The Chariot (tarot card)

The Chariot (VII) is the seventh trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.

The Chariot in the Rider–Waite tarot deck

Description

A figure sits in a chariot, although he holds no rope, he is pulled by two sphinxes or horses. There is often a black and white motif, for example one of the steeds may be black and the other white. The figure may be crowned or helmeted, and is winged in some representations. The figure may hold a sword or wand. The Thoth Tarot deck has the figure controlling four animals.

The mallet, or gavel, on the chariot's coat of arms is a masonic symbol representing self control.[1]

A canopy of stars above the charioteer's head is intended to show "celestial influences".[2]

Interpretation

According to A.E. Waite's 1910 book Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Chariot card carries several divinatory associations:[3]

7. THE CHARIOT.—Succour, providence; also war, triumph, presumption, vengeance, trouble. Reversed: Riot, quarrel, dispute, litigation, defeat.

In Astrology, the Chariot is associated with the feminine, cardinal-water sign of Cancer and its ruling planetary body, the Moon.[4]

In other media

In the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure tarot cards are used to name the character's powers, 'Stands.' One of the Stardust Crusaders, Jean Pierre Polnareff, has a stand named named Silver Chariot, named after the tarot card.

In The House of the Dead, each of its bosses in the mainline series are named after the Major Arcana Tarot Cards (excluding The Devil.) The first boss of the first installment (Type-27) is named after The Chariot card, gaining criticism due to how beatable it was, although it has reappeared in the fifth installment 'Scarlet Dawn', now with increased difficulty.

Alternative decks

Other names for the card are The Centurion or Victory.

References
  1. "The Masonic Mallet | Articles at Masonic Dictionary". masonicdictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25.
  2. Gray, Eden. "Complete Guide to the Tarot." 1970. Crown Publishers, New York, NY.
  3. Waite, Arthur Edward (1979). The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. New York: Samuel Weiser. p. 284. ISBN 0-87728-218-8.
  4. "A Taste of Tarot: Cancer and The Chariot Tarot Card". Tarot.com. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
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