The Chariot At A Glance
Keywords: Direction, will power, determination, strength, hard work, a physical journey, ambition, out of control, procrastination, inability to start
Season: Summer
Zodiac/Planet: Cancer
The Chariot Tarot Card Description
The Chariot is the eighth card within tarot. In the major arcana it is usually numbered as 7. The original RWS (Rider Waite Smith) system which most modern day tarot cards are based on shows The Chariot card revealing a powerful knight riding a beautiful gleaming chariot. The chariot is being pulled by two sphinxes or sometimes two horses.
The knight holds a wand or sword and it is with this (not reigns) that he controls his steeds. This shows he is using his willpower and not brute force to control the steeds and make his journey to wherever he has set his heart on.
The Chariot Upright Meaning
When The Chariot card is in its upright position (the art work is right side up) it often means determination and willpower. It says that now will be a period of very swift and direct action for the reader.
They must quickly get their goals and actions aligned because everything in their life will collectively conspire to sweep them up like a wave and help them acquire their goals.
It will feel like a like a push from the universe. All the goals that the reader wants will suddenly be rushing towards them. They must stay grounded and still do the work needed to bring these goals to them but it will feel easier, like they also have steeds of sphinxes or horses pulling them along.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” - Walt Disney
The Chariot Reversed Meaning
If The Chariot card appears reversed (the artwork is upside down) then it carries a new meaning. The Chariot card, even reversed, is still about direction and willpower but unfortunately the lack of them.
Reversed this card is saying we currently can’t seem to get ahead in this area of life right now, no matter what we do. We feel like we are swimming up stream but we are not making any progress. We are frustrated. We must remember to use our brain not brute force to remedy this situation and change our course to a better plan.
“You don’t have to see the whole stair case, just take the first step.” - Martin Luther King, Jr
The Chariot: Yes or No
The Chariot card is a definitive yes if we have asked the cards a simple yes or no question. There is a lot of will and driving force behind this card so it is saying to us: “if you are prepared to do the work then you will have what you seek quite quickly”.
If The Chariot is reversed for our yes or no question then its answer is a no. It means currently there is not enough will power or driving force for us to complete this so we should decline/say no until we have the required amount of physical, mental and emotional energy needed to attempt it.
Let’s Break Down The Chariot In Our Lives
How The Chariot card discusses and advises us in the different areas of our life.
The Chariot In Love
If the reader has asked about love and The Chariot card appears then it can suggest we need to be direct with someone. Maybe we have been dropping hints or attempting to lightly discuss what is on our mind but we need to change course and go right for the proverbial jugular.
Get to the heart of the matter and explain very clearly how we feel. We may have fear here and that’s okay, but it is like ripping off a bandaid: best done quickly.
Reversed The Chariot in love can mean the relationship is stalling and not moving as quickly as one or both people would like it to. This could be caused by situational factors or things in one person’s life that is unseen by the other.
Honesty and direct communication is needed for each person to fully understand the situation of the other person and then a plan can be made together which allows for the new situations brought to light.
The Chariot With Money
If The Chariot card appears when a question about money has been asked it is suggesting the reader needs to spend a period of time investing their time and energy before they will see gain.
However this card says that the speed at which they receive their reward is directly linked to how much energy they choose to put in. More energy in means more output sooner. It’s time to set the course, then aim full steam ahead.
Reversed The Chariot with money means procrastination has been robbing us of what we want most. We aren’t exactly sure why but we aren’t able to manifest our goals right now. When we look at the situation on paper there seems to be an abundance of time or energy but we find in our actual lives this isn’t the case.
Somewhere along the way we are wasting these resources. Perhaps we aren’t studying because instead we’ve been scrolling through social media. Maybe a long commute is draining our time each day.
This card says tighten up the lifestyle and stick to the budget or plan we made to allocate these resources and we will find the time or energy once again. For example: set alarms to remind us to study or use the long commute time to listen to and practice the new language we are learning. The Chariot reversed asks us how can we use our resources effectively to gain quickly?
The Chariot At Work
When asking a question about a situation at work or about our careers The Chariot card can mean all that we have worked for in our career is coming soon. We really need to focus on steering those steeds at this time. Two horses pulling in opposite directions will not be able to move the chariot forward.
Despite all the effort being applied, nothing will happen. It takes our mind, body and life to all be in alignment for this goal to manifest but once they are the goal will materialize for us very quickly.
Reversed The Chariot at work suggests some prioritization is desperately needed. We are flitting between multiple options and not committing to any of them. Now we have reached a point where a choice must be made. We must specialize. We have to take all our resources and gather them into this area.
We will make amazing progress in one area very quickly this way. We can always come back to the other options and choices and focus on those later. Right now we must focus on one thing at a time.
The Chariot With Others
If we are asking about our external world, either our immediate world of people we know or the world at large and we get The Chariot card as an answer it means we can see and feel our social circle expanding and our place within it rising. We are seen as an important member of the team/group.
One example could be seeing our social media account grow or being accepted into a social club which brings us joy to participate in. This will help us grow internally too and it feels wonderful to be a part of the team.
Reversed The Chariot with others can signify a period of de-cluttering within our friendship groups. This isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes we need to let go of other people who have moved on so that new people can come in. We outgrow relationships, but holding on to them when neither person feels happy is a waste of energy.
It’s normal to feel sad and maybe even mourn what was but when we allow these relationships to pass we make room for new people who can bring us mutual joy.
The Chariot With Self
The Chariot card relates to our internal world by suggesting soon we will have an epiphany that will quickly lead to a spiritual awakening. An area we have been trying to work on for a long time will suddenly click into place and we will feel relieved.
For example if someone has been battling with insecurities for years, they will have a thought which quickly changes their mind frame and they suddenly make huge strides of progress and finally are able to heal from their insecurities.
Reversed The Chariot card with self can symbolize coming to the end of the proverbial road and once there, they feel disenfranchised. What was promised to them was not there after all the hard work it took them to get there. In life we often believe a certain thing will make us happy and we set our sights on it, only to get it and realize it hadn’t made us happy.
We have forgotten the true pursuit was for happiness and in doing so we have failed to find it. When this happens we should come back to ourselves and instead of pinning all our hopes on the future we can try to find joy in the moments we experience day to day.
The Chariot As Feelings
The Chariot feels like pure drive and force within us. It’s like an external push from the universe. We feel like we are fueled by rocket fire. All the things we have been working towards suddenly manifest for us very quickly.
It can feel like the results happen overnight even though we might have been working on this years we suddenly get a huge boost or uptick in the results. This means that we feel even more motivated to work which creates a positive snowball effect.
