When the major arcana consistently come up in a reading, you can be pretty sure you're in the midst of major transformation. Looking back over my cards since I first began this tarot journey, quite a few of the major arcana have appeared. The Chariot, though, is a new one for me. I don't get it often, perhaps because I don't feel mastery of my life. It's not particularly obvious in this picture, but driving a chariot requires skill and balance and ultimate control. It is precarious vehicle which can easily topple. In battle, it was devastating and marked a turning point in military strategy. The Rider-Waite depictions of the tarot are quite detailed and heavy with symbolism. Waite, a member of The Golden Dawn, drew upon the Western Mystery traditions of numerology, astrology, color, Kaballah, for each card. I tend not to focus on the specific symbolism but rather a certain gestalt, the feeling I get from the card, understanding the story it tells will always be influenced by my story of the moment. Today, The Chariot speaks of mastery and accomplishment, two things I don't always grant myself. I still feel new, young, unsure. I want but these days have less focus, find it harder to keep my eye on the prize. I possess a strong will but these days am not always sure what to direct it toward and I'm not at all sure of success.
According the Joan Bunning of learntarot.com, The Chariot represents achieving victory, using your will and determination, asserting yourself, and achieving a hard control. This last is interesting for it speaks of mastering emotions, curbing impulses, maintaining discipline. It suggests I know what I want and that I possess the tools and the talent to achieve it. Post-bypass, it's hard to imagine any of that is mine. I feel tossed about by fate and have little feel that I control my destiny.
The Jane Austen Tarot always puts a different spin on each card. In this case, The Chariot is depicted by Mary Crawford of Mansfield Park. Mary Crawford is a beautiful, accomplished young woman who knows what she wants but is not afraid to bend toward her heart (some). She wants wealth so when she comes to the Bertram household with her brother Henry, she sets her sights on the oldest son, Thomas, but finds it's the younger that calls to her heart. His plans to be a clergyman do not suit Mary in the least and she does ridicule that profession and tries her best to sway him. Still, they reach for one another, love, until Mary reveals the hard, grasping nature of her heart and wavering morals and Edmund sees at last past her beauty and charm to realize she is not the woman for him. Mary makes no apologies for who she is and what she wants. It is a trait both appealing and repellent.
Mary wants what she wants, perhaps more out of pride than love. It is an interesting thought and one to keep in mind as my heart still stays fixed on the true north it can't have. It is an emotional card, a card of riding full tilt towards one's desires. I am learning these days how exhausting that is, how it sweeps me up and carries me away and yet also drains me, narrows me, until my world is only that race and chase. It is also a card of resilience. When the chariot overturns, the rider, if he can gets back on, continues. I do not feel particularly resilient these days but I am here after several heart attacks and quadruple bypass surgery so maybe I am more resilient than I believe.
What Would Jane Do?
"When this card appears in a reading, it may be a good time to re-evaluate your goals. Are your aspirations heartfelt, or simply a mindless continuation of old objectives that are no longer meaningful?" p. 26 Certainly something to think about.
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