Cancer: The Chariot

AstrologyTree of Life / QabalahZodiac SignsTarot CorrespondencesTarot Color BreakdownGreat Work BookMajor Arcana / Trumps

Jun 22

Written By M Fortune

The Chariot tarot cards from the Rider-Waite, Crowley Thoth, and Golden Dawn Tarot — *VII The Chariot from* *The Rider-Waite, Thoth, and Golden Dawn tarot decks.*

The Chariot, whose esoteric title is “The Child of the Powers of the Waters, Lord of the Triumph of Light,” symbolizes successful control over opposing forces through mastery, willpower, and determination—using focused ability to overcome obstacles by balancing physical and spiritual power. Confidence, control, purpose, progress, and moving forward are all metaphors for The Chariot.

In this article, we will examine The Chariot’s connection to astrology and the Tree of Life (Qabalah). This includes information about this card's zodiac, planetary, and elemental attributes, along with color and other magickal correspondences, and how these aspects shape The Chariot’s unique characteristics and aesthetics.

For those using The Great Work Book to log their tarot studies, this is an excellent opportunity to add details about The Chariot. Example pages featuring The Chariot are included at the end of this article.

The Astrology of The Chariot

*The Great Work Book* *showing journal pages for The Chariot, the tarot card associated with Cancer.*

Zodiac Sign: The Chariot’s Sign is Cancer.

Element: The Chariot’s element is Water.

Ruling Planet: The Chariot’s ruling planet is The Moon.

Modality: The LoverChariot’s Modality is Cardinal.

Dates: May 22 - June 21

The Chariot card is associated with the Zodiac sign Cancer. The Moon governs this Cardinal Water sign, which rules the heavens from June 22 to July 22. Cancer expresses these traits through a strong emotional desire to nurture and protect. Cancers are intuitive, empathic caretakers, but can often be sensitive and moody, especially when faced with criticism, which engages their need to protect themselves.

Each zodiac sign is categorized into three modes: Cardinal at the start, Fixed in the middle, and Mutable at the end of a season. Cardinal signs—Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn—appear at the beginning of the seasons, suggesting ambition, drive, and leadership in initiating action. Cancer, as a Water sign ruled by the Moon, is known for integrating emotion and nurturing into its leadership qualities.

As a Cardinal sign, Cancer is the most driven among the Water signs, with the ability to turn emotion into actions—traits symbolized by the figure controlling the Chariot.

Cancer’s Minor Cards

The Chariot card from Crowley's Thoth Tarot is pictured with its associated Minor Arcana cards, the 2, 3, and 4 of Cups. — *The Chariot card from the* *Thoth Tarot* *is pictured with its associated Minor Arcana cards, the 2, 3, and 4 of Cups.*

Each Zodiac sign is split into three sections of about ten days, called Decans. Each Decan is ruled by a different planet, providing additional influence to each Zodiac sign. As a result, a person's Zodiac traits can be expressed in three distinct ways, based on the Decan of their birth.

Each Decan is associated with a Minor or Pip Tarot card, marking the distinct qualities of each ten-day period. Consequently, every Zodiac Trump card has three corresponding numbered cards representing the initial, middle, and final phases of the Sun’s journey through that sign. Cancer, and therefore The Chariot, has the 2, 3, and 4 of Cups as assigned as Minor cards.

Decan 1: Venus • 2 of Cups, Love

The Two of Cups is assigned to the First Decan of Cancer and is ruled by Venus from June 22 to July 1.

Decan 2: Mercury • 3 of Cups, Abundance

The Three of Cups is assigned to the Second Decan of Cancer and is ruled by Mercury, July 1 - 12.

Decan 3: Moon • 4 of Cups, Luxury

The Three of Cups is assigned to the Third Decan of Cancer and is ruled by the Moon, July 13 - 22.

Cancer on the Tree of Life

The Great Work Book’s Qabalistic Journal featuring Cheth, the path associated with Cancer. The Chariot tarot cards from Rider-Waite, Thoth, and Golden Dawn decks are pictured. — The Great Work Book’s Qabalistic Journal featuring Cheth, the path associated with Cancer.

Infographic of the Tree of Life (Qabalah) showing the path Cheth and its connecting Sephiroth Chesed and Geburah. Teth is the path of Cancer and The Chariot tarot card. — Cheth, the path of Cancer, and its connecting Sephiroth Binah and Geburah.

All tarot cards can be mapped to the Tree of Life (Qabalah). Exploring tarot on the Tree of Life offers students new ways to study the connections not only between the cards but also in life itself. The Qabalistic system is an excellent way to learn the underpinnings of divinatory meanings by making associations with astrology, color, and many other correspondences.

