Beginner's query

What can you tell me about the meaning of the animals symbolism at The Moon card?

And at Wheel of Fortune and The World? At these last two cards they seem to have the same symbolic meaning, but I do not know what it is.

EDIT: Im using a RWS deck.

ps. sorry my poor english.

Welcome to Aeclectic, Passarelli!

As you're asking about the Rider Waite deck specifically, you might be interested to know that there is an entire forum dedicated to that deck - Rider-Waite-Smith. Check out the Forum Index for links to specific cards or specific animals to find lots of threads about those topics.

Rodney

Thanks, i will check.

Passarelli said:

What can you tell me about the meaning of the animals symbolism at The Moon card?

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The dog is the servant of man. He is tamed, disciplined. The wolf is a predator who thinks man is quite tasty. He is a hunter, never tamed. Dogs and wolves mirror each other - alike, but opposite. In moonlight, things may look alike, but be dissimilar, or may look different when they are alike. The Moon Card is about confusion/illusion, deception, seeing things differently to how they are.

And at Wheel of Fortune

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This usually talks about change.When things are good, don't take it for granted. When things are bad, don't despair, they will get better. This card talks about instability.

and The World? At these last two cards they seem to have the same symbolic meaning, but I do not know what it is.

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I see them as quite different: the world to me is about the end of a stage in life. For a student, it might be graduation, For a single person, it might be finding a companion. For an employed person, it might be finding a better job. You reach an end, but it is a natural, looked-for end and leads onto the next thing. It doesn't hint at instability at all.

Moon

(This card should look familiar to nisaba!)

This Moon card is based off Rider-Waite-Smith imagery ... taking it in a slightly different direction.

Indeed it does! <warm smile>

nisaba,
Thank you so much!

At Wheel of Fortune and at The World I mean the animals too. There is a human at the upper left, an eagle at the upper right, a cow at bottom left, a lion at the bottom right. At Wheel of Fortune they have wings and they're all reading, and at The World there is only their faces... but besides that, there must be a connection between these symbolism at these two cards... must not?

Passarelli said:

At Wheel of Fortune and at The World I mean the animals too. There is a human at the upper left, an eagle at the upper right, a cow at bottom left, a lion at the bottom right. At Wheel of Fortune they have wings and they're all reading, and at The World there is only their faces... but besides that, there must be a connection between these symbolism at these two cards... must not?

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What you are seeing on these cards are representations of the four fixed signs of the zodiac:

Taurus (the bull)
Leo (the lion)
Scorpio (the eagle; esoterically the "higher" or sublimated form of Scorpio)
Aquarius (the human)

They represent the four elements Earth, Fire, Water and Air. They are also called the Cherubim and are important symbols already in antiquity, i.e. in the Revelation of John.

Michael Sternbach,
Thanks!

Now I began to understand why they are at The World (or the universe) card, but why they are at Wheel of Fortune? And why they're reading?

The Wheel of Fortune is not only in the middle of the Major Arcana from 0 through XXI, it is also the center of Creation. That's why it carries universal symbols; in the RWS deck, the four Hebrew letters that form the name of God; the four letters that form the words Tarot, Rota, etc.; Alchemical symbols; Anubis, the Sphinx and Typhon symbolizing the three forces of construction, preservation, and destruction; and the four elements symbolized by the Cherubim.

The Magician is standing in the center of this wheel (10 = 1+0 = 1), endeavouring to master its rotation by exercising the power of his will over the four elements.

Why are the Cherubim shown with scrolls? I think it's a reference to the four Evangelists which are traditionally symbolized by them.