Traditionally this card is a chariot drawn from one side of the card to the other but in Waite’s deck the chariot is facing forward. The card has always been associated with victory. Some early deck show a female charioteer and sometimes the horses are winged.
Waite’s Understanding
Waite perceives this card as the king conquering. It is this conquering which establishes him as king. Until this victory represented in the card he was not king. Compare this state of monarchy with that of the Emperor card where the emperor is vested with his power rather than needing to claim it. The card is compared to sun gods such as Osiris who need to conquer the power of the dark-side of the year at the winter solstice so they can return to full strength again.
Waite referred to the charioteer has having a sword drawn however going back as far as the original Visconti-Sforza decks the charioteer has always held a staff, but not a sword. In fact in the earlier deck it is believed that this is not a chariot for battle but instead the parade of Bianca Maria Visconti through the streets prior to her marriage as was the custom.
Waite claims he holds captivity captive and is “in conquest on many planes” including in the mind, in science and in progress. Having said that he limits it by saying “in certain trials of initiation”.
The Cubical Chariot and City
The colour chosen for the chariot is the same as the buildings behind it. It also matches the pillars in the hierophant’s card, which represent law and freedom, finally, it matches the colour of the emperor‘s throne. This shows that the card’s vehicle is authority. It is likely the chariot is a similar shape to the cubical altar from which a magician performs magic. Here the cubical shape symbolises the earthly nature of the power, but here the magic is entirely powered by authority rather than the four elements. The cube surrounds the charioteer with 4 small pillars like those on the hierophant card. The number 4 is also frequently associated with the Tetragramaton or 4-letter name of god YHVH.
The yellow verticle boxes which appear on either side of the chariot are supposed to be its wheels which spur it on to further its authority away from the civilisation as it takes on more ground in a form of conquest. It faces away from a fortified city. The commissioner of this card Waite would likely have associated this city with a biblical city such as Jerico also associated with a story of conquest. The story of Jerico was that it was a walled-city which was entirely unconquerable. An instruction supposedly from god required that the army march around it. When they circled the city multiple times the walls came falling down. The interesting thing about this story is that the synchronized marching of a small army could cause heavy vibrations in the earth especially if increased by simple harmonic motion which would cause vibration that might destroy the foundation of a wall and have it fall down as if by magic.
Chariot’s veil and Charioteer’s belt
The curtain is the stars which were on the crown of the empress. These represent the zodiac and some of their symbols appear of his belt: Leo, Cancer, a gap, Sagittarius and the moon.
To further this association with the star a large 8-pointed star appears on the charioteer’s head. I have seen people refer to this as the star of destiny, but I am yet to find a credible source for this. Instead, it is worth noting that Geblin felt his card represented Osiris, the conquering sun, and so perhaps this is the sun and it further symbolises conquering. The description in Eliphas Levi’s work, which Waite normally adheres to closely, but deviated from in this card says that the charioteer is crowned with a circle adorned with 3 radiant golden pentagrams, but instead of 3 five-pointed stars we see one with 8 points.
Laurel Wreath
Above the charioteer’s head, below the star, is a wreath that represents victory. Such a wreath is constructed of laurel and given to champions of sport in honour of Apollo since the ancient Olympics. So here we have further symbols of championing and conquoring.
Breastplate and Pteruges
Waite has said that his breastplate contains Urimm and Thummin two divinatory stones or jewels used to obtain the will of their god by the Hebrews of the early biblical texts such as in the book of Samuel. This is hard to determine whether it features in this card, as academics do not agree on what they look like. Their most common representation is 2 stones, one black and the other white, which I do not see in this picture. Eliphas Levi makes the same comment in his Doctrine of High Magic in the section on the Book of Hermes. He describes these as being on the sholders of the charioteer represented by the moons that we see in this card.
Up and down the charioteer’s pteruges (ter-roo-jez, the klit-like shorts) are assorted symbols of geomancy which are also commonly used for divination. So this indicates that this card is covered with symbols of divination.
Pauldrons
Each pauldron or shoulder piece has a face of the moon worked into it backed by the crescent moon. One faces one way and the other faces the other. It is possible one could assume they symbolize the waning and waxing moons. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn often associated this card with the zodiac sign of cancer which is ruled by, none other than, the moon. These are believed to represent the divinitory stones of Urimm and Thummin according to Levi.
The writing of Eliphas Levi in the section called the Book of Hermes to the end of The Doctrine of High Magic, describes these moons as Geburah and Gedulah, two of the sephirah on the Qabalah‘s Tree of Life. The following may be a gross simplification, but frankly these authors often worked with gross simplifications of bastardized teachings on the Tree of Life, obtained through terrible cultural misappropriation, however I think it is likely they understood these to be as follows. Geburah which means the strength (of God) would be understood to be god’s disciplinary and wrathful side through which he relates to the population. Gedulah would mean his glory which by comparison would be understood to be god’s relationship with the people through generousity. Sort of like the carrot and stick sides of god.
One of the Moons appears to be happy and the other is sad. This perhaps indicates the vicissitudes of life through which the chariot has come; the ups and downs. The happy and sad faces are often associated with those of theatre called Sock and Buskin representing the most common early plays Comedy and Tragedy. I have always thought the origin of the names “Sock and Buskin” funny because they are actually footwear worn by actors to indicate their roles. Dramatic actors often wore big laced boots called a “buskins” and comic relief characters often wore socks with thin soles attached. So the name of the faces of theatre was born, Sock and Buskin. If this is what the moons represent then they are the trials and tribulations through which the charioteer has traveled to achieve their victory. These faces Sock and Buskin represent Urimm and Thummin which are likely the positive and negative responses from the divine during Hebrew divination.
