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The Chariot Card Meaning | Tarot Card Meanings

Sep 22, 2020 | Learn Tarot

The Chariot tarot meaning is one of trust, willpower and acceptance that we may not be able to do everything by ourselves. When we’re younger, we can’t wait to be an adult so we can take full control over our own lives, but once we reach adulthood, we realise that support from others is crucial.

Even for some seasoned professionals, reaching out for help and knowing when they’ve hit the ceiling, is something that is hard to accept. The Chariot then swoops in to remind you that we can all only get so far on our own and at some point, we will need to reach out and get help in order to reach the next stage in our growth.

Upright

In the upright position, The Chariot is a card of ambition and focus. It represents your drive to succeed and achieve your biggest hopes and dreams. However, it is also a lesson in humility and knowing when to celebrate your successes and when to be humble. The main upright meanings of The Chariot are:

Success
Focus
Ambition
Goals
Willpower

In the upright position, The Chariot is our chance to test our willpower and flex our control over a certain situation. It’s about understanding what drives us and why we do what we do. In life, we will have many different challenges and goals, but it’s only by pushing ourselves that we gain strength, wisdom and power.

Reversed

In the reversed position, The Chariot can symbolise a lack of control or feeling like you are not in charge of your own life. It can often show that you have a desire to take back the power to your own life or situation, but currently feel unable to do so.

Lack of direction
Instability
Egotistical
Lack of willpower
Opposition

When thinking about the reversed meaning of the Chariot, think about the upright meanings and their negative counterparts. In the upright position you have ambition, but reversed you have a lack of ambition or even laziness.

click to browse the full tarot meaning directory

The Chariot Tarot Meaning - Pinterest.png

Reading The Chariot in a spread

When The Chariot makes an appearance it shows that you’ve worked hard to get to where you are. You have pushed yourself in order to develop and grow and now you’ve reached a point where you need a leg up to reach that next level in life. Although it all sounds great, this is often a tough card to fully embrace, as a lot of us tend to feel like we shouldn’t need help to get to where we want to be or that we have the skills to do it all ourselves.

Re-framing The Chariot can help to reveal some really deep insight into our current mindset and feelings around our situation. Let’s have a look at some ways we can start to do this.

As an invitation

The Chariot marks the final chapter of the first cycle of life. It’s a great place to pause and take a breather to see how you should progress. This means that if we read it as an invitation, we can be confident that we’re being invited to take that pause, whatever that may mean for you in the context of your situation.

For The Chariot, this invitation could be the following:

An invitation to look at the bigger picture and see what you need to embrace in order to take that next step in your journey
An invitation to check in with your ego and make sure that you’re not giving it full control over your current trajectory
An invitation to see how external help and support could benefit you
An invitation to see if you’re being too overbearing or overpowering in certain areas of your life and where you could loosen your grip a little

As sage advice

As advice, The Chariot can help you take a look at the bigger picture, rather than focusing on the gritty details. Its guidance centres on trust and self-assessment, it asks us to take our ambition and ego out of the equation for a second so that we can gain clarity and decide on the best way to move forward.

Some advice The Chariot may offer is:

Assess your decision making progress and decide if you’re trusting your intuition enough in order to make harmonious and balanced choices
Accept support when it is offered to you
Don’t allow your ego to take control of your direction in life, check yourself when arrogance starts to creep in and taint your hard work
Refocus on your priorities and don’t be distracted by temporary whims and desires

As a lesson

At this stage of the Major Arcana, the main lessons we are working through are the ones we need to learn to become a wiser and more focused human. We’ve done a lot of internal work up to this point and now The Chariot is here to carry us to the next level of consciousness. We need to shed the last of our naive childishness and start to step into adulthood fully.

Some lessons that The Chariot may offer you are:

To learn to balance our desires and our commitments, so that we can take responsibility for our actions and move in the right direction
To trust others and know that support is all around us if we need it
To understand that we are not able to move through life on our own steam alone
The lesson of willpower and self-control

As a redirection

The Chariot has strong adventurous energy and it is a card of journeys, both internal and external. As a redirection, The Chariot can hint that we’ve been led astray by our vices and it’s time to get back on track. It can be a symbol that we need support in our next venture and that we are trying to do far too much on our own.

