here at my table and do Umbrae's relationship reading for her with this deck.

[Sheri]

When I think of the Wheel, I think of ups and downs, pros and cons, but not necessarily as finite things - sort of with an I-Ching approach in that the point at which the Wheel is drawn is a point between the two end points - either moving up or down, things improving or not. So in the scene, we have a family that is together and they seem happy - but they are living in a barn. Are their lives improving or going the other way?

Lyric - I cannot wait to hear how the relationship spread works with this deck! I tend to use brightly colored decks (like the Sheridan Douglas or Waite-Smith) for that spread, so I haven't even thought of experimenting with this one!

valeria

[Debra]

I also think the card reflects the idea of fortune as not just "life's ups and downs" but the bigger, more profound, totally scarier idea of FATE.

[Grizabella]

Valeria, I had the thought of using the deck with that spread in that time between waking and sleeping, you know? Right when you're not asleep but not really awake either? And it caused me to sit right back up in bed and make a note of it so I wouldn't forget.

I'll certainly let you know how it goes.

Also, they're living in a barn, but they'd been travelling and couldn't find anywhere to get out of the elements where she could have her baby, so I guess it was a blessing.

[Prism]

The scene is in a one-room home with a stable attached. A woman, dressed in blue and covered in a red blanket, sits up and holds her baby in bed. They obviously adore one another. A wooden bench is beside the bed. The father/husband kneels down from the bench over a pot on an open fire. He is cooking something. Besdie him is a bowl and spoon. He is dressed in the same colors as his wife and has a curly beard. Behind the woman, on the wall, is a wheel being turned by an angel, an eagle, a lion and a bull who surround it. They all have halos. Just outside their room is the shed with a cow and a donkey. Over them is a rough straw roof.

It looks like the holy family, who seem like a perfect representation of the wheel. From humble circumstances to King of Kings.