POSSIBLE DRAWBACKS
As you’ll see, the list of fortunes is an interesting document in its own right. It reflects old values, but it also doesn’t pull its punches, or soften its blows. A number of the fortunes are undesirable, and the Golden Wheel answer key takes a very definitive, this-is-to-be-your-fate tone. As always, I maintain that if Fontaine’s Golden Wheel Fortune Teller gives you a prediction which you don’t want to make a part of your future, you can make the deliberate decision to reject it and affirm another path for yourself. Keep in mind that the fortune you choose may be your fortune, only if you don’t change your ways. In that sense, Fontaine’s Golden Wheel can serve as a reality-check.
A real problem I can see happening with this Wheel is, you may ask it the question, ‘should I go ahead with my plans?’ or ‘do I have any enemies?’, only to choose the answer ‘you will have a handsome, young, and wealthy man for your partner.’ Which is a nice answer, but it doesn’t answer your question! In such cases, you may have to spin again until you receive an answer somewhere in the neighborhood of your question. This is why setting a clear intention and asking the Spirits for a clear and accurate answer to your question is especially-important with this wheel. Another problem I could see happening is, you could ask this wheel, at three different times in your life, ‘what sort of person shall I marry?’ and receive three different answers. So either as you change your fate with every life-choice you make, the sort of life-partner you deserve will change, or the person you marry could be an amalgamation of all three. I don’t know and I can’t tell ‘ya. If you’re prepared to live with the uncertainty, this may be the wheel of fortune for you. It could be you’ll want to use this wheel only once in a blue moon, if at all.
In closing, I want to thank whatever thoughtful librarian at the Boston Public Library scanned and up-loaded their library’s copy of Fontaine’s Golden Wheel Fortune Teller and Dream Book to InternetArchives.org. It’s a compendium of fortune telling methods I can see myself dipping into again.
EXERCISES
- Ask the Golden Wheel, what is just ahead for me? Note the answer you receive, and re-visit the answer in a few months time. How accurate was the wheel?
- Ask the Golden Wheel, ‘what sort of partner will I have?’ Note the answer you receive, then dig-up to your notes after you’ve partnered-up, which could be a good many years hence. Was the Golden Wheel’s answer true?
- Ask the Golden Wheel what sort of person someone you know or are related-to will marry. Note the answer you receive. Can you picture this person marrying someone like the Golden Wheel indicated? Re-visit your notes when this person marries. Was the prediction accurate?
- Try using the Golden Wheel Fortune Teller with a group of friends or associates. Note the answers everyone receives. How was using it in a group different from using it alone? Did anyone’s fortune come true?
- Now that you’ve used the Golden Wheel Fortune Teller a few times, in what circumstances would you employ it? Is it more of a party-game sort of divination tool, or would you rely on it’s advice when contemplating a decision? Would you use it on just yourself, or would it be a helpful tool for checking-up on friends?
Love this – such a beautiful wheel! I would interpret ” ‘should I go ahead with my plans?’ or ‘do I have any enemies?’, only to choose the answer ‘you will have a handsome, young, and wealthy man for your partner.’ ” by shifting my focus a little and looking at what a handsome, young and wealthy man symbolises. He sounds wholesome right? So it looks good, but handsome young men are often not mature enough to handle their wealth. So it’s a cautionary path to success, go ahead by all means, there’s a good chance of success, but beware the pitfalls caused by naivety and overconfidence. I used to have real problems finding these sorts of canned answer oracles useful, but since I started working with the European cartomancy decks I just seem to be able to refocus the answer to just about any question by breaking it down that way. Lots of fun!
Good point! I think you’re right about having to shift one’s focus and considering what a pre-set image in a divination tool symbolizes for oneself personally. This is particularly important if you’re dealing with an old divination tool from an earlier century, where they had a slightly-different outlook on life. It doesn’t mean the divination tool in question has nothing of value to say to us, but we may need to adapt or reinterpret the answer.