The Chariot upright meaning
Compare The Chariot with The Lovers, the card that comes before it. The Lovers is the choice, and The Chariot is what you do with the choice once it is made. Biddy Tarot puts it the same way, as taking action on decisions you have already settled.
Waite's upright list is "Succour, providence; also war, triumph, presumption, vengeance, trouble." It is a mixed list, with help and divine care at one end and war, vengeance and presumption at the other. His picture notes settle it: the charioteer is "above all things triumph in the mind", conquest "on all planes", though he adds that the planes are "manifest or external and not within himself".
Current sites keep the victory and drop the trouble. Willpower and determination appear in the keyword lists on all three leading sites. That makes it a card of momentum, with one condition from Waite: the win belongs to the rational mind, and the card does not claim to reach deeper.
The Chariot reversed
The reversed Chariot is a vehicle that is not going where its driver thinks. Waite's list is the shortest and harshest in this part of the deck: "Riot, quarrel, dispute, litigation, defeat." Nothing in it mentions a feeling inside the driver.
Current sites move the problem inside. Biddy Tarot lists "Self-discipline, opposition, lack of direction", Labyrinthos "no direction, no control", and Tarot.com says one part of you wants to accelerate while another rides the brake. Two of the three sites we checked also warn about the opposite fault, gripping the wheel so hard that everything slips.
Read the reversed card by asking who holds the reins. If someone else does, Waite's quarrel and dispute fit. If no one does, the modern reading fits: a goal with no route, or a route with no energy behind it.
Is The Chariot a yes or no card?
| Position | Answer |
|---|---|
| Upright | Yes |
| Reversed | No, or not yet |
On the upright card the yes or no pages agree. Tarot.com answers yes, Zenithalign calls it "A resounding yes", and TarotAtlas says the upright card "usually indicates a yes". The shared condition is effort: the card says go without promising a clear road.
For the reversed card only Zenithalign gives an answer, and it says no. Tarot.com does not give a reversed answer. We read it as no, or not yet: Waite's list ends in "defeat", and the card shows a stalled drive.
Waite and the Golden Dawn's Book T set no yes or no values for any card. This is a reading habit, so treat the table as the tone of the card.
The Chariot in love: relationship, single, feelings
In a relationship
Between two partners the upright Chariot is a shared project: a move, a wedding fund, a decision that needs both hands on the wheel. Tarot.com asks the right question of it: "Are you steering the chariot together … or pulling each other in different directions?" Labyrinthos notes that the two sphinxes "want to move in different directions", so a couple is the same picture.
If you are single
Without a partner, the card talks about your own direction first. Tarot.com advises focusing "on what you want instead of chasing someone who's not matching your energy". The Tarot Guide says the card can mean you are battle weary from past relationships and ready to move on.
Chariot tarot as someone's feelings
Standing for a person's feelings, the card shows drive and some guardedness. The person is moving, and you may be one of the things they are moving toward, or past. The Tarot Guide notes that the Chariot can mean acting "defensively or aggressively to hide that you are feeling emotionally vulnerable". Reversed, the feelings point two ways at once.
Long distance
A chariot is a means of travel, and The Tarot Guide and Biddy Tarot both read the card as literal travel, usually by road. For a long-distance pair that makes it a card about visits and logistics, meaning who drives to whom, more than a verdict on the bond.
Astrology side of the same question: Cancer compatibility with every sign · Cancer in love.
The Chariot as work and money
Picture a sales team on the last day of the quarter, or a student the week before an exam. That is the upright card at work: a deadline, a target, a person with a clear route and the discipline to hold to it. Tarot.com calls it "a power move in your career reading", and Labyrinthos lists ambition and self-discipline.
Reversed at work, the card shows a project that has stalled, a rivalry, or a dispute that may end up with a lawyer, since "litigation" is in Waite's list. Pick one direction for it. On money questions it speaks only about drive and focus, never about results.
The Chariot as advice and as a person
Steady your two sphinxes first. The charioteer holds no reins, as Biddy Tarot and Wikipedia both point out; what moves the cart is the will that has decided on a direction, so name the one goal you are driving toward and let the other pulls wait their turn.
Cast as a person, the charioteer is driven, competitive and hard to turn once started, often a traveler or an athlete. Because Book T gives the card to Cancer, astrology readers often add a protective, private side under the armor.
Symbolism of the Rider–Waite–Smith card
- The sphinxes. Two sphinxes pull the chariot. Waite writes that he has "accepted the variation of Éliphas Lévi", so two sphinxes draw the chariot. Biddy Tarot and Labyrinthos read a black one and a white one as opposing forces.
- The charioteer. Waite calls him "an erect and princely figure carrying a drawn sword". Biddy Tarot says he holds no reins and steers by will.
- The starry canopy. A canopy of stars covers his head. Wikipedia says it is meant to show "celestial influences".
- Urim and Thummim. On his shoulders are "supposed to be the Urim and Thummim". Biddy Tarot and Labyrinthos see crescent moons there.
- The square on the breastplate. Labyrinthos reads the square as the element earth; Biddy Tarot reads it as the strength of will.
- The river. Biddy Tarot notes a wide river behind the chariot and reads it as keeping in flow with life while charging ahead. Water is also the element of Cancer.
Where the sphinxes come from
“Succour, providence; also war, triumph, presumption, vengeance, trouble. Reversed: Riot, quarrel, dispute, litigation, defeat.”
“Triumph, victory, health (sometimes unstable).”
