Now that we're in the back half of 2026, I've found myself thinking a lot about this year's tarot card: the Wheel of Fortune.
For anyone unfamiliar, 2026 reduces to the number 10 in numerology (2 + 0 + 2 + 6 = 10), which corresponds to the Wheel of Fortune in the Major Arcana. Whether you believe in numerology or simply enjoy using the cards as a framework for reflection, I always think it's interesting to look at the year's theme and ask a simple question.
What has this card been trying to teach us?
When the year began, I think a lot of people interpreted the Wheel of Fortune as a promise. A lucky year. A year where everything would finally fall into place. New opportunities, unexpected blessings, perfect timing.
I'm not sure that's what the card has been asking of us.
The more I've sat with it, the more I've come to think the Wheel of Fortune has very little to do with luck and almost everything to do with movement. Wheels are meant to turn. Seasons change. Relationships evolve. Careers shift. Parts of ourselves that once felt permanent slowly become outdated, making room for something new.
The question isn't whether life is changing. It always is.
The question is whether we're paying attention while it does.
When I think back on the first half of this year, I don't think about the moments that went according to plan. I think about the conversations that unexpectedly changed my perspective. The opportunities that weren't on my bingo card. The ideas I thought I'd outgrown, only to come back to them with fresh eyes. Even the disappointments that, in hindsight, quietly redirected me toward something better.
That's the funny thing about the Wheel of Fortune. We tend to recognize it looking backward, not looking ahead.
As tarot readers, we're often asked to predict what's coming next. In reality, I think the cards are much better at helping us understand where we are right now. The Wheel of Fortune asks us to notice the momentum already building in our lives. What feels different than it did six months ago? What have you stopped forcing? What has begun to unfold naturally? What opportunities keep presenting themselves, even if they don't look the way you expected?
Maybe the lesson of this year isn't that life suddenly becomes easier. Maybe it's that we're reminded how little control we actually have over timing, and how much peace there is in working with it instead of against it.
As we head into the second half of 2026, I'm less interested in asking, "What's going to happen?" and more interested in asking, "What am I being invited to notice?"
Because I have a feeling the Wheel of Fortune still has a few things left to teach us.
If you had to describe the first half of your year in one word, what would it be? And what do you hope the second half asks of you?
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