SO HOW DO I USE THESE WHEELS OF FORTUNE?
It’s up to you. You can place it on a lazy susan or some other turn-table-type device, then give it a spin and poke at random. A record player on 33 or 78 rpm, if you’re a hipster who has one or an oldster who never got rid of theirs, might be a fun challenge. Just cut a small hole in the middle of the Wheel, place it on the turntable, turn it on, and you’re golden. But don’t set the record player to 45 rpm, that’s just too damned fast.
You can place the Wheel of Fortune on a table in front of you, close your eyes, and poke at random with a pen, pencil, pin, wand, laser-pointer, what-have-you. To make it more challenging, you can take the Tablets of Fate approach and, while your eyes are closed, have your friends mess with your head by turning the Wheel of Fortune several times, so you don’t have any idea where you’re pointing. If you have a dart-board, you can post it there and play Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Future. Or, if you enjoyed the lesson on Gyromancy Two, where you use a spinning object such as a coin or a toy top on a specially-designed chart, you can take that approach to divining with these.
I think it’s only fair that you be allowed to choose up to three times with these Wheels of Fortune. One symbol from either of these Wheels tells you very little about an entire year. Three of them will give you a slightly-more-nuanced view of your year ahead. It’s also good practice for symbolomancy (cartomancy) methods of divination, where you have to look at a set of images and stitch-together a coherent story about what the images are telling you. As always, consult your own inner-knowing and free-associate on what these various symbols represent to you.
There can be a sort of ‘science’ to divination, but it is also an art. I am inspired and challenged by the creative possibilities inherent in the Wheel of Fortune concept, and will probably try creating more. For now, enjoy using these, and Happy Halloween/Happy Samhain!
EXERCISES (if you’re so-inclined):
- Try using the Halloween Wheel of Fortune and note your answer(s). If you chose up to three Halloween symbols, what did the composite picture of three separate fortunes tell you about your coming year?
- Try using the Adinkra Wheel of fortune and note your answer(s). If you chose up to three Adinkra symbols, what composite message did these three symbols tell you about your coming year?
- Return to these notes a year from now. How did they manifest in your life? Or did they not? Was your interpretation off-base, or did it simply not happen? Did you find one of these Wheels more accurate than the other?
- In what sort of situations would you use a Wheel of Fortune? What are the strengths and limitations of this divination format?
EXTRA CREDIT:
Option One: design a Wheel of Fortune yourself and use it.
Option Two: go to Internetarchive.org, look up Felix Fontaine’s Golden Wheel Fortune Teller and use it. Note the answer you got, and check later to see if it came true. In your opinion, would Fontaine’s Golden Wheel Fortune Teller still be usable and applicable today?
Option Three: ignore my rule of thumb, choose one of these charts, and spin four or five times. Note the answer, and return to your notes a year from now. How different was this answer from the ones where you spun only three times? Did the extra spins make it any more accurate, or no, not really?