Editor’s Note: 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. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc
By Sarah Taylor
Last week, I invited your comments on The Chariot, and received valuable contributions that felt like small but perfectly formed conversations between intellect and intuition — entirely appropriate given the card we’re addressing.
This week, I’m going to take a closer look at this, the seventh card in the major arcana, incorporating aspects of those comments with what stands out for me in the card, as well as some ideas introduced by the writers of two of the accompanying texts to the cards: The Tarot Codex by clinical psychologist Michael Owen, and Tarot of The Spirit by deck co-creator Pamela Eakins, Ph.D.
What I’ve noticed about The Chariot in my own readings with clients is that its appearances are relatively rare; it is definitely not one of the old familiars that visit with some frequency. What’s also interesting is that I really haven’t given it due attention, until recently. I don’t believe for a moment that these two statements are unconnected.
I think that those times when The Chariot comes up are exceptional because it speaks of something exceptional that is seeking expression. It reflects the idea that much is being asked of us, and we are being encouraged to take a deep and courageous look at who we are, our beliefs, and where we are going. Maybe The Chariot only appears when we develop the inner sight to acknowledge and understand it.
All three versions of The Chariot (The Warrior in the Xultun Tarot deck) have elements of the cosmos as a key part of their imagery. The charioteer’s crown in the Rider-Waite Smith (RWS) version, for example, has a crown that is evocative of the one worn by The Empress four cards before it in the major arcana; The Warrior in the Xultun deck sits under a starred cloth; the figure in the Tarot of The Spirit (ToTS) has a beam of stars linked to its crown chakra. There are astrological glyphs on the charioteer’s clothing in the RWS version, Moons and Sun in the RWS and ToTS cards.