Esoteric Tarot Lesson
Lesson 8
Supplies you will need:
- 78 Card Deck of your choice (required)
- Your Tarot Journal (required)
- “The Tarot Trumps and the Holy Grail,” by Margaret Starbird (buy if you can afford it)
- “Tarot Journeys,” by Yasmine Galenorn (buy if you can afford it)
- “Tarot in Ten Minutes” by RT Kaser (buy if you can afford it)
The next card you’ll be working with is Chariot. First let’s look at what Margaret Starbird has to say about this card. Read the section entitled “The Charioteer” in The Tarot Trumps and the Holy Grail.
8 – Chariot
Journal Writing
Go to your journal and start a new page with the words “The Chariot” and the number 7 at the top. Now take the Chariot card out of your deck and look at it. Again, you may want to step into the card and see if the chariot driver or his rather exotic beasts have messages for you. Be sure to write down everything in your journal. What do you feel, hear, or what things just pop into your head? By now you know that you are exercising your intuition here. What do you see on this card? Take note not only of the figures (both human and animal), but also of colors, shapes, the landscape, vegetation, heavenly bodies and symbols.
Now, in your journal, write down what this card is showing you. Record any key words that come to mind or any feelings the image evokes. Be sure to do this before continuing with the lesson.
What Do These Symbols Mean?
Description
On this card, a noble, golden-haired driver has brought his chariot to rest somewhere beyond the walls of a fortified Medieval city. The chariot itself is gray, looking almost as though it is made out of cement, though it is decorated with a vivid blue canopy emblazoned with white pentagrams and hexagrams. The driver wears a shirt of the same shade of blue and elaborate armor which includes a silver breastplate and gold “crescent” accents. His black skirt or kilt is decorated with mysterious glyphs or sigils, and there are further such images on his belt. He holds a blue scepter or wand in his right hand while he allows his left hand to rest idly at his side. You will notice that the front of the chariot boasts a mysterious set of images: a shield embossed with a red top-like object, over which a yellow sphere and blue wings are mounted. You will certainly notice, too, that the creatures hitched to the chariot are Sphinxes, one black, one white, both staring in different directions.
The Symbols
First, this is the 7th card of the Major Arcana, seven being the number of completion, perfection, and according to the Kabbalah, victory. Seven was and is a popular number in esoteric thought, representing the traditional planets, days of the week, deadly sins, and the spinal chakras of yoga. According to some Kristian writers, there are seven heavens, as well.
The Chariot card represents the need for each of us to take full responsibility for our own lives, to make things happen for ourselves and to be the best people we can be, living up to our highest potential. The chariot is capable of fast speed and can progress over vast expanses of terrain, but, first, the driver must “take the reigns”.
In this card, the charioteer represents the individual as he or she contemplates the direction of his or her life. The two Sphinxes represent outside forces which can exert control over the driver if he/she doesn’t exert control over them first. The message of the 7th card is: Take charge! Get to know yourself and your hopes and desires. Then, go for it!
Meanings
Perseverance
A journey
A rushed decision
Adversity
Turmoil
Self-knowledge
Vengeance
Reversed Meanings
A lack of success
Defeat
Failure
A last minute loss
Vanquishment
Guided Meditation: If you have the book Tarot Journeys by Yasmine Galenorn, read the meditation for The Chariot, beginning on page 95. This is an excellent book and is brimming over with insights. This meditation is especially appropriate when you need to infuse a project with extra energy, or when you are doing magikal work with the element of Earth.
Let’s Play a Game
Remove the Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers and The Chariot cards from your deck. Shuffle them, then lay out a two card spread. The first card represents what habits, thoughts, inhibitions, prejudices, or unrealistic expectations you must relinquish in order to see your goals come to fruition. The second card represents what you will gain once you let go of these unhealthy and unproductive “blocks”.
Tarot in Ten Minutes
We return again to Tarot in Ten Minutes. The following two lessons use only the Knights and Pages from the deck and will help you get a better “feel” for these specific cards.
Complete each of these readings:
Reading #20, What Kind of Fool Am I?
Pages 174-179.
Do Extra Credit
Reading #21, What’s In The Mail?
Pages 180-185.
Do Extra Credit
Questions
1. After reading the section “The Chariot” in The Tarot Trumps and the Holy Grail, please write a paragraph or so giving your “take” on the author’s ideas.
2. What were your key words? What do you feel/intuit that this card represents? Is there someone you know who might be represented by this card?
3. If you completed the guided meditation in Tarot Journeys, write a bit about your thoughts, feelings, ideas, etc. Why might this meditation be useful when you need a little extra energy or when you are working with the element of Earth?
4. In the section “Let’s Play a Game”, describe what position each card was in. Then write at least a paragraph detailing what the cards might be saying to you.
5. For the section “Tarot in Ten Minutes”, send in each reading and the extra credit.
Email your answers to the Mystery School with “Tarot 8 Answers” in the subject line.
Here, now, is another new spread for you to try!
The “Damned” Spread
(Don’t be put off by the title. This is a great spread for figuring out your hopes, fears, interests, and where your life might need a little fine-tuning.)
5 6 3 4 1 2
Shuffle the entire deck and lay out the cards as per the diagram above.
Card 1: This scares me.
Card 2: This fascinates me
Card 3: This is what I can do without
Card 4: I have some catching up to do here.
Card 5: This is what I refuse.
Card 6: This is what I will get used to.
As an exercise, try to not to use the printed meanings for the cards unless you absolutely have to. Instead, rely, to the best of your ability, on you own intuition. Remember that every spread is unique and that every card reveals different meanings to different readers.
