This article is part of a series of posts that will compare each card in the Tarot across different decks in order to study and explore each archetype and concept more deeply. This is not necessarily meant to be a teaching tool for others, but if you like to study the Tarot as much as I do, I hope you find it interesting. Enjoy!
For more on the decks referenced here please another page in my blog: Tools of the Locksmith: https://wordpress.com/page/theramblinglocksmith.com/163
A major reference for this study was “Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom” by Rachel Pollack.
This week we explore if we are in the drivers seat or if we are letting things drive us with The Chariot.
The Chariot is about what will and intention are and how deeply we connect to them in order to focus and drive different situations in our life forward. Its an active card with some of the most movement in all the cards in the Tarot. This asks us to examine what it means to be in the driver seat versus what it means to be so tied to rational concrete things and traditions that are pulling us out of the present moment and ability to focus our own energy. Are we on a path that we can define and describe or the path that civilization defined for us because we are on a preprogrammed track that we have never questioned?
Standard elements of the Chariot include:
- An absence of reins for the Charioteer to guide the beings pulling the Chariot as his strong character alone controls the direction of the Chariot
- The union of a nut and bolt at the front center of the Chariot representing the combination of two dualities to focus conscious will and the unconscious energy of nature
- Two horses/sphinxes pulling the cart that are opposites and not aligned with each other – the dualities from the Lovers card. This shows that the Charioteer drives his or her chariot forward by holding focus in a tense balance that could fail at any time.
In the Lua Tarot the Charioteer is said to be traveling with the momentum of Will with the desire to reach a goal. She has harnessed opposing aspect of her being that help propel her forward.
What does it mean to harness opposing aspects of your being and how do we experience the momentum of Will? I think these are two foundational questions that we need to examine with this card in order to move forward on our path. First ask your self what dualities you have and if there are more than one set, which is pretty normal, which ones will propel you forward if you could harness both?
If you can muster the insight to figure that out, then maybe also ask when in your life you felt the momentum of your Will? What did it feel like, what was happening, and what would it take to happen again? If you can’t recollect this think of someone in your life that you think has mastered this and talk to them about what it took for the to reach that momentum. I guarantee this isn’t easy for anyone and we can all learn from each other.
In the Way Home Tarot we see a salmon making its instinctual journey upriver to spawn. In this card I feel like we are being led to consider things about the journey itself and what we are willing to endure to truly meet our goal. Its asking us how far we are able to test our Will which ultimately also tests how important the goal was to us in the first place.
If its really hard to move on the journey and each leap takes a huge amount of energy to move forward, are you still interested? If this is the last leg of many legs of a journey, and in stead of getting easier, each leg was harder and harder, is it all still going to be worth it to you? Do you instinctually know that no matter how hard you must continue on the path?
If this is the Chariot card that speaks to you consider these questions. If you aren’t willing to give it your all you have not yet harnessed your will, and you may not end up where you want to.
The Santa Muerte, Tarot the “chariot” is a gate that is finally open which clears the path for us to complete the next leg of our journey. The scene is during the day of the dead when the doorway between the afterlife and the earth opens. Is there a gate that you have been waiting to open so you can feel the full force of your Will and move forward? If so what does it look like and what would it take to open it?
This card also references family and cultural traditions and expectations. This might cause you to ask whose path your on. Is it truly the one you are charting yourself or are you trying to live up to someone else’s expectations? If so this is not your own will potentially.
In the Voyager Tarot card for the Chariot we see many examples of intense forward movement and momentum. There is a Hawk taking off into flight with prey in its talons. There is a runway, a surfer hitting the perfect spot on the wave, a rocket blasting off into space, a man on the Moon blazing a new trail where no man has gone before, and even light itself speeding faster than anything else in the universe.
You too can find this momentum. If you’ve found it, us it. If you can’t find it, find what’s blocking it. What negative thinking do you need to push through to access this momentum and harness your own will to drive you forward?
The Rambling Locksmith 
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