“Before you worry about taking the right exit, you have to get going first.”
For all the various homilies declaring the journey being more important than the destination, if the destination is one that does not benefit the traveler, then the journey becomes a captivity. The Chariot tarot card asks the reader to consider where the Querent is headed in life and how they intend to get to their desired destination. Along this metaphorical path, the Querent must consider not only their personal actions and decisions that brought them to this point in their path, but how the actions and decision of other people has affected them, deliberately or otherwise.
As a token of decisions, the Chariot card presents most scenarios in a binary system: This Choice or That Alternative. This Action or That Restraint. This Agreement or That Dissent. What is not obvious is that the Chariot’s framing is a deliberate stripping of nuance. There is often a third response to the Chariot’s question, be it choosing neither of the options, a merging of the methods, or remaining in place to better examine what is being presented. Not Moving is just as much of a valid choice as Proceeding Quickly.
As a token of consequences, the Chariot card places the Querent in a superficially passive role, that of the passenger, as other people’s decisions have limited what the Querent is able to do for themselves. The question then is not how the Querent can change the circumstance, but how will the Querent do for themselves bounded by this restraint. Decisions made by their parents before they were born now affect what educational opportunities the Querent can take advantage of. Decisions by their employer affect how the Querent is able to use their time off work.
In a single card reading, the Chariot answers “Yes” to positive questions and “No” to negative questions. Without the context of other cards, it confirms the bias inherent to the question. If the deck is read with reversals, then the Chariot as a single card will answer counter to that bias. In questions about timing, it answers “Soon” or “Immediately”, but when reversed it answers “Never” or “Delayed”.
In a multi card reading, if the Chariot is a main card in the reading, then the Querent should consider all of their options regarding the subject, even those options that are not immediately present. The supporting cards will give the Querent the context needed for this review. If the Chariot is a supporting card, the Querent should be wary of unintended consequences and of how other people’s decisions will be impacting the subject of their query.
The Chariot tarot card can refer to a vehicle or mode of transportation, most commonly one that the Querent is in control of or driving but can also those where the Querent is along for the ride. If the Querent is unsure which transportation method is referenced, examine the supporting cards for context. Cards that refer to an element (be it elemental correspondences or card images) indicate movement by or via that element. Air refers to airplanes and hot-air balloons, and to a lesser degree, any method that uses air as the engine such as sailboats. Water refers to boats, kayaks, and ferries across bodies of water. Fire refers to transportation that relies on combustion engines, but also refers to short trips by any method. The use of an electric vehicle to run errands around the city can be indicated this way. Earth refers to long-distance trips over the ground, or any trip that will involve the traveler to be in contact with (or moving through) the ground for some time.
The Chariot does not require you to justify your decisions as Justice does. Nor does it require you to accept the consequences without rebuttal as the Hierophant asks of you. It is possible to take the Chariot as a Fool, but it is also possible to take it as a Magician. While the method by which you reach your destination may not be completely in your control, what you do choose as your destination is up to you. Remember you can change your mind, and your trajectory, at any time. But you will always carry the consequences of your decisions with you, regardless.
Next Card: VI – The Lovers – “The pen marks the page. The decision marks the soul.”
Noxporium’s Tarot Card Masterpost: 78 Tarot Cards
Previous Card: VIII – Strength – “Face yourself first. Master that, and you can face everything else.”