Waite took the sphinxes from Éliphas Lévi, and he is blunt about the limits of his charioteer. The man has "replied to the sphinx" and has led "captivity captive", but his conquest is of outer things. If he came to the pillars of the High Priestess's temple, Waite says, "he could not open the scroll called Tora".
Book T gives the card three words and a caveat: "Triumph, victory, health (sometimes unstable)." Its title for it, "The Child of the Powers of the Waters; the Lord of the Triumph of Light", puts a warrior card under a sign of water. The caveat on health is Book T's, and it is not a medical statement.
The Chariot and Cancer: the card's zodiac sign
| Number | 7 (VII), Major Arcana |
|---|---|
| Zodiac sign | ♋︎ Cancer |
| Ruling planet of the sign | Moon |
| Element | Water |
| Hebrew letter | Chet ח |
| Golden Dawn title | The Child of the Powers of the Waters; the Lord of the Triumph of Light |
Attributions from Book T (Golden Dawn, c. 1892; printed 1912).
A card of conquest under a water sign looks odd until you remember what the sign does. Cancer is a cardinal water sign, cardinal meaning it starts a season, and it is ruled by the Moon. Its Hebrew letter is Chet. The Moon's own card is The High Priestess, the figure Waite names beside the charioteer when he describes the limits of his triumph.
Book T divides Cancer into three Cups cards: the Two of Cups (Love, under Venus), the Three of Cups (Abundance, under Mercury) and the Four of Cups (Blended Pleasure, under the Moon). The warrior card sits on top of three cups of feeling, which suggests its drive may serve a home, a family or a relationship.
The three Cancer cards of the minor arcana
| Part of Cancer | Card | Book T title | Planet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0° to 10° | Two of Cups | Lord of Love | Venus |
| 10° to 20° | Three of Cups | Lord of Abundance | Mercury |
| 20° to 30° | Four of Cups | Lord of Blended Pleasure | Moon |
Next Cancer season: the Sun enters Cancer on June 21, 10:10 a.m. EDT and stays until July 22, 9:04 p.m. EDT (2027, US Eastern time).
Cancer might be in your chart without being your Sun sign. Half of all birth dates, 50.9% of the 35,064 we counted from 1930 to 2025, place a planet in Cancer. Your date is the only way to find out, so run it below.
Where is Cancer in your birth chart?
Enter your birth date. We show which of the ten planets were in Cancer that day; add the time if a planet changed signs.
Example below: July 8, 1985, Eastern time. Enter your own date above.
♋︎ Cancer in your chart: 2 of 10
On July 8, 1985 (Eastern time): Sun in Cancer, Mars in Cancer.
- ☉ Sun: ♋︎ Cancer
- ☽ Moon: Pisces or Aries
- ☿ Mercury: ♌︎ Leo
- ♀ Venus: ♊︎ Gemini
- ♂ Mars: ♋︎ Cancer
- ♃ Jupiter: ♒︎ Aquarius
- ♄ Saturn: ♏︎ Scorpio
- ♅ Uranus: ♐︎ Sagittarius
- ♆ Neptune: ♑︎ Capricorn
- ♇ Pluto: ♏︎ Scorpio
Your Sun is in Cancer, so Cancer is your zodiac sign and, in the Golden Dawn scheme, this card is your sign's card. Cancer zodiac sign: dates, traits, love.
Every planet, angle and house from your birth time: birth chart calculator.
Questions about The Chariot
What number is The Chariot in tarot?
Seven, card VII: after The Lovers (VI), before Strength (VIII).
What zodiac sign is The Chariot?
Cancer, in the Golden Dawn's Book T. Cancer is a water sign ruled by the Moon; the letter is Chet.
Is The Chariot a yes or no card?
Upright it is a yes on the three sites we checked. Reversed, we read no or not yet, because Waite's list ends in defeat.
What does The Chariot mean in a love reading?
Movement, shared direction, or a decision you have both committed to. Reversed, it shows two people pulling different ways or a quarrel about who drives.
What does The Chariot reversed mean as feelings?
The feelings are real but point in more than one direction. The person may want to move forward and hold back in the same breath.
What does a Chariot tarot tattoo mean?
The usual meaning is willpower and forward motion, or a win over a hard stretch. The sphinx pair and the starry canopy are the parts of the picture the card is known for.
Is The Chariot a pregnancy card?
Nothing in Waite's words or Book T points that way. This card speaks about travel and drive, and only a test can confirm a pregnancy.
Sources
- Astronomy Engine: the open-source ephemeris library behind our planet positions, dates and statistics
- A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), Wikisource: the divinatory meanings we quote, upright and reversed
- Book T (Golden Dawn), as printed in The Equinox I:8, 1912: the zodiac sign, Hebrew letter, title and short meaning of each card
- Wikimedia Commons: Rider–Waite–Smith tarot deck: Pamela Colman Smith's 1910 card drawings, public domain
- How we create our readings: our own calculation of sign dates, positions and the 1930 to 2025 statistics
Next to The Chariot
In the Major Arcana: The Lovers (6) ← The Chariot (7) → Strength (8).
Cancer on this site: Cancer zodiac sign · Cancer rising · Mercury in Cancer · Venus in Cancer · your full birth chart.
All 22 cards with their signs and planets: tarot card meanings.
Written by The Zodiac Atlas editorial team with the help of AI and edited by a person. Quotations are from Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot and the Golden Dawn's Book T, both in the public domain; the card picture is a 1910 printing of Pamela Colman Smith's drawing for the 1909 deck. Sign dates and planet positions come from the astronomy-engine ephemeris (tropical zodiac). Tarot and astrology are symbolic traditions; they do not predict events.