7 · Major Arcana
The Chariot
What is drawn
There are no reins. The two sphinxes face different directions, and he is holding neither — he is holding a wand.
Upright
Moving while the parts still disagree. That is not resolution; it is willpower doing the work resolution should do.
Reversed
The two are pulling hard enough now that motion has stopped. Force is still being spent.
What is on the card, and how it is read
- no reinsThe driver steers without controlling the sphinxes directly — a sign that willpower, not submission, keeps the vehicle on course.
- sphinxes facing different directionsTwo forces pull apart, so the chariot's direction is set by the driver's refusal to let either win.
- holding a wandThe hand grips a tool, not a leash — the read is that command comes from holding a line, not from pulling strings.
Only elements that are actually drawn on the 1909 plate.
Take it into a reading
You want one thing and your partner wants another. Upright: you move forward together anyway, by choosing a direction and holding it. Reversed: the argument has become the whole ride. Name the split out loud and pick a single next step, even a small one. Motion beats agreement here.
I drew The Chariot about this relationship. What is actually stuck?
Ask this →WorkTwo priorities pull you apart. Upright: you pick one and drive it, without waiting for the team to feel unified. Reversed: you are stuck between them and burning force in place. Say which one you are dropping this week. Do not pretend both can win.
I drew The Chariot about work. Where do I move first?
Ask this →MoneyYou have competing demands on the same funds. Upright: you hold a line — one budget, one direction — while the numbers still argue. Reversed: you keep spending to avoid deciding. Choose which obligation gets paid first. The decision is the vehicle.
I drew The Chariot about money. Is it actually short, or am I afraid to spend it?
Ask this →How you areYou are in motion, but not in agreement. Upright: willpower is carrying you past the internal split. Reversed: the split has stopped you and you are still spending force. Either way, the wand is in your hand. Pick a direction and steer without waiting to feel ready.
If The Chariot is naming a state I am in, should I rest first or move first?
Ask this →Questions
Is The Chariot a good card?
There are no good or bad cards here, only which side of one you are standing on. Upright: Moving while the parts still disagree. That is not resolution; it is willpower doing the work resolution should do. Reversed: The two are pulling hard enough now that motion has stopped. Force is still being spent.
What is the difference between The Chariot upright and reversed?
Upright: Moving while the parts still disagree. That is not resolution; it is willpower doing the work resolution should do. Reversed: The two are pulling hard enough now that motion has stopped. Force is still being spent. A reversal is its own meaning, not the opposite of the upright.
How does The Chariot relate to The Lovers and Strength?
In the Major Arcana The Chariot comes straight after The Lovers and straight before Strength. The Lovers: A choice that costs something whichever way it goes. That cost is the actual content of the card. Strength: The slow way is working. It looks like nothing is happening because it is not loud.
Where this comes from
The 78 illustrations are the 1909 Rider–Waite deck, drawn by Pamela Colman Smith (1878–1951). More than seventy years after her death it is in the public domain in the US, the EU and Japan — the licence tag on every single file was checked on Wikimedia Commons. The original scans have had their outer border and title band trimmed, and one pass of tone laid over them so they sit with the frame. The frame, the banner and the card back were made here. The reader portraits are public-domain paintings — several decorative panels by Mucha (1860–1939), plus Copernicus by Matejko (1873), The Alchymist by Wright (1771) and The Crystal Ball by Waterhouse (1902). Their licence tags were checked one by one on Wikimedia Commons too, then cropped and toned to match.
The wording on this page is editorial — this site's reading of the card, not a quotation from Waite. Waite's own divinatory meanings are in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910), which is in the public domain.