As a redirection, The Chariot could symbolise a need to:

Seek out help from your external world
Find a more efficient way of achieving our goals
Celebrate how far you’ve come instead of how far you have left to go
Think about whether the direction you are currently moving in, is the right one for you and what you’re trying to achieve

In summary…

The Chariot is one that I see a lot with business and career-minded clients. It is often independence gone wild and symbolises that we need to take a moment to think about why we are so determined to do things on our own terms. This can be a great place to pause and delve back into previous cards like The High Priestess and The Hierophant, to see if there’s anything we need to re-align before we continue on our path.

How Does Tarot Reading Work: It’s All Energy Baby

Sep 8, 2020 | Learn Tarot

A question I get asked a lot by people that are not in the witchy or spiritual community, is how does tarot actually work? It’s a tricky question to answer because there are multiple different ways tarot can work.

No tarot reader has the exact same experience when reading tarot and that’s hard to explain to those that believe that tarot is just about predicting the future.

Everything is energy

You may have seen a hashtag floating around talking about how energy is everything, but what does that actually mean in the real world? Well, everything in this world is created using energy and emits energy back out into the world.

Areas within quantum physics have looked at the universes varying sources of energy and Einstein was one of the scientists that realised that energy never disappears, it just gets recycled. Your energy, the energy that created you and the energy that you emit, is what we can use to read tarot.

Plus, with the theory of everything emitting energy, it makes sense that objects also emit energy, meaning that the cards themselves carry specific types of energy. We can use that energy output, to decide what the meaning of a spread is, but it’s not just the cards that tell us what’s happening, we have to give our input as well.

Learning a new language

When you decide to learn tarot card reading, you commit to learning a brand new language. I liken it to learning how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs. You are effectively learning how to read and interpret imagery and energy.

Each of the 78 cards has its own meanings and sometimes these cross over due to their similarities. For example, The Empress and the Queen of Pentacles have a lot of corresponding properties. Another pair that cross over are Judgement and the Eight of Cups, with their idea of letting go of what is holding you back.

When we start to learn to read tarot, each of these cards represents a type of energy and a tiny section of a bigger story, which is why the more cards a spread holds, the more detailed the reading will be. We can get a lot from just one card, but we have to be the one that fills in the blanks. It’s up to us to use our role as interpreter and energy reader, to create a narrative from that card. We have to feel out the story it tells by using tools such as empathy, compassion and creativity.

Becoming an interpreter

If you’re reading tarot for other people, you need to be able to get a reading of their energy. Because I do all my readings online, the way I do this is by trying to get a read on the energy behind the question or enquiry. Nobody wakes up one morning when everything is going swimmingly and says ‘I feel like I should get a reading’ there is always a subconscious driver behind the need for a tarot reading, we just have to try and figure out what it is.

I always ask my clients for context around their question, I try and get a feeling of the emotional state they’re in and how they’re reacting to the situation. This is all energy reading. You are using the energy behind their words or if you’re on a video call, by their facial expressions or the inflexions when they talk.

Once you’ve got a grasp of the type of energy your client is emitting, then you move onto the cards. You can then put the meanings of the cards up against the question and compare the meanings to the energy the client is giving off.

I then ask myself some key questions:

Is the energy from this card complimenting the energy I’m getting from the client?
Is the energy from this card conflicting with the energy I’m getting from the client?

Complimentary energy means that there is clarity to the reading, the answers the cards are presenting are probably things the client already sort of knew or was expecting. If the energy is in conflict with the energy of the client, then it may be that there is some inner work that needs to be done to bring these things to light, or there are things that the client is avoiding or reluctant to admit to themselves.

What if you read the energy wrong?

When you first start tarot reading, I highly recommend asking your clients as many questions as possible, especially throughout the reading. This will help you pick up on any energy shifts and help you read the person a little better.

Of course, we are all only human and we may be off the mark a little sometimes, but if you can open a strong line of communication with your client, then it gives you more room to move things around and really figure things out together.

