Then there is the Croc; and perhaps she is wrapped with a snake, (there are snakes on most all Wheel card decks) or she has a snake as a tail. In her left hand she holds a crook to help guide those she meets. In her right hand she carries an ankh, representing creative energy and protection. This fierce animal greets those who are promised sanctuary. She faces the future with action and promise, always reaching out to those she meets again and again and again. The croc depicts the tale of Anubis who guides the dead to Justice. There the recently deceased will have their hearts weighed and measured against a feather from her head to determine worth. If a soul fails the test, if there are any negative issues, the Croc will take the dead to Typhon where they will be crushed by Judgment.
The Snake as a separate creature has harsh connotations in many mythos, but in the Pagan tradition, Heathen or other, the snake represents renewal, beginnings. If it is encircled, sometime swallowing its own tail, it is the wheel in itself, never ending, always beginning.
Lastly there is the Monkey. He likes the ride the Wheel provides, he loves it, so he will climb up to the top again and again and squeal as the Wheel begins to fall once more. To him the Wheel keeps turning, forever moving and creating a challenge for him each turn. He challenges those barriers put up by the Sphinx, he goes beyond the limitations provided by the Croc, and he steps out and takes control of his own destiny.
It occurred to me there must be more to this Sphinx than is plainly seen. With a city as large as Thebes, how could a Sphinx be a formidable issue if the city’s population has not drastically decreased? Thebes was in a time of expansion and growth. On several levels, the Sphinx could be extracting