The Chariot
The Chariot pulls opposing forces together and drives them forward as one. Your momentum toward a goal is strong right now, so keep your eyes on where you're headed.
You could lose your sense of direction, or crash into obstacles by forcing things harder than the moment allows.
The card's advice: Keep hold of the reins and focus on one goal.
The Chariot: reading the picture
Two haetae pull this chariot, not horses. A haetae is a lion-like guardian from Korean legend, said to tell right from wrong, so the pair fits the spot where the 1909 deck put sphinxes. One is black, one white, both open-mouthed with curling gold manes, heads turned slightly different ways. Left alone, they'd split apart. Above them a general in gold scale armor and a red cape grips a tall spear under a blue canopy sewn with stars. He holds no reins. Behind him rise tile-roofed city walls and flags, and he is driving away from them. The wheels roll on cloud, as if the speed has already built.
The Chariot in love, work and money
- Love and relationships
If you approach someone you like with confidence, you can move the relationship forward. Just don't push only at your own speed; check now and then that they're keeping pace with you.
- Work and study
With a clear goal, you have plenty of strength to do well in a competition or an exam. Concentrate on the one most important task instead of juggling many, and your drive multiplies.
- Money
Setting a target amount to save keeps you moving steadily toward it. Hasty, pressured choices can knock you off course, so pace yourself along the way.
Night classes after a warehouse shift
Mondays he wanted to drop the classes. Thursdays he wanted to quit the job. A 34-year-old warehouse supervisor finishing a bachelor's degree at night swung back and forth all semester. He drew The Chariot and studied the two haetae, black and white, facing different ways but hitched to the same car. Instead of cutting one loose, he redrew his week: the hardest coursework on his two mornings off, flashcards on breaks during shifts, everything aimed at a May graduation date. He taped that date to his locker door.
Questions to ask yourself after drawing The Chariot
- What two things are pulling you in different directions, and what destination could they both be hitched to?
- Which familiar comfort will you have to leave behind the city walls for this goal?
- Once you're moving fast, what number or date will you check each week to make sure you're still on course?
The Chariot as a yes or no
Yes This card says determined effort can win the day, so if you put in the work, the answer leans yes.
Easy to confuse with Six of Wands
A victor in front of flags reads like victory in both. The Six of Wands is the parade afterward: laurel crown, white horse, followers carrying wands, the win already recognized by others. The Chariot is still mid-race, holding two opposing forces to a single line by will alone. Applause belongs to the Six; sweat and steering belong to the Chariot.
Symbols in The Chariot
The chariot with its starry canopy travels under heaven's protection, and the city wall behind marks the familiar place left behind. The black and white pair of beasts are forces that want to pull in different directions, and the general holds only a spear, not the beasts themselves: what steers them one way is the will of the mind.
How we drew The Chariot
- Kept from the 1909 card
the chariot with its starry canopy, the city wall, the black and white pair of beasts
- What we changed
A black and white pair of haetae (mythical Korean lion-dog guardians) pulls the chariot instead of sphinxes. We kept the black and white pair because it stands for two opposing forces guided by willpower.