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The Chariot

MAJOR ARCANA · VII

The Chariot is card VII of the major arcana. Beneath a canopy of stars, a young king rides a chariot drawn by two sphinxes, one black and one white. Upright, it stands for forward motion, victory and willpower; reversed, for running out of control, wasted effort and losing direction.

Name and number

Upright meaning

Keywords: forward motion, victory, willpower, confidence, action

Someone who chose a path with the Lovers now sets off down it. The Chariot is a card of that momentum.

The upright Chariot stands for the power to drive straight toward a goal. It is not that doubts and fears are absent. Just as the black and white sphinxes face different ways, there are opposing feelings within. The charioteer holds them together, without reins, by force of will, and moves forward. When there is something to win, such as an exam, a match, a competition, a move or a departure, it is a heartening card to see.

Reversed meaning

Keywords: out of control, wasted effort, losing direction, forcefulness

Reversed, the Chariot's momentum is read as having slipped out of control.

Rushing ahead in haste and losing sight of what is around you. Trying to push through by force and meeting resistance. Or energy spinning its wheels until you no longer know where you are going: as if the two sphinxes were pulling in different directions and the chariot had stopped. It is read as a time to take the reins again and check where you are headed.

What the picture shows

• The canopy of stars: protection by the powers of heaven.
• The black and white sphinxes: two opposing forces. The charioteer holds no reins and commands them by will alone.
• Crescents at the shoulders and the square on the breastplate: read as the mind's waxing and waning, held within a strong will.
• The wand in his hand: a sign of will and authority.
• The walled city behind: the safe place left behind. The chariot sets out from it into the world.

History

The Chariot is thought to have come from the "triumphal processions" of the Italian Renaissance.

At the time, inspired by the poet Petrarch's Triumphs, artists often painted processions in which Love, Chastity, Death, Fame and others ride in carts. The cards' name trionfi, "triumphs," is said to be connected with these processions.

In the fifteenth-century Italian Visconti–Sforza deck, a richly dressed woman rides a cart drawn by two white horses. In the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Tarot of Marseille, a crowned young king rides a chariot pulled by two horses, facing us.

In the nineteenth century, Éliphas Lévi redrew the horses as two sphinxes, one black and one white. The Rider–Waite–Smith deck took this over, turning the processional cart into the figure of someone who unites opposing forces through will.

Correspondences

Previous and next cards

• Previous: 6 The Lovers
• Next: 8 Strength
• The major arcana

Lucky colors for The Chariot