Square chest piece
The charioteer wears a square amulet. Since it is a square we could easily associate it with the number four. A similar amulet appears on the temperance card below the name YHVH which is often called the 4-letter name or Tetragrammaton. I believe this amulet symbolises the power of this name in a hidden way. Like how this card has symbols similar to the exoteric card the Hierophant which is an exoteric side of the esoteric card the High Priestess. I feel that this square is the exoteric form of the square in the Temperance card where the Esoteric meanings are laid bare. The charioteer advances by the power of Tetragrammaton, but he keeps the nature of that power to himself. In the writing of Eliphas Levi, it is described as 3 superimposed squares on his breast. If we accept my suggestion above that the square indeed represents YHVH, then the 3 superimposed could be the holy trinity which Christian doctrine accepts as the same. We only see one, but naturally the Christian doctrine suggests that these 3 are one so the symbolism is fitting.
Wand
The Chariot carries a wand similar to that of the magician, however, the wand is not purely white like that of the magician. It could be suggested that the magician’s will is pure, but the chariot is more focused on earthly things such as an earthly conquest. It symbolises the Charioteer’s will nonetheless.
Waite suggests that the charioteer carries a drawn sword which is missing in this card and Levi’s work says the sceptre is mounted by a globe, square and triangle.
Wadjet
Above the coat of arms is a round disk with wings which is called Wadjet among other things. It is often the same power as represented by Uraeus. It was possible this was understood to be the wet nurse of horus in his form as the conquering sun child. The name has an etymology that relates to the Egyptian words “eye of the moon” and is often related to Isis indicating this card’s lunar associations again.
Coat of Arms
The shield of the coat of arms appears to represent a “Shiva lingam” which is considered the seed-producing genitals of Shiva which gave birth to the world. This Shiva lingam is deep red which is often a colour associated with activity in this deck. Some say that Shiva Lingam is actually Shiva’s penis within Shakti’s yoni and is therefore symbolic of the male and female combined. Some writers suggest this is actually a gavel which is a masonic symbol representing Willful self-control, however, Waite’s translation of Eliphas Levi’s work about 13 years before commissioning the deck says “On the square which forms the fore part of the chariot is the Indian lingam surmounted by the flying sphere of the Egyptians”. It is clear his intention was to follow this text and not draw a masonic gavel, for which there is no previous writing indicating it should appear here.
Sphynxes
The sphynxes which draw the chariot are in a state of rest. This indicates that the conquering has been completed the success is stable. They grab their tails symbolising Orouborous the endless cycle of destruction and creation. The sphynxes appear without a yoke further the idea that they are at rest and the mysteries have been tamed.
Their colours are immediately reminiscent of Boaz and Jachin the two pillars on the esoteric card, the High Priestess, however here they appear as sphynxes which indicates that the active and passive nature is wrapped in a mystery. I am told that the active and passive are further represented in gendered faces on the sphynxes but frankly, I don’t see it. Supposedly the bodies of the sphynxes are the opposite of their faces, the male-faced sphynx has boobs which are absent on the sphynx with the female face. Do you see this???
As Waite translated Eliphas Levi’s Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, he would be well aware of his forerunners’ conflation of sphynxes with Cherubiim. Both are creatures that mix multiple animals and human features in one being. In Waite’s translation, the sphynxes are mentioned as guardians of the mysteries and the holy places, including Eden. Also mentioned in the works of Eliphas Levi is the 4 powers of the sphynx: To Will, To Dare, To know and to Keep Silent. So this card would have many associations with these sphynx including their similarity to the kerubic beasts.
Normally this card appeared with horses, but Waite says he accepts Eliphas Levi’s substitution of the horses with sphynxes. He seems to feel that this substitution indicates that the conquering nature of the card is really a conquering of the mind. Waite continues to suggest this limits the power of the card. The conquering is only of the logical natural world not a conquering of spiritual climes, therefore the conquering of the external and not the internal further suggesting that this card is exoteric and not esoteric. Waite warns about the limitations of the logical mind and the limits and bondage it provides for those that use it too much (including me). The logical mind for Waite seems to have its limits compared to experiential spiritual insight and non-verbal gnosis. Waite says that if he were to approach the High Priestess we would not be able to read her scroll. He inherits royalty, but not priesthood.
Artist’s Signature
To the right of the white sphynx on the edge of the card is a design in the grass. This is the signature of Pamela “Pixie” Coleman-Smith who was the painter of this card.
Interpretation
The story for this card is that a person had to leave his comfort zone, the city he lived in, but as he ventured out into the wilderness with the knowledge granted to him by the divine, he was successful at overcoming everything he came across. Finally, he reached a new place of rest and was able to establish a new regime of law and freedom. As he turned back he was able to see how far he had come and realised that the divine had been guiding him through his whole path even at times he had not known about it. As he established himself in his new home he realised how he had tamed the mysteries of the world and grown as a person. He had conquered the physical world, but left the spiritual untouched. Now in his stationary state, benefitting on the previous conquering he is able to relaxed remain still and begin a new journey inward to penetrate mysteries.