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The Chariot is the 8th card of the Major Arcana (it is Card
No.7 because the first card of the Major Arcana is card no.0).
The
Chariot card often depicts a traditional - in the Rider-Waite and Robin
Wood Decks, it is an Egyptian - chariot
in motion. The Chariot depicted on Tarot Cards is often surrounded
by other symbolism representing balance, control, power,
and sometimes even fantasies.
The Chariot is one of the most complex
cards to define.
It represents a union of opposites.
These may be depicted on The Chariot card by two steeds drawing
the chariot - one black, and one white. They represent the
idea that even if opposites try to pull in different directions
they can and should be channelled in the same direction if
progress is to be made. This is to achieve control over opposing
emotions, circumstances, motivations, and challenges. The
Chariot card conveys a sense of
determination and self-will in action following successful
balancing of the necessary forces. This form of action
and progress
is not opposed to anything in particular but is
progress in self-actualisation and development.
Some specific terms associated with "The Chariot" Tarot
card include:
Independence, Self-Sufficiency, Determination, Work, Travel,
Purpose, Purposefulness, Triumph, the harnessing of forces
to achieve
a task, Mental
Powers,
Mental Discipline.
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The cards of the Major Arcana are widely considered to be the
most powerful cards in the Tarot Deck. The 22 cards of the Major
Arcana tell a complete story when arranged in upright and numerical
order (beginning with The
Fool). This is a story of of development and enlightenment
and is sometimes referred to as "The Fool's Journey".
Some texts also include meanings for "reversed
cards". These
are for the situation in which the cards are shuffled in both
order and orientation. The theoretical advantage to this is that
it effectively doubles the number of possible "cards" in
the deck from 78 to 156. (However, in terms of the calculation
of obtaining results according to chance alone, it is not a simple
mathematical doubling because once a card
has been
drawn
it
cannot be drawn
again in the opposite orientation in the same reading.) |
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