The Chariot

Jun 19

Overview

**KEYWORDS:** Control, journey, movement, Determination, Willpower, Success, Triumph, Ambition, Drive, Momentum, Conquest, Self-Discipline, Focus, Leadership, Courage, Inner Strength, Overcoming Obstacles, Assertiveness, Direction, Balance
**ARCHETYPE:** journey, TRAVELER, STEERING WHEEL, temptation along the way
**LESSON:** TAME YOUR SENSES TO resist temptation
**Sign affinity:** cancer
**planetary correspondence:** The Moon
**YES OR NO:** YES

The Chariot: Archetype & Symbolism

The Chariot serves as an empowering reminder that we are responsible for being in the driver's seat in our own lives. Illustrated by a charioteer steering two animals forward, each of which pull the carriage into different directions, we are invited to ask ourselves: are we pulling the carriage of life, or is it pulling us? This card encourages us to cultivate willpower, tackle inner divisions and conflicts and gain control over our life to ensure the correct path is followed. Fully embodying determined progression and controlled force, we become our own masters and simultaneously the driving force on our path of self-discovery. Once we have mastered this, we have the ability to surge forward with assertiveness and navigate challenges with confidence, determination, and a harmonious integration of our inner dualities. Achieving personal goals requires a clear vision and disciplined action — just like the charioteer, we can harness our inner strength to overcome obstacles and move forward. While the Chariot can indicate physical travel, this journey can also be internal, mastering inner complexities and unifying opposites. Ruled by cardinal yet sensitive sign Cancer and the Moon, this means staying on top of our unique emotional fluctuations - follow your dreams even when you are sad, broken, or distracted. Once seated in the chariot for a while, you’ll be back on track, and congratulate yourself that you tamed distracting temptations.

The Chariot: Advice, Lesson & Higher Wisdom

The Chariot is made up of three components — the driver, the horses, and the vehicle itself. T he driver symbolises the mind or our sense of self, the horses symbolise our senses or desire nature beyond morality, and the chariot represents the physical agency through which we bring our ideas into the material world. On the path of the soul, this card reminds us that, unless we bring the mind to bear upon the senses, the passions of the horses — reckless behaviour, habituation to poisons, sensual indulgences — tempt us to pursue unsuitable directions. If our mind operates in a controlled way of being, however, we become the determinant of our movement. This card is not here to tell us that pleasure is evil or to ‘underindulge’ and live like a Puritan — the Chariot’s lesson is to exercise discipline and control in our pursuits. Indeed, horses that lack passion or drive would not have taught us to become a good driver in the first place, as the road would always have been smooth. We must now steer towards a stable condition of joy — joy is the right path and the only path, and if we do not experience it, we must adjust our life circumstances immediately. The Chariot is hence a symbol of freedom, as must be free to walk our path joyfully.