You arrive at the path of harnessing your emotions…
The path of the Chariot represents the courage to master emotional control and be triumphant over obstacles.
The Charioteer is the soldier who attains a higher rank and graduates from Boot Camp, fully prepared for anything that life throws at him.
The Chariot is ruled by the zodiac sign of Cancer, a kaleidoscope of emotions as variable as the ocean’s tides. Cancers exude emotion, leading them at times to feel a loss of control. They battle themselves to overcome their buried, internal fears and doubts.
The Major Arcana Represents Major Life Lessons: If the Chariot comes out on the first card of your reading, you might be in a hurry because you feel that you are in control of your life and believe in yourself, but you might jump start something and make a mistake. If the Chariot comes out on the outcome card, in the positive position, you do not let your emotions control you and you have graduated from “Boot Camp” with honors.
The Chariot card can also indicate you will experience a new beginning or an ending.
The Story Of The Chariot Tarot Card
The Chariot is enumerated seven in the Tarot deck, is symbolic of dramatic changes of growth, and indicates obstacles to overcome to gain emotional self-control.
The Charioteer is young, attractive, at his physical peak and wearing his finest attire. He wears a crown of pointed stars (symbol of perfection) and his golden hair and the yellow sky represent optimism while the black skirt and black armor indicates strength.
His Egyptian headdress resembles a cobra, suggesting he will attack any obstacles that hinder him. The snake also represents the charioteer’s spine, for his nervous system is on edge until he completes his mission. Despite a calm exterior his volatile emotions war within him.
The wreath represents attainment, victory, success, and acquired wisdom. The breastplate secures safety from enemy weapons. He leaves his secure kingdom (stone walls, stone buildings with red roofs) and the chariot hurtling forward reflects his hasty personality.
The blue and white canopy of stars indicate his thoughts (blue) and his connection to spirituality and God (white). The four stone pillars represent his balance and strategy, and indicate he is rigid and set in his plans.
Both his shoulders are protected by a blue stone face, each cradled by a crescent Moon, indicating that he is carrying the weight of his thoughts on his shoulders. His determination to bring something to an end and begin anew is indicated by these waxing and waning crescent Moons.
The flow of the river (his thoughts) signals a strong sense of a certain direction. The chariot has crossed the river, the Charioteer has a new mission and he is prepared for each step along the way.
The War Between The Conscious And Unconscious
The Charioteer is paused in thought, the chariot motionless. The sphinxes are not moving and do not appear to be in agreement about their destination. Each is poised to head off in a different direction. The white sphinx represents the conscious (known) and staying in the present to overcome a personal battle. The black sphinx represents the unconscious (unknown), the chaos of the Charioteer’s emotions, the deep emotional conflict that he must be overcome.
The chariot is motionless because the Charioteer is pulled in two different directions. His conscious and unconscious are at war. He must courageously control this internal conflict so can he set his true emotional direction. The sphinxes also indicate the haste of the Charioteer’s thoughts and the war between their masculine and feminine character.
The waxing and waning crescent Moons also stand for such feminine qualities as emotions, feelings, intuition, and mystery. The Moon receives and reflects the light of the Sun, so it symbolizes receptivity and passivity, as well as reflection and emotional reaction.
My Interpretation Of The Chariot Tarot Card
The Chariot card shows a soldier dashing into battle to win control over his emotions and to tame his wild instincts. Everyone, at times, becomes a new recruit in mastering emotional control and learns that emotions drive you and sometimes consume you. You must not allow emotions to turn into anger, grief, repeated self-pity, idleness, or fear. Through battle, you prove worthiness to reach the next rank, to leave “Boot Camp” behind, to exercise self-control when meeting your adversaries, to prepare for anything that life throws at you.
Most crucially, you must retain your motivation and refuse to be swayed by the specter of the past and your mistakes. Instead, the past teaches you to stay calm and centered.
The Chariot is about winning and mastering your emotions – developing the positive side of yourself, becoming strong, self-controlled, able to balance conflicting emotions, and triumph over obstacles. Mastery of your emotions through self-discipline, hard work, and control leads you to peace and the elimination of all aggression from within.
When this card appears in a reading, it represents new beginnings and endings, challenges that you must confront. Your courage is required for an existing struggle, an emotionally destructive relationship, perhaps, that you cannot end or surpass.
You must find the strength to repair the relationship or end it entirely. You will prevail by accepting the need for change, and taking the new steps necessary to find happiness and live your dream. When an issue resists resolution, no matter how difficult, you need to formulate a plan that will orient you correctly.
Positive Position: You are in control of your inner emotions, and your emotions do not control you. You graduated Boot Camp with honors: victory, confidence, and being self-disciplined.
Negative Position: You are at war with your inner emotions, and they control you. You are emotional, obsessed, an over-achiever preoccupied with climbing the ladder of success. Your desire to obtain rapid results makes you a harsh taskmaster. You want to attain your goals or reach your destination soon, without delays or pauses.
During this time, your emotions are tightly strung and you may start acting chaotic, losing all sense of control or balance. Overwhelming ambition and high expectations do not always serve you best. He who takes on too heavy a burden runs the risk of losing all.
Timing is 1 – 30 days.
Source: Lotus Tarot
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