Deviant Moon-VII The Chariot

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.
 

wolf354

Very nice description, except the referred door are windows. You can check it here http://www.deviantmoon.com/wordpress/?p=348 ;)
Hello,

The Chariot is my daily draw today, I have been journaling about it and just wants to share my thoughts in the study group.

Description :
A white skinned creature is looking to the right showing us his right eye and his nose from the side.
He wears an armor, in dark metal with blue reflects. His helmet has a rounded top bordered by six little pointy teeth, looking like a killer whale to me. Two red smoking chimney with pointed end are like ears or horns on the top of the helmet.
His back is protected by three pointed fold of metal, hiding in part three opening like fish gills opening.
He stands on two coils, one big behind and one small in the front. They looks almost like eyes to me, with a white cornea around and a green iris in the center.
A pointed horn is on his chest.
His small shadow lie under him, on the dry cracked beige floor he is standing on.
The background is industrial, with red brick walls building, two high smoking chimneys on the left, one on the right side, with one big round window, three smaller windows and two doors : one black (opened?) and one beige/White (closed?) on the front of the building.
The sky is dark, ranging from beige on the bottom to black, cracked like the floor, with tiny stars barely visible and the crescent moon directed to the creature.

Keywords : moving on with energy, going directly to one's goal, journey, industry, predator/warrior
 

NocturnalRabbit

Although I'm pretty new to tarot I find that this card represents self motivation for a journey forward. I interpret the card this way because the charioteer is one with the chariot and there are no creatures pulling the chariot.
 

VioletEye

i got this card as my daily draw today. until now, i've been a bit averse to this card (the deviant moon version) - he seems stumpy, and he fills the whole card, with little scenery. but today i was inspired to think about him a little more, and he's pretty complex!

first of all, his stumpiness is caused by the fact that his head is his whole body; there isn't room for anything else in his armor - so he's totally driven by his mind, his will. the smokestacks (or are they steam whistles?) on his helmet also suggest that his mind itself IS a factory, the driving force.
his armor has always struck me as fish-like: the helmet has piranha teeth, scales on the back, he even has gills on the side! does this suggest a connection with the cups suit, or is it a reference to his cancer nature? or is it that his vehicle, the chariot, is able to travel underwater?

another interesting thing that i wanted to bring up: in reading rachel pollack's take on the (rider-waite version) card, i was stuck by her inference to speech. she says that "by its connection with the hebrew letter 'iain' the chariot carries the quality of 'speech'." * she goes on to say that speech is liberating as much as it is limiting: it contributes to the continuation of society, it elevates humans as a species, but it also limits our interactions with life; it's a lens or a system that we must interpret our experiences through.
anyway, that's interesting enough, but we see here in the deviant moon chariot that his helmet covers his mouth, he has no speech! or maybe he chooses not to speak?

there is a sense of confinement - he's ensconced safely in his armor, but can he get out if he wants to? he has no arms, he can't speak to ask for help (not that he would want it!)... he has a mission, and he silently rolls forward, stoic, stern, determined.

* quote taken from 78 degrees of wisdom