The Chariot Tarot Card & Ares
Ares The God of War
The Chariot In Myth Is Ares
So many of us love the Chariot card, especially as he is depicted in the Tarot Oil Tarot deck – action packed and moving forward at great speed. A bit of a hunk really too, but I digress. So, back to the matter at hand, the story of the Chariot as he shows up in myth. In this space, the Chariot is represented by the Greek god of war, Ares.
Ares was known for his aggressiveness, mercilessness, and often for being hasty. He goes directly for what he wants – in war, and in love – no holding back. Now for us, we who are trying to forge a place in this dog eat dog world, the grit and focus of the Chariot card can be a mighty useful thing. In fact, I’ve found that when I work with coaching clients, we often access the skills of the Chariot archetype so that they can get good traction in their lives. There’s a lot of value here.
In the stories about Ares we learn that he fell in love with Aphrodite. Naturally, he couldn’t resist the charms of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Who could? But instead of holding back out of respect for her husband, Hephaestus, Ares carried on an affair with the goddess. All was well, until one day, Helios, god of the sun, spotted the lovers in bed, in Hephaestus’ own house. He told the god, who was heartbroken and enraged, and who would get his revenge.
Hephaestus was the forger of the gods, skilled beyond all others in metalwork. He created a net of chains so fine that they weren’t visible to the human eye, or even to the eyes of the other gods. This invisible chain could bind immortals inside it. Hephaestus strung it over the bed that he and Aphrodite shared, and seemingly casually mentioned to Ares that he was headed out on a long voyage. It wasn’t long after his departure that Ares told Aphrodite they should get together at her home and have a little fun in bed.
And so, there they were, locked in an embrace, when suddenly – they were stuck. The invisible net was now around them, binding them to each other in a suddenly unappealing way. Hephaestus saw that his trap had worked, and wailed at the betrayal – but also called all of the gods to come and look and mock the trapped couple, who begged to be set free.
After they’d been mocked for their ways, and Hephaestus had had his gifts of marriage returned, the lovers were let go and went their separate ways.
Ares had made hasty decision after hasty decision, but that was only in his nature. The same can be said for the energy of The Chariot card. The Chariot is about drive, about getting to a place you need to be. But the downside of this is that a person may not realize or even care who they are driving over or what they are trampling on to get to their goal.
The mythical stories of yesteryear can gift us with an alternative view of our Tarot card archetypes. A view that shines the light on some of their faults and failings, or perhaps their strengths that when over used can cause difficulty or just trip us up.
Use the Chariot to achieve your personal and work goals, enjoy the power of his focus and his capacity to be single minded – but remember always that there are two beasts in the card, one represents the light and the other the dark. The Charioteer must manage them to maintain constancy in his upwards and onwards journey. To do this he must maintain a balance of ethics and honour which is one of the reasons why peppermint is included in the Chariot Tarot Oil for it sustains integrity in behaviour
The Chariot is the topic of one of the sessions in the Tarot Masterclasses Course so you may like to opt in for that if you want to go deeper with The Chariot.
Well that’s it from me for now.
Warmest to You,
Karen