AT Comparative Study - E - The Chariot - 7

AT Comparative Study - E - The Chariot - 7
Le Char - Der Wagen - El Carro - Il Carro - The Chariot.

The 7th card of the Major Arcana. Found toward the beginning of the cycle in the Fool's Journey.

Keywords - Union of opposites, war & hard earned victory, control opposing emotions and guide them to a single direction, self-control, discipline, willpower.

Decks covered so far:
Aquarian
Tarot of the Animal Lords
Buckland Romani
Cosmic
Crystal Tarot
Da Vinci
Fey
Tarot of the Gnomes
Londa
Tarot of the Mermaids
Motherpeace
Tarot of the Old Path
Osho Zen
Quest
Secret
Spiral
Transformational
Universal RWS
Victoria Regina
Witchy Tarot


Links to other discussions:
78 Week Study
Cosmic Tribe
General
General
General
General
General
General
General
General
General
General
General
General
General
Gothic
Jungian Tarot
Margarete Petersen
Marseille
Marseille
Phantasmagoric Theater
Quest
Tarot of Prague
RWS
RWS
RWS
RWS
Tarot Basics
Thoth
Thoth

Universal RWS

Universal RWS

Symbolism and imagery - A well dressed man is standing in his chariot, wand in his hand. At rest, but ready to pull the chariot, are two part-animal, part-human creatures with headdress (of the Egyptian kind). One of these creatures is black and the other white. The chariot has an emblem on the front, a shield with wings and what appears to be a top, lol. Immediately behind the chariot seems to be a river and even further back a city and castle.

Comparisons/contrasts with other decks - intentionally left blank - will edit later.

Initial reactions to symbolism/meanings - There is definitely a sense of confidence here. By facing away from the river, perhaps this is a conscious decision? This person is not only in control, he KNOWS he is in control.

Witchy Tarot

Symbolism and imagery:
A witch riding a broomstick.. the broomstick is being pulled by 3 visible birds (one invisible) over rooftops.. there are bright stars in the night sky.. the sky is a purplish blue..

Compared to other decks:
While the artwork is quite different.. the meanings are still there.. I don't really see yen/yang in this card as I do the Robin Wood, but I do see a journey and travel.

Initial reactions:
Intuition.. leaving the past behind.. moving on.. creative thinking.. time for movement.. She is riding a besom.. scared for cleaning a witch's circle indicating a clearing of negativity..

From the book: Broomstick:
Victory, the perfect undertaking, travel, movement, clever escape, brilliant idea, positive inspiration.

Final thoughts:
I think a lot of decks change the meaning of this card.. looking at it.. I keep thinking "clever escape" funny that those exact words are in the book meaning.. this is a cute little deck and pretty easy to read.. I might give this little deck to my cousin for graduation... or maybe buy her a new one of her own! This deck is cute and worth picking up. This card is defiantly to be read exactly the way it looks.

Buckland Romani Deck

Symbolism and imagery:
A gypsy's wagon is coming down a dirt road. Two horses are pulling the empty wagon a black one and a white one. The sky is beautiful and it looks like summer.

Compared to other decks:
This card does not have the intensity or the force that other decks have. He looks like he is out for a sunday ride. Like he has nothing better to be doing. The white horse is ahead of the dark horse.

Initial reactions:
I do not like this card as much as i do in other decks. He looks like he has control over his situation and his horses. He looks like he is perhaps going to go fill his empty wagon - conquest or getting a bounty.

From the book: triumph,conquest, sucess, mastering enemies through power and intelligence, travel, triumph over financial problems, rushing into a decision.
reversed: conflict, problems, loss of control, victory slips through the fingers, an unethical victory.

The Cosmic Tarot

This charioteer looks like a Babylonian king, long beard, domed crown, the rounded top of his chariot is blue with gold 6-pointed stars, his banner a cresent moon, much of the same symbolism as the RWS, however, rather than just being parked outside the castle (an image from RWS I NEVER understood!), this guy's horses are galloping away from it! One horse is white, the other black, and he seems to have mastery over them. Isn't that what the Chariot is supposed to be about, control? I never got that with RWS, what's there for him to control if his horses/sphinxes are not even moving? Anyway, closer inspection reveals one interesting fact: he has two horses but three reins! The black horse has two reins attached to it while the white only one, indicating that there is, in fact, imbalance here that he's correcting. The black horse gives him more trouble, he has to work harder to control it than the white.

Leonardo da Vinci Tarot

DESCRIPTION:
Two white horses are pulling a Roman-looking chariot, while a muscled man in the chariot wields a spear of some sort and looks to be shouting. A ram's head is on his chest as though part of a breasplate. A cape is attached to the breastplate at his shoulders with spiral-shaped clasps. The background is light on the left side, dark on the right, and the Charioteer is almost completely on the darker right side. On the background on the left is a drawing of Leonardo's of a small round craft he designed.

COMPARISON:
The horses are both white, unlike many other Chariots which show one white and one black animal (horse or sphinx) pulling the chariot.