If the person you’re reading for tells you that you’re completely wrong and gets angry with you (I’ve NEVER had this just FYI) then it could be that the fault lies on their end. They may be really reluctant to accept the truth of their situation, or the cards may have called them out on their own bullshit. Remember, you’re reading their energy, so if that’s the energy they’re giving off, there must be something deeper going on. I find this happens most often in love readings, which is why I’m very careful when agreeing to any tarot reading around love.

Want an easy way to learn tarot reading that allows you to go at your own pace? Check out my online Tarot For Beginners Course!

Reading Reverse Tarot Cards

Aug 11, 2020 | Learn Tarot

Reading reverse tarot cards is something that many newbie tarot readers find daunting. Not only do you have to set out to learn all the meanings of the cards upright, but now you have to learn 78 brand new meanings for the same cards upside down. That’s a grand total of 156 different meanings to memorise!

However, here’s some good news for you. You don’t actually have to read reverse meanings if you don’t want to. It’s a technique that not all professional tarot readers use, myself included. For some, reading reverse just doesn’t feel right, or feel comfortable. For others, they can’t wait to see a reversed card in their spread. It’s all down to personal preference and your gut feeling towards reversals.

Why do we have reversals in tarot reading?

You may be wondering why we even have reversals if you don’t have to use them. Well, reading reversals adds an extra level of detail and meaning to your tarot readings. Sometimes it can be tricky to decide whether a card has a positive or negative connotation, but adding in reversals gives us that context.

As a whole, reversals are a relatively advanced tarot reading technique, so don’t worry if you don’t feel ready to dive into them straight away. However, if you do want to give them a go, here are a few reversal hacks to help you understand the reverse meanings of any card.

Internal or external?

Reversal cards can tell you when the card is an internal influence rather than and external one. If you’re using both upright and reverse cards, then upright will indicate that something is an external influence and reversed will be an internal influence.

For example:

Here we have a simple three card, past, present and future spread. We’ve got The Fool in the past position, showing that we’ve recently taken the leap into something new, possibly a new career or hobby based off The Fool leading into The Magician. The Fool is upright, so this refers to the external world, so we’ve taken a practical course of action rather than just making a decision to do something. Similarly, the upright Magician in the present position shows that we are actively creating something.

Then we have the reversed card in the future position. If we use the context of internal or external, we can see that the Nine of Swords in the future is happening internally. The worry and anxiety locked within the Nine of Swords is completely internal, so it might be that this new creative venture you’ve set out on will cause some stress and anxiety further down the line.

Conscious or subconscious?

Another way of reading reversal cards, is to associate the reversal with the subconscious mind. This means that any upright cards are referring to our conscious and the reverse cards look at the deeply hidden realms of the subconscious. These reverse cards will reference aspects that we may not be aware even exist, but they will be a direct influence on the cards referring to the conscious mind.

Example:

In this spread, we see we’ve got the Knight of Swords and the Eight of Wands in the past and present positions and both are upright cards. This could indicate a rush to get something completed or to get results from something we’ve been waiting for. We are consciously thinking about when this will happen and we’re probably feeling very impatient about the whole thing.

Then we have the future card as our reverse card, which in this case is the Four of Cups. This could indicate that we may receive what we’ve been waiting for, but subconsciously we’ll be disappointed with what we get. We may currently think we need this thing to be satisfied, hence our urgency to hurry up and receive it, but actually we still won’t be happy when we do finally get it.

A blockage or a bridge?

Another technique is to see the upright cards as bridges and the reversed as blockages, on our path moving forwards.

Think about a bridge in front of you, you need to cross it to get to where you want to be, but there’s a tree that’s fallen and it’s blocking you from crossing the bridge. The tree would be the reversed card and the bridge would be the upright card.

Example:

In this spread we start off with our reversed card in the past position. We’ve got the Five of Swords showing deceit and hollow victories. With this in the reversed position, this was a block that was stopping you from moving forward. At one point you couldn’t take the next step, either because someone betrayed you, or you felt guilty about what you did to someone else. Remember this card is in the past position, so we’ve overcome this blockage.

