Paganmare
On other decks I have always flipped past The Chariot and gone "meh"... The RWS version I just see as a man being macho and attention-seeking and I never quite got the sphinxes either... it was just one of those cards I didn't "get".
But when I got the DM one - what a difference! The breakthrough came when I did a reading about some of my behaviour patterns, and career prospects. The Chariot came up in a "what you must accept" position and it was "bam!" moment.
For me, the Chariot has some conection to The Hermit. But where the Hermit is literally naked, soft-skinned and vulnerable, the Chariot appears completely inhuman - apart from his head - because of the success of his efforts in armouring himself. The Hermit is tortured and cursed/gifted with divine insight, but the Chariot trusts only in sold reality. They are both removed from everyday society but in very different ways.
The scarring on the Chariot's armour shows that despite his many conflicts, he has never succumbed. It's a very poignant reflection of humanity in diversity - we can tolerate the barbs of life by arming ourselves against them, yet in doing so we change ourselves irreperably, and start to become less human. So while we admire the Chariot's strength as he protects his people, we also mourn the man he once was. A slightly corny-sounding parallel might be the central character in Robocop: an amazing tool of the state is created, but at the expense of the humanity inside.
I think the lesson of the Chariot is that by being a certain way (covered in armour) you can survive anything - BUT at an expense to your humanity. However, I still find this a very touching and positive card: I wouldn't want to BE the Chariot 24/7, but channeling his calm, confident approach and shurgging on his armour of invulnerability just when I need to - now that rocks.
But when I got the DM one - what a difference! The breakthrough came when I did a reading about some of my behaviour patterns, and career prospects. The Chariot came up in a "what you must accept" position and it was "bam!" moment.
For me, the Chariot has some conection to The Hermit. But where the Hermit is literally naked, soft-skinned and vulnerable, the Chariot appears completely inhuman - apart from his head - because of the success of his efforts in armouring himself. The Hermit is tortured and cursed/gifted with divine insight, but the Chariot trusts only in sold reality. They are both removed from everyday society but in very different ways.
The scarring on the Chariot's armour shows that despite his many conflicts, he has never succumbed. It's a very poignant reflection of humanity in diversity - we can tolerate the barbs of life by arming ourselves against them, yet in doing so we change ourselves irreperably, and start to become less human. So while we admire the Chariot's strength as he protects his people, we also mourn the man he once was. A slightly corny-sounding parallel might be the central character in Robocop: an amazing tool of the state is created, but at the expense of the humanity inside.
I think the lesson of the Chariot is that by being a certain way (covered in armour) you can survive anything - BUT at an expense to your humanity. However, I still find this a very touching and positive card: I wouldn't want to BE the Chariot 24/7, but channeling his calm, confident approach and shurgging on his armour of invulnerability just when I need to - now that rocks.