VII The Chariot

On our journey through the cards we arrive at The Chariot, the last card in the first row of the Major Arcana, the row of the mind. The lessons of the entire row culminate here.

The Chariot represents the creation of a healthy ego mask. Here the mind is fully actualized and successfully engaging with the world. The period of adolescent searching is over. The archetype represents power, victory, and the fully developed consciousness focusing its energy through will, into action, out in the world. This archetype represents an experience that can be manifested on an individual scale within ourselves, as well as on a societal scale with the culmination of civilization.

Symbolized here is the mature adult: successful, confident, content, able to control their feelings in order manifest their intentions and desires. This is done not through direct control—notice that there are no reins connecting the sphinxes to the chariot—but through thought and speech.

The two sphinxes and the charioteer form a triad, similar to the ones in the previous two cards. The sphinxes represent polarities found internally within the self or externally in the world. These polarities are not resolved, in other words, they are not harmonized or neutralized. Were the will not able to influence them to stay in this stable triad and pull the chariot in a single direction, they would fly apart. When these dualities are brought into alignment, the mind (the Chariot) can move through the material it conceives of, or be driven forward by ideas that inspire it.

Since the archetype is a culmination of the entire first row of the Major Arcana it carries symbolism from all of the previous cards.

The charioteer carries a wand like The Magician. Here it is not raised to heaven, however, to access divine wisdom and inspiration. It is held low in order to access his own will.

The Chariot can be seen as the Magician coming full circle. The Magician appears to receive inspiration from outside himself which he transforms into action, but without the benefit of contemplation or any of the learning from the rest of the cards in the Major Arcana’s first row. I see the Chariot experience as being one of full receptivity, of filtering all we take in through all of the lessons of the row (contemplation, passion, structure, knowledge, and choice), in essence filtering this receptivity through the selves we’ve become.

The early-20th-century occultist and teacher Paul Foster Case is credited with saying, “Complete receptivity is the secret to a powerful will.” This means that the more open and receptive we are to the natural flow of the universe and to the true nature of ourselves, the more powerfully we can align with our path and purpose, and the more effective we will be in making change and reaching our goals.

From The High Priestess the card receives a veil and black-and-white duality. The veil of stars is closed at the back of the chariot and open at the front. The charioteer (the ego) acts from within it. Symbolically I read this as indicating that he is open to outside, celestial influence (the receptivity I mentioned earlier).

This receptivity to the natural and celestial world is an experience of nature, which ties back to the archetype The Empress.

The walled city in the background of the card represents society and The Emperor. The charioteer is positioned in front of this wall, meaning he is associated with society but is not contained within it. This to me symbolizes that in order to be truly free individuals we must be able to make choices that are independent of the views of society as a whole.

The writing on the charioteer’s kilt represents learning and harkens back to the Hierophant. The initiates from that card now appear on his shoulder plates.

From The Lovers card this archetype carries forward the wings of intellect, imagination, and spirit seen on the front of the chariot. Below these we see the red lingam-and-yoni symbol—it looks like a spinning top. This indicates the union of feminine and masculine as well sexual maturity.

It is important to note that the culmination of consciousness represented in this archetype does not represent the entirety of our being or experience of beingness. This, I think, is shown nicely by the charioteer being embedded into the concrete block of the chariot itself. The block represents rationality. The ego is as firmly fixed into the mental experience of the material world as the charioteer is embedded in the heavy, concrete block.

We may interpret that this way. If our experience of beingness takes place only on a rational, mental level, we are somewhat rigid and fixed in what we are able to perceive. There are limits to the experience of physical reality and language. There is more to beingness than that, as we will see as we move through the rest of the Major Arcana.

The mind and the ego are not our whole being but a persona through which we engage the material world.

To buy my Visual Guide to the Tarot’s Major Arcana, viewing it as a map of the archetypical mind and a path to enlightenment, click here.