Your rendezvous with The Chariot

By Sarah Taylor

I’ve written about The Chariot before — a little under two years ago. More than that: I’ve thrown the subject of The Chariot open to the audience before, too.

The Chariot -- Röhrig-Tarot deck.
The Chariot from the Röhrig-Tarot deck. Click on the image for a larger version.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about tarot, it is that the cards reveal themselves to us layer by layer, each layer going deeper to a sense of truth that is elusive and ineffable, but comes closer with each discovery.

The Chariot has always posed an enigma for me. It might well be that this reflects an enigma about myself — in fact, I’m almost certain of that. Nevertheless, it’s a card that keeps coming up recently, in the readings I’m seeing for others and by others, and in the cards highlighted on my newsfeed. This isn’t just about the ‘me’ that inhabits a body; there is a ubiquity about it, and that speaks of some archetypal vision that is being brought forward — a collective experience.

Given that, I’ve been asking myself: what is it about The Chariot that wants to reveal itself this time around that wasn’t accessible the last? (You can read the last two articles here, and here.)

Something has been revealing itself to me, but it feels like a quality that surrounds The Chariot that enhances my encounter with it, as opposed to a formal correspondence.

The Chariot is associated with the sign of Cancer, which is ruled by the Moon, yet my visceral feel of The Chariot is more closely associated with another planet: that of Saturn. A second aspect of astrology feeds into this gut feel: the movement from Pisces into Aries.

Chariot -- Voyager Tarot deck.
Chariot from the Voyager Tarot deck. Click on the image for a larger version.

Both of these add a contextual layer to a card that I first met with bafflement. Now I am feeling a friction, as if the still wheels are gaining purchase in order to start moving in a particular direction.

I’ll discuss them no further, preferring to throw them up for consideration and any comments that people feel moved to make, either on this page, or via email: sarah [at] integratedtarot [dot] com.

If you know nothing of astrology, that doesn’t matter in the slightest. Instead, take a minute or two (or ten!) to focus on the version of The Chariot that calls to you, and see what comes. Whether you feel something, or nothing, or confusion, your reactions to the card alone — whether through thoughts, feelings or sensations — hold much of the value of the exchange.

The three cards are, from top to bottom, The Chariot from The Röhrig-Tarot by Carl-W. Röhrig, Chariot from The Voyager Tarot by James Wanless with Ken Knutson, and The Chariot from the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot by A E Waite with Pamela Colman Smith. They are card VII from the deck’s major arcana, preceded by The Lovers (the archetypal card for 2013), and followed by Strength (or Justice in some decks) — both of which, incidentally, were in this past Weekend Tarot Reading of March 3, 2013.

The Chariot -- RWS Tarot deck.
The Chariot from the RWS Tarot deck. Click on the image for a larger version.

I will leave you with a quote from Sallie Nichols in her book, Jung and Tarot — An Archetypal Journey:

A chariot seems an apt symbol for the carrying power of the psyche. The psyche is not an object, a thing; it is a process. Motion is its essence. Just as the outer landscape flows by when we travel, so before the inward eye images succeed one another in a constant motion picture. It is these which we tune in on when we shut our eyes to outer things and step into our chariots for a voyage within. These images, half glimpsed, sometimes wholly unrecognized, nonetheless shape our lives and actions. They contain the vital seed of life.

Enjoy the ride, wherever it takes you.

 

 

If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread.

6 thoughts on “Your rendezvous with The Chariot”

  1. Luis:

    Amazing, your reflection has eclipsed exactly how I was feeling when I was pulling and unfolding the cards of my tarot reading back in November with final card Chariot. Thank you for sharing this:

    ” I remember feeling very taken care of, as if the forces needed were present, as if I could count on the situation to unfold positively, and I remember not being afraid….trust and action which may lead to an unfolding of destiny which is as unstoppable as the blossoming of spring.

  2. I don’t recall ever drawing the Chariot card in any reading, so I know nothing about it. Following your invitation to consider the card, I am struck by how static it appears, not at all the way I think of chariots, pulled by fast horses. Apollo pulling the Sun across the sky in his chariot. The cards are so different, each its own version of conundrum. The chariot is not what you think. Set it all aside.

    The formula one racecar operated by a human in a space suit–use friction to defy the friction that hold us still. Friction is an obstacle to overcome, and gives us the tractiion to move at great speed.

    Voyager covers all the bases, seeming to employ all the elements, and all the dimensions: past, present, future. Above, middle, below. Steeds, and speed, And the main image the messenger, who is also a christ figure: horus, the falcon.

    RWS I have never seen a more statick immoveable wheeled object. Made of concrete with wheels that do not apparently touch the ground, drawn by crouching mythical beings who are the essence of enigma. Chariots are typcially driven by a rider, and this one is driving no where. Inspite of the armor, he is made of air and light.

    Studying all of these images, I gather that I am the chariot. I convey a message between the stars and the earth by the passage of my life. The I who does the living is bound by gravity and the forces of the material plain. the message is cosmic. I can understand as much or as little as I want, depending on my consciousness. It is all there.

    What does this tell me about my liife? How can I use this insight from the chariot?

    It is 7. I am born on a 7. My life path is 3, but I came into this chariot of my body on the 7th. (tomorrow, almost today!) This card is a birthday present, Sarah. I am sure it is important for me to see it now, especially since you make the connection with my new lover, Saturn, and Mercury is implied in at least two versions. How about comets?

  3. Ps, is there a way to edit one’s posts? my critical Virgo mind doesn’t like my grammatical error above, I meant were rather than where.

  4. I once was meditating on this card and fell asleep with it under my pillow, that night I dreamed I was a child living with my parents and that I had been stung by a honey bee (during my childhood I was deathly allergic to bee stings) My parents both but primarily my mother acted very quickly and with great urgency to make sure all the things that were needed for the situation where available. I remember feeling very taken care of, as if the forces needed were present, as if I could count on the situation to unfold positively, and I remember not being afraid. Ever since that night for me the chariot has been about trust and action which may lead to an unfolding of destiny which is as unstoppable as the blossoming of spring.
    On an opposite note, sometimes this card is very scary for me because it makes me feel as though I have no control over my fate, that things will unfold in opposition to what I consider necessary or useful, but perhaps if I trust and let go a little bit, these things I do not want may prove useful eventually, for sometimes what you don’t want is exactly what you need.

  5. Hi Sarah,

    I pulled this card in my second online reading back in Nov. and there is something about today that is feeling connected to then. It was in the 11th position, pointing to the outcome. Outcome tied to the 4th position was the Emperor IV and in 8th I drew the Two of Cups (Lovers) …It is a needed awareness reminder, thank you I am glad it came up for us today.

    Cancer houses my sun sign and life path # 7, VII as is the card. These are my impressions in meditation on the Chariot card:

    Alchemy, balancing emotion (positive/negative) and harnessing of the will – our yin and yang. Protection in self-mastery, heart’s reflection shinning in and forth. Victory, achievement and confidence to understand, wisdom in control. Recognition of true perspective will hold – in the moment our freedom and salvation found there.

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