Comparative Tarot 07: The Chariot

[Rose Lalonde]

The Chariot

 

Please see the discussion thread if you'd like some background about the study group.

 

If you post about more than one deck, please add a separate post below for each to make it easier to index. You can write about the same deck someone else did.

 

As a visual start, here are the Piatnik TdM, the RWS, and the Thoth. (You don't have to compare your deck with these, though, if you have another deck in mind.)

 

If you'd like to add a small image of the card you're discussing that would be great. If not we can google it.

 

Feedback on comments about this card are welcome here! For general questions and suggestions, please use the discussion thread.

 

 

 

Asherah Tarot

Tarot of the Hidden Realm

Victorian Fairy Tarot

[Rose Lalonde]

The chariot is there, along with a disk similar to the Thoth's, but what jumps out at me are differences - the focus on water and the female chariotess.

 

RWS has a river behind, but Asherah's chariot is completely submerged. In the GD, RWS, Thoth tradition, this card represents Cancer, the first water sign. It's called the Child of the Powers of Waters.  It flows down from the threes (at Binah on the Tree of Life - "the great sea of Binah" - feminine, yin, Saturn) to the fives (at Geburah, fiery, masculine, yang, Mars).

 

The crab of Cancer is on this card, holding the reigns, instead of sitting on top of the head as in the Thoth. The central disk that's similar to the Thoth's has a spiral leading to yin/yang in the Asherah, and the guidebook for the deck speaks of a need to balance out our own yin and yang tendencies, so that watery yin and fiery yang are in balance within. She points to the meditative pose of the chariotess as someone involved in this sort of clear seeing.

 

Going back to Cancer, I also get a sense of water from the suit of Cups in the three Cancer minors associated with this card: the 2 of Cups/Love, 3 of Cups/Abundance, & 4 of Cups/Luxury, which show a chariot-like progression, from the first ripple of connection in Love, all the way to a deluge of almost too much in Luxury. After Cancer we spill over in the 5 of Cups/Disappointment, associated with Scorpio (Death) and Mars (The Tower). There's a need for balance there as well.

 

[GreenFaerie]

I somehow missed this thread when I was progressing through! I know I looked at it, for I remember this wonderful card that you posted, Rose, but I never came back and posted cards of my own, apparently.

 

Another thing that struck me about this card was the seahorses - while you can't tell the gender of the pair of them, I remembered that it is the male seahorse who carries the eggs until they are fully developed, after the female horse has deposited them in his pouch. It's almost the opposite of what we are used to as humans, and it drew me back to the idea of yin and yang, and how there has to be balance in every life and species. It might not be the same from species to species, but the balance is always there. And maybe the seashorses are also a reminder that balance is not gendered - we each create our own balance, regardless of gender.

[GreenFaerie]

Chariot cards are not my favorite (maybe because I work too much as it is, maybe because I always struggle to balance my workload with the rest of my life), but I really like this one from the Victorian Fairy Tarot. You can see how excited the fairy is in his chariot; he can see the finish line and he's so close to it! Even the strong bird pulling the chariot looks excited and happy. This card always seems to turn up when I need a reminder to not give up, but to hold the course and keep plowing ahead.

 

Also, the fairy's wings and the bird's wings are drawn in such a way that they are almost parallel to each other on the card. They may be balancing on the wind, but they also seem to be helping each other to balance, both of them helping to keep the chariot aloft. Teamwork can be essential, and these two work together as if they were old friends.

[GreenFaerie]

This is another Chariot card I really enjoy. The woman riding here is so confident, so happy; she knows where she is going and knows the best way to get there. She works together with her stallion to find the best route, and they know each other so well that they communicate easily. The sunlight and blue sky pour down on her in this card; she is basking in beauty and certainty. She knows where she wants to go and how she has to get there; she just has to make the journey. Her skill and confidence allow her to enjoy the ride and not worry about her final location.