Moving on from this, we enter into the Page of Wands in the present, so we’ve overcome this block and now we feel ready to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. This card, because it’s upright, will be a bridge we need to take in order to reach the next stage in our journey. This will lead us onto the future card, which is the Seven of Wands. With this card in mind, I get the feeling that the past card was referring to an external betrayal e.g. someone did something to us that knocked us down. Now we’re having to learn to stand our ground and fight off the negative habits and coping mechanisms we’ve developed because of this betrayal. This makes the Seven of Wands a card about finding your own strength and turns into a bridge to help us be stronger and distance ourselves further from our past trauma.

Movement or a delay?

We can also read the reversals in terms of movement. Imagine a current of energy flowing through each card, in the upright position this energy can flow freely allowing things to move forward smoothly. If this card is reversed, the energy stops flowing and we can’t go anywhere.

Example:

Here we have another past, present and future spread, however this time we have two reversed cards to read, so things are a bit more complex. We start with the upright Wheel of Fortune, a card all about flow and cycles and the meaning of this will become a lot clearer as we read the other cards.

We are faced with a reversed Ace of Pentacles in the present position, a card that usually symbolises good fortune in career, home life and finances. However it’s reversed so our luck has changed. The nice constant flow of energy we saw in the Wheel of Fortune has meant that it’s moved out of our control and things are starting to go wrong. The reversed ace could be hinting at the sudden loss of finances or money troubles that have seemingly come out of nowhere. These money troubles are stopping you from being able to think about anything else.

The reversed Hierophant in the future position suggests that you might need the help of a professional or advice from someone that has been in the same position, however you’re probably reluctant to do so, maybe because of pride or vanity. You don’t want others to see that you’ve lost control of this aspect of your life. However in order to progress past The Hierophant, you need to seek this guidance and support or you’ll stay stuck where you are.

What do you need to do to turn the card upright?

A good reverse card hack is to look at the reversed card and think about what action you need to take in order to reach the upright meaning of the card.

For example if we had that reversed Four of Cups card from the second example above, what would you need to do in order to resolve that subconscious disappointment? How could you become aware of it? How could you drag it out of the depths of your subconscious and into your conscious mind, where you can start to work on it?

Or if we go back to the first example and the reversed Nine of Swords, how could we take action to address the internal worry and anxiety we’re feeling around this new venture of ours? Could we get outside help? Could we talk to someone about our fears and concerns? How can we take that internal angst and make it external?

The easiest way to get started with reversals, is to decide which context resonates with you the most, do you feel like the reversals are referring to the subconscious? Or maybe you feel more aligned with the theory of the reversed cards being a blockage?

Every tarot reader reads differently, so don’t feel like there is just one way. Experiment with these types of contexts and see which one feels the most natural.

Looking to learn how to read tarot from scratch? Why not join us on our Tarot For Beginners online course!

Star Signs Within the Tarot

Aug 4, 2020 | Learn Tarot

If you’re going to be joining me for the Tarot For Beginners course starting the 1st of September, knowing the associations between the star signs and the tarot will help you level up just that little bit more, as you go through the course.

Associating the zodiac personalities and traits to the major arcana cards can help us better understand the energy each card holds. Tarot reading is all about understanding the different energies that ebb and flow throughout our lives and adding in the zodiac helps us to narrow down the differences between them even further.

Below, you’ll find a full list of all the zodiac associations within the tarot, specifically the Rider-Waite Smith tarot deck.

Aries

The Emperor

The Emperor is filled with a fire and passion that is shared with those under the star sign of Aries. An Aries person is said to be brave, assertive and confident, the perfect description of the energy of The Emperor. In the imagery of the card, we can see the presence of Aries in the rams heads that adorn The Emperor’s stone throne.

Taurus

The Hierophant

Taurus and The Hierophant are very well paired, with the stable and traditional energy of The Hierophant, perfectly complimenting Taurus’ sturdy and reliable nature. Those born under Taurus are said to be strongwilled and a bit of a homebody. They love to be around family and friends and feel most comfortable when in the safety of their own homes. This is reflected in The Hierophant’s commitment properties and this card can even represent marriage.

Gemini

The Lovers

The Lovers are associated with Gemini, a star sign that refers to those who always have a surprise up their sleeve. Geminis are known for getting along with everyone and being filled with a huge amount of love, perfect traits to pair with The Lovers. The Lovers can also represent a battle between our vices and our virtues, which can be seen in Gemini’s struggle to control their emotions.

