Chasing Life’s Thrills

And learning when it’s better to rest.

“I live with the feeling that the rabbit from "Alice in Wonderland" is always rushing me.”

~ Artha Moreton

Phaeton Driving the Chariot of Phoebus Photo by Art Institute of Chicago

Ciao Viaggiatore. Welcome to the next portion of the path. Today we’re travelling with The Chariot! It’s a card I know well and am comfortable with whenever it pops up in spreads. It might be due to it being the card of my birth. My life number is 7, of course. This is considered the number for questing souls. Do I think of myself as a soul seeking something specific? No, not really any more than any other person, but The Chariot fits me in other ways. Did you know that the first known chariots where actually dated around the time of mesopotamia around 2500 BCE¹? Way before Egyptian pharaohs and Roman gladiators.

Some of the traditional meanings for this major arcana card include ambition, determination, willpower, control, self-discipline, focus, success… all things related to intentional forward movement. I don’t think I have to say it out loud that I am determined to succeed in the things I set my mind towards… but I wouldn’t say I’m ambitious. It seems like such a loft thing, to be always striving for success… but sometimes I feel like it’s just another coping mechanism. Christopher Marmolejo, author of the Red Tarot, writes that the Chariot is who takes us home but knows we aren’t returning to what we were. Instead we are moving towards who we might be. It feels good, thinking this way, doesn’t it?

What is it that makes forward motion so desirable? I’ll let you in on a little bit of a confession, if you’ll listen. I’ve got some troubling mental conditions that have landed me in DBT classes. Now, this is a good thing, regardless of how that last sentence reads. It means that I am learning the tools that I can use to better the outcomes of difficult situations. Who among us hasn't felt the licking flames of fire in our blood? Especially now with the state of affairs in this country, and around the world. I’m just starting the DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) classes, but I feel already that I can use these lessons to make steering the Chariot of my life easier.

Do you ever think about the fact that Il Carro² is not just a cart being pulled by a pair of horses (or other beasts) but also includes a Carrozza³? It took/takes great skill to steer nearly wild beasts galloping down the path. Those historical charioteers trained endlessly, fought brutally, and gained glory. The horses were prized creatures. The chariots were investments in the futures of their drivers. The whole Spiedini⁴ would fall apart without any one of those elements.

Four versions of Chariot by Eli of Bear.Ridge.Tarot

You can find my current Tarot offerings here.

Look at these four Chariots. The first is a figure wearing laurels, meaning someone who has won glory in some way. They are adorned with moons and wear armor, showing me that they have fought for their dreams. They are upfront and in your face, but also wear a calm expression as if they don’t want to, but will fxck you up if you stand in their way. Compared to the fully armored figure in the next card, the first one is at the end of the race rather than the beginning. The fully armored one is in a wheelchair, which makes me think of all the challenges faced by differently abled folk. It’s sometimes a struggle just to make it out of bed some days for folks who live in this world where nothing is easy if you’re not “sound of body and mind”. But they sit ready to face the challenge.

The third and fourth cards are the closest to the traditional ones, having horses on them. The watercolor mashup fits with my ideas about how The Chariot is a delicate balance of parts that only work when each piece is present. But that last card - a moon marked charging wild horse wearing a pentacle - is the one that first spoke to me as Chariot. As my birth card and numerologically seven (my life path number), this is the card that makes me feel most connected to the energy I want to embody.

Bold and bright
                               Wild, yet controlled
                                                                   Mysterious and sure-footed

This is how I feel The Chariot. It’s the coursing of blood through veins. The beating of a heart at peak performance. Mind sharp as a razor blade edge. But that feeling is as fleeting as catching glimpses of wild horses. It doesn’t last. It’s not even sustainable. Forward momentum must, by the laws of physics, come to a rest at some point. The charioteer needs to rest, eat and soothe aching muscles. The horses need to breathe and be brushed down. The chariot’s wheels need to be inspected and any damage to the basket needs to be repaired.

• Grief Tarot Zine - My pay-what-you can tarot spread collection.

• StoryGraph - where I do the majority of my bookish charting and tracking.

• BlueSky & Instagram - where I occasionally post pictures of the books I am currently reading while I’m doing some life thing. But mostly where I post tarot-related content.

• This is a fascinating page where you can read some of Van Gogh's Letters

• This is a site where Leonardo da Vinci’s Letters are available, among other notable historical people

Ramses II fighting from a chariot at the Battle of Kadesh.