ANALYSIS:
The horses are very vigorously drawn, and almost seem to be arguing with each other. Their hooves are mirror images of each other with their front inside hooves raised -- a reminder that maybe they are the two sides of an issue that the Charioteer is wrestling with.

Like MJ07's analysis of the Cosmic Tarot (loved that, by the way!), the fact that the Charioteer is so far over to the right side indicates that perhaps he has to work harder to control one of the horses than the other.

Okay, I just noticed something...the Charioteer holds no reins! He is pointing with his right hand across his chest, so he seems to be pointing behind his body and to the left. The direction he is looking makes it look like he's speaking to the horse on the viewer's left, which almost seems to be answering him back! But the Charioteer is showing all kinds of muscles in his arms, making me think that shouting may not be the only form of persuasion he plans to use with this animal.

Peace,

Melvis

As I lay out the 9 different Chariots, the difference that pops out is whether there's a wheeled vehicle and driver:

Wheeled:
1. Tarot of the Old Path--the chariot is drawn by 4 horses--a green one, dark blue one, light blue one, and red one. The title of the card is not Chariot, but Mastery.

2. Victoria Regina--a woman rides a big-wheeled tricycle with a crowd behind her through lamplighted streets.

3. Motherpeace: in the only sideview of the situation, a woman drives a chariot drawn by what might be winged reindeer--or that African animal with straight horns that I am not in the mood to look up this morning In the background a large blue woman arches across the sky with stars on her torso.

4. The merest suggestion of wheels on the Acquarian, and I haven't a clue what the huge shape is in front of the driver. No animals pulling the chariot.

5. Fey--a fey sits atop her chariot which is some kind of fruit with wheels, one appears to be breaking off. There is a driver on a front perch, and the chariot is pulled by a mouse and what may be the back end of a lizard. The passenger looks serene, but her vehicle looks like it will have problems. It's crossing a bridge barely wide enough for it--causing the wheel breakage, perhaps?

6. Spiral--The standard man in a box-chariot (these always look like podiums to me--from which we pronounce our mastery, but often cover our anxiety) with 2 sphinxes sitting sideways, not pulling at the moment--or ready to pull in opposite directions. Water surrounds the chariot--he looks confident but again, the situation looks completely UNmastered!

No wheels, or no vehicle.
1. Londa shows a woman standing in a mere suggestion of a boxlike chariot, no aminals, an Egyptian figure on the front, and she doesn't look like she's driving, really.

2. Tarot of the Animal Lords shows a bird-headed figure standing on the back of a flying swan. The "driver" lightly rests his hand on the head of the swan, fully balanced and calm as they soar over the mountains. The most confident and skilled driver of all these cards!

3. Osho Zen--a clawing shadow of a man is burning away and underneath is a calm Buddha-woman figure inside the fear/illusion. The keyword is "awareness"--implying that we can find awareness of our calm center inside the illusory fears? This card shows the mask burning away to reveal something better.

I can't decide if the Chariot implies false confidence or real mastery. Since any mask of sureness comes and goes from moment to moment, depending on our internal/external situation, maybe that's the whole point of the card--our mastery of life/self/reality is a shifting illusion.

secret of tarots

Symbolism and imagery:
There a noble looking man standing in a chariot. BLue material drapes over the chariot and echoes the blue background. In the foreground two large lions sit facing each other one slightly darker than the other. They look pissy, like they are growling at each other. The chariot is gold with loin heads on the corners. To me it actually looks more like a fancy canopy bed. There are four posts, blue fabric draped from the posts. It does not appear to be in motion.

Compared to other decks:
The artwork is similiar to other decks. The only true difference is that it appears to be more static than other chariots. The mans cloak is not even moving in the breeze. No motion.

Initial reactions:
Richness, victory, out to conquer

From the book: triumph, sucess, honor, recognized merit

Re: secret of tarots

hyatt said:

Compared to other decks:
The artwork is similiar to other decks. The only true difference is that it appears to be more static than other chariots. The mans cloak is not even moving in the breeze. No motion.

Click to expand...

No motion is part of the conventional iconography for the Chariot card in many pre-1900 tarot decks, e.g., Tarot de Marseille.

Transformational tarot

Transformational tarot by Arnell Ando
"taking a walk on the wild side"

Pardon me for breaking up from your neat format here contrascarpe96
It's just that this card is very different.

What I see:
An elegant staircase with precious and religious paintings on the wall, and crash! bam!*¤!! bang! down comes a Hip-Hop youth in purple with a baseballhat and a skateboard. He is obviously falling down the stairs. But for those who have ever seen a skateboarder, there is a fine line between being in control of your board (and your feet) and crashlanding on your face.
We don't know here what will happen, we do know that the kid is either foolhearted or brave.
But above all - he is having a blast!

What I feel:
Going for it! Grabbing the moment! Dare a little! Ouch! Get up again. That second when I am flying through air is worth it all. I practiced for this for years and this is what I am born to do.

What I read:
Andos son did this! This is him flying down the stairs. She write about protesting and challenge and not conforming. and of progress and taking action and making things happen and never ever standing still...