#7 The Chariot

Please read about the Tarot Tracklist for my approach working with the tarot cards.

And we are off to the races! Finally, we have arrived at the end of the Realm of Gods and the beginning of the unknown. Swing low, sweet Chariot, #7, take me away, take me forward.

Embodying the archetype of The Chariot is a bit different from what has come before. Here, the hero (and us out there) are passengers. The decision we made as #6 The Lover catalyzes us to the next thing. And like a man shooting out of a cannon, we must let our decision propel us.

This card is asking you to keep the momentum going. The Chariot is the power of our psyche, carrying the self forward.

At the beginning of this year, I ordered The Dream Mammi’s, Create your Chariot: A Planetary Workbook for Creating Congruence. I had no idea I’d be ending the year discussing The Chariot. That’s the thing about all of this feverishly waves hands around. You can’t predict where it’ll take you. We’re just along for the ride.

Working with the archetype of The Chariot, the key lesson of the year was learning to harness my willpower and momentum through confidence and determination.

Because I work from home most of the time, it’s very easy for me to ignore certain checks and balances. The start of the year was frustrating, to say the least. Then April came, bringing with it the most beautiful experience I’ve witnessed—a total solar eclipse.

And with eclipse season, came upheaval. By the end of spring’s eclipse season, I had had three different bosses. In retrospect, my resilience is a source of pride, even though I was furious back then. Thankfully, I had foundational routines to keep me moving during this upheaval: the weekly reading in the Chani app, my tarot practice, and walks at the park. It was because of those routines I had the momentum to persevere through new management style and company order.

It was also during that eclipse season I started building routines to explore my city more. But I knew I couldn’t do a weekly routine, per se. That felt too limiting. Plus, I had different needs when I went into the office vs. working from home. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish and do last spring and summer, and I needed a way to keep myself going because once I got home and sat down, I felt too tired to do anything else.

So I created separate in-office and work from home weekly routines that split up my priorities across my morning and evenings, kept me feeling nourished, and moving forward.

One of my favorite additions to my routine was after an in-office work day, I’d go read for an hour at a city park. Being around other people, nature, my city, it fed my soul.

When autumn came, my routine adjusted. We were only going into the office for one week a month. I also had quite a bit of planned travel within weeks of each other. I knew I needed to stay in motion between my trips. Luckily, I had been working all summer towards publishing a Substack, and since you’re here, you know I succeeded. And writing for this blog/publication/whatever is the harvest of the momentum started at the beginning of the year.

Embodying the Chariot is about celebrating your routines and energy so it can replenish and keep your momentum moving.

Who is The Chariot Archetype?

“A chariot is designed to "carry us home." The outer journey is not only a symbol of the inner one, it is also the vehicle for our self-discovery. We learn about ourselves through our involvement with others and through meeting the challenges of our environment.” - Sally Nichols

Dorothea Lange, the American photographer and photojournalist, is a good example of someone who embodied The Chariot archetype. Here are a few quick hits for you:

• She moved from Hoboken, New Jersey into New York City after her dad abandoned their family.

• She was stranded in San Francisco after leaving New York to travel the world with a friend.

• She photographed the migrants moving into California from outside her studio in San Francisco. She was known for roaming the byways with her camera, capturing the the social and economic upheaval of the Depression.

• She worked for the Resettlement Administration and Farm Security Administration, traveling for five years across the United States, capturing displaced families and migrant workers.

• Her most recognized work is Migrant Mother.

• She abandoned her Guggenheim fellowship for an assignment with the War Relocation Authority to document the forced evacuation and internment of Japanese Americans.

Heck, even photography itself is a medium that transports an image across time and space.

The Chariot is ruled by Cancer and the Moon. With Lange’s work, we see cancerian waves of people in motion, leaving middle America for coastal areas. The Moon represents our feelings, personal emotions and our subconscious. The Moon is also depicted as feminine energy (not that gross binary/anti trans shit though). Again, I’ll call attention to Lange’s most notable work being Migrant Mother.

Cancer is also a cardinal sign, signaling activation and initiation. The Chariot is our own activation and initiation into the next phase of our lives.

People/characters that embody The Chariot:

• Dorothea Lange

• Noah Kahan

• Moana

• Travelers

• Frequent flyers

• Voyagers

• Migrants

Chariot Archetype Playlist

This year I earned my air miles. I flew to six different cities, most requiring a layover. I haven’t traveled this much since 2017 when I was abroad for over four months. When I reflect on these eras, both felt like I needed to prove something to myself. In 2017, I needed to prove I could live my wildest dreams. This year, I needed to prove I could adopt to new surroundings while remaining true to myself.

This playlist features stories of moving, leaving, dreaming of a better something.

Visual Spells for The Chariot

My final thoughts on The Chariot archetype:

• it’s poetic to be publishing this blog while I’m back home for the holidays. i love when the universe does that.

• the chariot is a break in the plane, the pause between inhale and exhale.

• while connecting with your own internal chariot, listen and read the stories of those who have fled from their home to keep themself and their family safe, and ask yourself, what does it mean to have to escape as quickly as possible?