Hi and welcome to Wednesday’s Tarot class. This week we will be looking at the Chariot. If you take a look at this card in the Rider-Waite deck you will see a man who looks like a king, standing in a carriage. If you notice, the city is behind him, so he is in uncharted territory The Chariot stands for the human personality. . The Charioteer is the symbol of the King who is victorious because he has received his initiation from the first 7 of the Tarot cards He holds in his right hand – the dominant and willful side of the body - a wand, just like the one that we saw on the Magician’s table, which represents bringing the magic rituals into practical experiences. He uses the wand and his mind to control the sphinxes, which seem to be pulling the chariot, but without reins. They are black and white - contrasting again, just like the pillars in the High Priestess card and the Hierophant card. So if the Charioteer doesn’t observe his mind and allows the sphinxes to have free rein, his chariot could start spinning in circles, due to the pulling in either direction from the Sphinxes. Also because of their polarity, know that the journey will be a combination of positive and negative experiences, just like our lives. Because the Sphinxes have human faces, they represent the evolution of the human spirit. The canopy above the Chariot is filled with stars representing the celestial influences he can use to gain his victory. This also tells us that we have guidance and protection in our journeys through the unknown. If we feel scared during our journeys and adventures, we only have to look up to our Higher Powers again. The charioteer can be either sex. Some see him as the son or daughter of the Empress and the Emperor. The Charioteer represents ourselves as we evolve through our human consciousness. In Genesis it says God rested on the 7th day. In olden times this card was named Victory. We are victorious when we realize that we are the vehicle that creates change in our lives. The Chariot’s astrological sign is Cancer, which is represented by the moon, intuition, sensitivity and receptivity


How can you become the Charioteer in your life? Do you dare take the message of the fool child to make changes in your life? Or are you stuck in the same old rut, unhappy, knowing something has to give, but living in fear? Remember in our study of the Tarot that we were given tools for our journey. We are the Magician in our lives. From the High Priestess we have learned to go within for answers and to wait patiently until these answers come. Our Empress taught us to know we have to nurture the seeds that we planted and that we need to use our creativity, imagination and realize our world of possibilities. We need to get in touch with our intuition and listen to its messages for our highest good. Our Emperor taught us that we can build our wonderful Empire by knowing and using our innate power to create and manifest and nurture our ideas. We learned to stop running around getting opinions from others and trust our intuition from our Hierophant. The Lovers taught us to love ourselves so we can love others and to communicate from our higher selves. As the charioteer we are ready to move out into the world and begin to create what we want our life to be about.

This week pretend you are the Charioteer, move out into the world, knowing you have all the tools at your disposal, and do something different. Remember, you can turn within for guidance, you can look upward to your Higher Self, and you can begin to trust the messages that come to you from your creative mind. You can listen to your intuition and begin trusting what you hear. Start keeping a journal if you haven’t already started and write about your experiences becoming each of these cards. No you won’t be successful every time – none of us are because we are on a journey, learning what each one of us needs to become happy, at peace with ourselves and successful. Each one of us has a different meaning of success and happiness. Use this study of the Tarot to learn what works for you and who you are deep within. Try not to let anyone discourage you. In fact, as you are learning it would be best not to discuss this with others unless you know they will understand. When we hear discouraging and negative messages it drags us down and that is not where we want to go. We want to stay in our power!

The Chariot’s advice is:

Have a goal; plan the routes you will use to achieve your purposes
Be centered and aware at all times despite changes
Be at home within yourself as you travel your spiritual path
Be adventurous, explore
Keep your options open so you can act quickly and efficiently
Create your future; allow new ideas to come through your dreams and meditations

Next week we will move to a new level of the Tarot and learn about our Strengths. Until then happy traveling.

Tarot graphic comes from http://www.usgamesinc.com/

^i^ Angel Hugs

Free Wednesday Tarot Class # 5

Hi and welcome our free Wednesday Tarot Class. Today we are talking about the Emperor. When you look at him in the Rider-Waite deck, he is a king seated on his throne, commanding and powerful. He represents Mars, which, in Astrology is our energy and how we use it, how energetic we are plus our drive to succeed. If you look at his throne you will see it is decorated with Ram’s heads. These correspond to Aries, which is ruled by Mars. Aries is a cardinal sign, the self-starter, and one who makes things happen. He is holding the scepter, called an Ankh that indicates he is the male giver of life. He has this wonderful ability to manifest what he wants, to give birth to creative ideas. The Emperor also represents balance. In his left hand (his passive, female side) he holds a globe, which depicts domination. This means having the desire to succeed combined with our female side; Love (Venus) is a powerful formula for success.

Our Emperor is the builder, hence the number 4. Think of four sides of a square, the four elements (Air, Earth, Fire and Water); four seasons of the year, four points to the compass (north, south, east and west). The Emperor is a father figure, whom we can trust.

What kind of empire have you built for yourself? Your world is your empire, your domain. We all have our own Emperor within. Just as we have a female side, our Empress - we have this strong, masculine, builder within that we can work with. Do you have practical and logical plans for your life? Is your life working for you or did you just “settle”, hoping some day things will change?

Are you waiting for that “someday” when you meet Mr. /Miss Soul mate? How about when you get that perfect job, when you get that raise, or when he ‘pops the question’? Perhaps you are waiting for when your kids grow up or and you can retire and then do what you want? Have you put your life on hold until that ‘something or someday’ comes that will make you happy? This is what the Emperor is all about. He is determined, resolute for his life to work. Our Emperor is the doer part of us. He stands for authority. He is the Magician after he unites with the High Priestess. Remember her, she goes within to learn how to use her magic, and what she wants to do then she changes into the Empress who makes the Emperor the Father of her children.

What are your sets of plans for your life? So many times I hear, “I don’t know, I wish someone would tell me.” Is your life made up of shoulds or would’s? Take a minute and ask yourself, am I doing this or that because it is joyful to me or do I say yes because I’d feel guilty if I didn’t? Of course there are times when we want to help another person and we say yes, but do we continually give our lives over to solving other people’s problems? Ask yourself the next time you are tempted to say yes to someone’s request, “is this something I want to do, or am I just trying to make someone like me better, or do I feel sorry for them?” Are you living your life out of fear of doing or saying the wrong thing, or are you feeling joyous about facing the day? Does the thought of getting up in the morning enliven you? Are you excited and looking forward to your day? Are you having fun trying to accomplish your goals? If you are not having fun now, you won’t be enjoying yourself when you “get there”.

Is life supposed to be fun? If you are fulfilling what you came to earth to do, you will have a wonderful satisfied feeling within. The Latin word for Emperor is parere, which means to begat or give birth. When we give birth to who we are meant to be and not shirk from the fires of our desires, passions and ambitions, we will be walking our talk, inspiring others to create and together we can all make the world a better place.

When the Emperor comes up for you try to:

Be a Leader, be a pioneer
Knowing and using your power to create
Be daring, heroic, courageous
Explore, be a pathfinder
Maintain mastery over your mind and emotions
Manifest and nurture your ideas
Be a self-starter, get fired up

Image is from http://www.usgamesinc.com/

Next time we will meet the Hierophant