Cancer

The Chariot

Those born under the star sign of Cancer are known for their tenacity, ambition and occasional restlessness. These are all properties that can be heavily associated with The Chariot, as it is a card of ambition and forward movement, especially towards goals and dreams. If you look very carefully, you can also see the symbol of Cancer on the charioteers belt.

Leo

Strength

The lion is a well-known symbol of strength and being able to tame our more wild emotions and instincts. This applied to both the Strength tarot card and the star sign of Leo. Leo’s are creative, energetic and loyal, all traits that are hinted at when we talk about strength in this card. Both the Strength card and Leos have an inner strength that helps them cope with anything and makes them into a strong but empathetic leader.

Virgo

The Hermit

The Hermit is a card of isolation and inner wisdom. There is a deep need to just remove yourself from reality for a while, in order to get your head on straight, something that Virgo’s may need to do, as they tend to keep their emotions tightly locked away. Like The Hermit, Virgos are very private people, but they are also always thinking, which means sometimes they have to go away and collect their thoughts in order to carry on effectively.

Libra

Justice

The reference to Libra is pretty obvious in the Justice tarot card, the main figure clearly holds the scales in her hand, showing her power to make critical decisions and choices. Libras are known as very diplomatic people and actively look for balance and fairness. Justice does the same, it is a card of weighing up pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses and coming to a fair and honest conclusion.

Scorpio

Death

I’m a Scorpio and when I found out the tarot card for Scorpio was Death, things made a little more sense. The Death card is about the end of chapters and dealing with change, there is a mystery to it. Scorpios are said to be very mysterious, stubborn and can move forward easily when they puy their emotions to one side. When faced with the end of a cycle, it’s important that we can accept what has to be and move on, something Scorpios do better than any other star sign.

Sagittarius

Temperance

There is a truth and honesty to Temperance that perfectly sums up a Sagittarius. Sagittarius star signs are not only adventurous, but they are also dependable, don’t hold grudges and have no time for people that are too emotional or extra. Temperance is very much a Sagittarius card, with one foot in the water, in touch with emotion and creativity, and one on land, grounded and sure of themself.

Capricorn

The Devil

Although Capricorns have a great deal of strength and resilience, they are also prone to being swallowed up by their own egos. The Devil symbolises the need for willpower and to fight against our vices, something that Capricorns have to work extra hard at. They can sometimes come across as cold or blunt, but inside they are trying to keep their emotion under wraps.

Aquarius

The Star

The Star is about hopes, big dreams and believing in infinite possibilities, something that Aquarius star signs are famous for. We can even see the symbol of Aquarius reflected in the two water jugs being poured on the ground and into the pool. Aquarius is a sign that can’t be held down and they are always dreaming big and thinking outside of the box. They have no desire to conform and that is exactly what The Star encourages us to do, test the boundaries and reach for the stars.

Pisces

The Moon

The dreamy and intuitive properties of Pisces are the main traits we see in The Moon tarot card. This card is all about trusting and tapping into your intuition and subconscious. We are asked to face our darker side and come to terms with it, something that Pisces are very good at doing. Pisces can be overly emotional and moody at times, something that we see in the different phases of the moon. One minute they can be fool and bright, the next they can be dark and dismissive.

There are also appearances from the astrological signs in other Tarot cards. For example, in the Wheel of Fortune Tarot card, we see the four fixed astrological signs; Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio and Taurus.

The same signs can also be seen in the very final card of The World. Keep your eyes peeled for other appearances as you explore your own Tarot deck.

The Emperor Card Meaning | Tarot Card Meaning

Jun 2, 2020 | Learn Tarot

The Emperor is the card of the divine masculine, it is a symbol of power, strength and authority. Often when The Emperor rears his head in a reading, there is a need to step up and take back control or flex your own authority.

He is also seen as the father figure in the major arcana, the yang to The Empress’ yin, or in Pagan traditions, the sun to The Empress’ moon. He is strict, abides by the laws and rules and can enforce his authority with ease.

click to browse the full tarot meaning directory

Upright

When The Emperor appears right side up, he can represent a number of different properties, such as:

Leadership
Authority
Discipline
Divine Masculine
Control
Power

In the upright position, The Emperor is often a sign that there is a need to step into your power, to not be afraid to take or chase what you really want. Depending on the position, The Emperor can also represent someone else taking your power away from you, or blocking you from being able to be more authoritative. This could be a boss or even a controlling parental figure.

