The Chariot Meets Existentialism: Embracing Radical Freedom

The archetype

The Chariot represents the ability to move forward with tension inside you. Two desires or forces may pull in different directions, and success comes from harnessing them toward a single goal. This card emphasizes discipline and focus: not suppressing emotions, but using them as fuel rather than letting them steer.

The Existentialism lens

Existentialism reads every threshold as a confrontation with freedom: there is no script handed down, only the choices you are willing to own.

At its core, Existentialism, shaped by Jean-Paul Sartre in 20th-century Europe, holds that existence precedes essence, so you author your own meaning through choice. Placed beside the Chariot, whose imagery includes chariot, black and white sphinxes, armor, star crown, and city wall, the card stops being a prediction and becomes a mirror for how you meet your situation.

Reading The Chariot upright

The Chariot’s energy of willpower, momentum, and self-discipline finds a natural dialogue here. Seen this way, the card is an invitation to act in good faith, to choose deliberately rather than drift along borrowed expectations. Read this way, the card rewards authenticity: the upright Chariot is less an instruction than an opportunity to practice it.

Reading The Chariot reversed

Reversed, The Chariot suggests pushing too hard or losing direction: moving fast without clarity on where you are going. Pause to recalibrate. Is the goal still worth it? Is your drive harming you or others? Bring your power back into a controllable range. Reversed, the card exposes bad faith, the temptation to blame circumstance and pretend you had no choice at all. In Existentialism, this is the territory of bad faith, a signal to slow down and look again before you act.

In love and connection

Love needs direction: move forward together or part ways. Turn conflict into cooperation by setting shared goals and acting on them. A Existentialism reading would add: let authenticity guide how you show up, rather than the outcome you are hoping to secure.

In work and direction

Great for sprints, bids, promotions, and exams. You can push things to completion, but stay focused and coordinate with the team. Through this lens, progress is measured less by status and more by whether your choices express authenticity.

A question to sit with

If meaning is made and not found, what will you choose to be responsible for this week?

A practice for this week

Choose a clear goal and a time window, and reduce distractions. Make discipline daily: keep a steady rhythm, review progress, and act by priority. Name one decision you have been outsourcing to fate, and make it consciously, owning the outcome either way.

A note on using this reading

This content is for self-reflection and entertainment only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice.