The Tarot Chariot card is about triumph in worldly matters. Like Caesar returning from a successful campaign, riding a chariot when receiving the cheers of the Romans. A moment of greatness, but also a risk of megalomania. Success can destroy character quicker than adversity builds it. The Roman emperors used to have a slave with them on the triumphal chariot, whispering repeatedly in their ear: “Remember that you’re only human.” It was to help them stay grounded through all the praise… Triumph is indeed cause for concern. There are two main risks with it: one’s own state of mind and the easily reversed feelings of the people. When you are adored, you quickly lose perspective and see yourself as larger than life in any mirror. People who loved you in your moment of triumph will love to despise you as soon as they see you fail. So, at the moment of success — beware! If the Tarot Chariot card relates to a person, which is not that often in divination, it’s someone who grants success with whatever is at hand — also yours, even if your accomplishment might not have been decisive. If the Tarot Chariot card relates to an event, which is what it usually does in divination, it indicates a most fortunate outcome. But you have to consider what the long-term consequences might be. Envy from others is definitely one of them. When the Tarot Chariot card refers to you as a person, it shows you being impressive and successful. You have the ability to get where you want to go. Remember that the trick to accomplish lasting success is to be modest about it, and that’s not always easy…
First Appearance Ducal courts of northern Italy (c. 1440)
First Publisher ○
Appearance List Sola Busca (1490s) — earliest surviving deck [Open Culture] [WaiteSmith.org]; Monde primitif… (Vol. 8: “Du Jeu des Tarots”) (1781) by Antoine Court de Gébelin; Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées Tarots (1783–1785) by Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette); Dogme et rituel de la haute magie (1856) by Éliphas Lévi; The Tarot: Its Occult Signification, Use in Fortune-Telling, and Method of Play (1888) by S. L. MacGregor Mathers; Le Tarot des Bohémiens (1889) by Papus (Gérard Encausse); Rider Waite Tarot (1909) by A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith [WaiteSmith.org]; The Tarot of the Bohemians (1910) by A. P Morton [Internet Archive]; The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911, 1959) by A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith; Le tarot des imagiers du moyen âge (1926) by Oswald Wirth; The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians (1944) by Aleister Crowley; Le Tarot de Marseille (1949) by Paul Marteau; The Tarot Revealed (1960) by Eden Gray; Tarot Cards for Fun and Fortune Telling (1970) by Stuart R. Kaplan; The Encyclopedia of Tarot (Vol. 1) (1978) by Stuart R. Kaplan.
Sample Read The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911, 1959) by A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith [Internet Archive]
Description The Tarot Chariot card is about triumph in worldly matters. Like Caesar returning from a successful campaign, riding a chariot when receiving the cheers of the Romans. A moment of greatness, but also a risk of megalomania. Success can destroy character quicker than adversity builds it. The Roman emperors used to have a slave with them on the triumphal chariot, whispering repeatedly in their ear: “Remember that you’re only human.” It was to help them stay grounded through all the praise… Triumph is indeed cause for concern. There are two main risks with it: one’s own state of mind and the easily reversed feelings of the people. When you are adored, you quickly lose perspective and see yourself as larger than life in any mirror. People who loved you in your moment of triumph will love to despise you as soon as they see you fail. So, at the moment of success — beware! If the Tarot Chariot card relates to a person, which is not that often in divination, it’s someone who grants success with whatever is at hand — also yours, even if your accomplishment might not have been decisive. If the Tarot Chariot card relates to an event, which is what it usually does in divination, it indicates a most fortunate outcome. But you have to consider what the long-term consequences might be. Envy from others is definitely one of them. When the Tarot Chariot card refers to you as a person, it shows you being impressive and successful. You have the ability to get where you want to go. Remember that the trick to accomplish lasting success is to be modest about it, and that’s not always easy…