Reversed

In the reversed position, The Emperor can point towards our weaknesses in character or even our ego taking over. All the attributes of The Emperor upright are now flipped on their heads and turned inwards. Some reversed meanings for The Emperor are:

Stubbornness
Egotistical
Controlling
Authoritarian
Undisciplined

The Emperor is the master, the ruler of everything. I like to think of him as a figure such as Zeus, Henry VIII or Daenerys from Game of Thrones. In fact, she’s a great example of The Emperor moving from the upright to the reversed position over time.

Characters That Represent The Emperor

To help you get a better feel for The Emperor, here are a few characters from history and media that will help you understand the essence of The Emperor card.

Henry VIII – King of England
Daenerys Stormborn (Khaleesi, breaker of chains… you get the gist) – Game of Thrones
Zeus – Greek God
Alexander Hamilton – Hamilton
Walter White – Breaking Bad
Elizabeth I – Queen of England
Princess Leia/ General Organa – Star Wars

The Emperor Tarot Meaning - Pinterest.png

Reading The Emperor in a spread

The Emperor is the opposite of The Empress, in that he is the authoritative leader who takes charge and is all about action rather than feeling. The Emperor has the same unmoving energy as a brick house or a large boulder. He does things on his own terms and so he can be quite a confronting energy to get in your tarot spreads. Let’s have a look at different ways we can approach this stoic energy of The Emperor when he makes an appearance in our readings.

As an invitation

When we read The Emperor as an invitation, it can seem like an invite that we are afraid to decline. He’s very forceful in his message and it can feel like more of a command than an invitation, but it’s offered in the vein of tough love, rather than manipulation or control.

For The Emperor, this invitation could be the following:

An invitation to explore your own personal strength and power
An invitation to see where you can exercise more control and authority
An invitation to explore your own capabilities and desires
An invitation to explore your divine masculine and see how you can use it more effectively

As sage advice

The Emperor is a big fan of dishing out advice. He can be a bit egotistical so the advice he offers comes from a very self-assured and confident place. When The Emperor offers you advice, it is always for your own good, even if it’s hard to hear. He can also highlight when you’ve taken his energy a bit too far in the other direction, causing you to be unyielding when you don’t have to be.

Some advice The Emperor may offer is:

To stop allowing people to manage your affairs, take control of your own stuff
Be mindful of when you are being stubborn, rather than simply standing your ground
Check in to see if you are making decisions based on your ego or using your intuition
Never give up your power to make others happy or soothe somebody else’s ego

As a lesson

The archetype of the father figure, which The Emperor is based off, is someone that relishes dolling out hard lessons. The Emperor wants you to learn the hard way and therefore he can often represent those difficult lessons we are faced with throughout our lives.

Some lessons that The Emperor may offer you are:

To not let anyone else take your power away from you
To be a leader but not a dictator, find a balance between authority and compassion
To identify the areas of your life where The Emperor energy is needed and where it can be put to one side in favour of more nurturing energy
Not everything will be done for you, at some point you’ll need to step up and take control of your own destiny

As a redirection

The Emperor as a redirection is a call to action. If you’ve been planning, strategising or just thinking about how to solve your problem or overcome your challenges, The Emperor appears to tell you it’s time to put in the work. He is an anti-procrastination card because he has no time for those that dilly-dally.

As a redirection, The Emperor could symbolise a need to:

Step up and take control of the situation
Check your ego and pride to see if they are standing in your way
Release your hold on situations you’ve been gripping tightly – this is especially important in the realm of relationships
Take on more responsibility for your own actions

In summary…

The Emperor may seem like a harsh card, but remember that his energy is always in service of you. The Emperor, like any of the tarot cards, wants you to succeed and thrive, he’s just a bit more direct in his approach. When you are faced with The Emperor card, it helps to also think about The Empress and consider how each card would view the problem or question you are asking about.

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