The Chariot tarot card meaning: upright, reversed and symbols

The Chariot is card VII of the Major Arcana, the card of moving forward on purpose. A young warrior stands in a chariot drawn by two sphinxes, one black and one white. There are no reins. He steers by will alone. Here is what the Chariot means upright and reversed, the symbols in the 1909 card and where those sphinxes came from.

At a glance

• Upright keywords: willpower, direction, determination, victory
• Reversed keywords: loss of control, aggression, self-doubt
• Number: VII (7) in the Major Arcana
• Element: Water Later tradition
• Astrology: Cancer Later tradition
• Yes or no: Yes Modern

The element and astrology come from the Golden Dawn system of the 1880s and 1890s, not from the first tarot decks, and the yes or no lean is a modern reading habit. Use them if they help you remember the card, and skip them if they get in the way.

The card: what Pamela Colman Smith drew

Smith drew a proud, upright figure leaving a walled city behind. Waite called him “an erect and princely figure carrying a drawn sword” and said that “he is above all things triumph in the mind”.

The two sphinxes

A black sphinx and a white sphinx pull the chariot. They seem to pull in different directions. The card is about holding opposite forces under one direction: ambition and care, speed and safety, two competing duties.

No reins

The charioteer holds a wand, not reins. He steers by focus and will. That is the hard part of the card: no one else will drive for you.

The starry canopy and the armor

Above him is a canopy of stars, and on his armor are crescent moons. The moons link the card to Cancer, the sign the Golden Dawn gave it, ruled by the Moon. Waite said the shoulder pieces stood for the Urim and Thummim, the oracle stones of the Bible.

The city behind

Behind the chariot is a walled town. He has left the safe place behind him and is heading out. Victory here means progress, not only winning.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Chariot means willpower, focus, direction and a win that you earn by steering. Progress is available if you take control with discipline. Confidence here is practiced, not borrowed.

In a reading, name the destination and the tensions you have to hold together. The Chariot can point to a move, a trip, a project pushed through or a test passed. It says go, and it says steer while you go.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, the Chariot can mean losing control, forcing things aggressively, or self-doubt that stalls the whole vehicle. The two sphinxes are pulling apart while you pretend you are still driving.

Take back the reins, or stop until you can. Aggression is not the same as direction. If doubt is loud, shrink the goal to a stretch you can actually finish, and finish it.

Reversals are optional. Many readers never use them and read every card upright, and that is a complete way to read. If you do use them, decide before you shuffle what a reversed card will mean for you, and keep to that choice for the whole reading.

In love, work and spirituality

Love

Upright, moving a relationship forward with a shared direction, or making a decisive move. Reversed, pushing so hard that the other person braces against you.

Work and money

Driving a project through obstacles, a promotion won by effort, a successful launch. Reversed, losing the thread among competing demands.

Spirituality

Directing your will toward a chosen practice and keeping at it. Reversed, forcing growth and calling the strain success.

As feelings

As feelings, the Chariot shows determination and drive. They know what they want and are ready to pursue it. Reversed, they may feel pulled in two directions.

The Chariot as past, present, future and advice

• Past: A time you pushed through and won.
• Present: Take the reins. Progress is possible if you steer.
• Future: Movement, travel or a hard-won success ahead.
• Advice: Set one clear direction and keep your opposing forces in line.

A Major Arcana card names a theme, not a sentence passed on your life. When the Chariot shows up among mostly Minor cards, give it extra weight: the theme of willpower runs under the whole question. If it keeps coming back over several days, write down what was happening each time. Patterns like that teach you more about the card than any list of keywords.

Is the Chariot a yes or a no?

In modern yes or no readings, the Chariot leans yes. It is a card of forward motion and earned success, so it says yes when you are willing to steer. Tarot is better at showing the shape of a situation than at handing down verdicts, so if the question really matters, turn it into an open question such as “What do I need to know about this?” and draw again.

Affirmation and journal prompts

Affirmation: I steer opposing forces toward a clear destination.

Reversed affirmation: I recover direction without mistaking force for control.

Journal prompts:

• Where am I going, in one sentence?
• Which two forces in me pull in different directions?
• What is one stretch of road I can finish this week?

The history and art behind the card

In the Tarot de Marseille pattern the card is called Le Chariot, the Chariot. Early Italian cards show a triumphal chariot, often driven by a woman, in the style of Renaissance victory parades. Marseille decks show a crowned figure in a chariot pulled by two horses.

The sphinxes are a nineteenth century idea. The French occultist Éliphas Lévi drew the chariot with two sphinxes, and Waite wrote that he had “accepted the variation of Eliphas Lévi” for the 1909 deck. It is a good example of how one writer’s design can become the standard image a century later.

Waite also warned that the charioteer’s victory is outward. If he came to the High Priestess’s temple, Waite wrote, he could not open her scroll. That is a useful note for readers: the Chariot wins battles in the world, and inner questions may need another card’s kind of wisdom.

When A. E. Waite published The Pictorial Key to the Tarot in 1910, he listed these divinatory meanings for the card: “Succor, providence; also war, triumph, presumption, vengeance, trouble.” Reversed, he gave: “Riot, quarrel, dispute, litigation, defeat.” Waite himself called the fortune-telling meanings of the trumps “artificial and arbitrary”, and on this site I read the picture first and treat lists like this as history.

In the modern teaching map called the Fool’s Journey, this card belongs to the first stage, becoming a self (roughly the Magician to the Chariot): tools, intuition, care, structure, tradition, choice and will. This map is a teaching aid made popular by twentieth-century guidebooks such as Eden Gray’s, not a medieval doctrine. Use it when it helps.

A spread for the Chariot

Use this spread when you need to move forward on a goal.

1. Where am I heading? The goal, stated clearly.
2. What pulls me off course? The opposing force to manage.
3. How do I take the reins? The focus or discipline that keeps me moving.

Lay the three cards in a row, read each one on its own first, then read them together as a short story. Write one sentence for each position and one small action you will take.

Common questions

Is the Chariot a yes?

Yes, in most readings. It means progress and success through focus and effort.

Can the Chariot mean travel?

It can. A move, a trip or a new direction are all common readings.

What does the Chariot reversed mean?

Loss of direction, scattered energy or forcing things too hard. Stop, regroup and set one clear aim.

The Chariot with other cards

• With The Lovers: a decision made and then acted on. Choose, then drive.
• With The Tower: moving too fast toward a collapse. Slow down and check the road.
• With The Star: steady progress toward a hope you can finally see.

Related cards

• The Magician: will and skill at the start of the journey
• Strength: a softer kind of control, the next card
• The Emperor: discipline and structure in the world

Keep learning

The Chariot is part of the lesson The Fool to the Chariot in my free Tarot for Beginners course. To keep walking the Major Arcana, read the card before it, The Lovers or the card after it, Strength, or go back to all the card meanings. For every card with keywords, affirmations and examples, see my book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot. If you would like a printable cheat sheet for all 78 cards, my 45-page Tarot Workbook is on Etsy.

Sources

• A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910), Part II and Part III, section 3.
• Pamela Colman Smith and A. E. Waite, the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot (London: Rider, 1909).
• Nicolas Conver, Tarot de Marseille (Marseille, 1760).
• Eden Gray, A Complete Guide to the Tarot (New York: Crown, 1970), epilogue “The Fool’s Journey”.
• Lauri Mukkala, The Novice’s Guide to Tarot, entry for The Chariot.