On the Tree of Life, The Chariot is mapped to Path 18, Cheth. Cheth means “fence” and is located between Sephiroth (spheres) 3 Binah and 5 Geburah, Understanding and Strength, respectively. Binah is known as the sphere of form, structure, and the divine feminine and is home to Saturn. Geburah is home to Mars and has a secondary title of Severity. Their connecting path, according to Qabalistic teachings, is titled the “Intelligence of the House of Influence” because “(by the greatness of whose abundance the influx of good things upon created beings is increased), and from the midst of the investigation the arcana and hidden senses are drawn forth, which dwell in its shade and which cling to it from the cause of all causes.”

Looking closely at these three components of the Tree—namely, the path from Saturn to Mars— it becomes clear that the path Cheth requires emotional stability to balance the opposing forces of Understanding and Severity. The imagery of the crab or the depiction of a calm figure controlling a chariot and its team illustrates the skills required for work on the path of Cheth.

The Colors of Cancer

The Chariot tarot card from the Rider-Waite, Crowley Thoth, and Golden Dawn tarot decks pictured with their qalabistic color palette. — The Chariot from the Rider-Waite, Thoth, and Golden Dawn Tarot decks is shown with the card's color palette for comparison.

Infographic showing the color palette of The Chariot tarot card, along with planetary and elemental references. — The color palette of The Chariot tarot card.

Behind the Tree of Life lies an intricate system of color associations. Developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, this system begins by assigning colors to the planets, elements, and zodiac signs and extends to 128 colors that correspond to the spheres and paths of the Tree of Life across its four elemental worlds: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.

Known as the Color Scales, this system associates specific colors with locations on the Tree of Life and has been used by many tarot artists to create a color palette for each card. Below are the color associations of Cancer and its tarot card, The Chariot.

Cancer’s Astrological Color

ELEMENT: Cancer’s Element is Water, which is represented by Blue.

ZODIAC: The Chariot’s sign is Cancer, which is represented by Amber.

PLANET: Cancer’s ruling planet is The Moon, which is represented by Blue.

Cancer’s Color on the Tree of Life

Unlike the Minor Arcana, which are categorized into only one of the elemental worlds based on their suit, the Major Arcana are seen as expressing all four elemental worlds simultaneously and therefore have colors from all four worlds assigned.

FIRE: In the King Scale of Color (Fire, Atziluth), Cancer’s path is colored Amber.

WATER: In the Queen Scale of Color (Water, Briah), Cancer’s path is colored Maroon.

AIR: In the Emperor Scale of Color (Air, Yetzirah), Cancer’s path is colored Rich Bright Russet.

EARTH: In the Empress Scale of Color (Earth, Assiah), Cancer’s path is colored Dark Greenish Brown.

Summary of Correspondences for The Chariot

Often described as a filing cabinet for the forces of nature, the Qabalah is a free-association system that encourages individuals to map their own connections to the image known as the Tree of Life. Mapping tarot to the Tree is only one way to use this system. In fact, learning to make other associations on the Tree can improve your tarot studies by forming links to ideas, events, behaviors, and various other concepts related to a card.

Below is a summary of the correspondences covered in this article, along with several notable associations with The Chariot’s path, Cheth. A full list of correspondences can be found in Crowley’s 777 or the Thelemapedia website.

VII. The Chariot	CORRESPONDENCE	COLOR
ASTROLOGY
Zodiac Sign	♋︎ Cancer	● Amber
Element	🜄 Water	● Blue
Ruling Planet	☽︎ The Moon	● Blue
Modality	Cardinal	---
TREE OF LIFE
Tree of Life	Path 18: Cheth, Fence	● ● ● ● Amber, Maroon, Rich Bright Russet, Dark Greenish Brown
Esoteric Title	The Child of the Powers of the Waters, Lord of the Triumph of Light	---
Golden Dawn Number	Sixty-four	---
Yetziratic Text	The House of Intelligence of Influence	---
Plants	Lotus	---
Stones	Amber	---
Perfumes	Onycha	---
Gods	Mercury, Apollo (the Charioteer), Khephra	---
Magical Weapons	The Furnace	---
OTHER ASSOCIATIONS
Sound	D Sharp	---
Alchemical	Circulation	---
DIVINATORY MEANINGS
Successful control over opposing forces through mastery, willpower, and determination—using focused ability to overcome obstacles by balancing physical and spiritual power. Confidence, control, purpose, progress, and moving forward are all metaphors for The Chariot.

Cancer in The Great Work Book

Traditional tarot decks such as the Rider-Waite and the Crowley Thoth incorporate astrological and qabalistic symbols, often requiring detailed note-taking to interpret these connections. The Great Work Book helps tarot students track this info efficiently. It begins with exercises for logging a card’s astrology and progresses to activities on the Tree of Life. Additionally, the book includes journaling pages for each Zodiac sign, Tree of Life location, and all cards in a standard 78-card tarot deck. Together, these pages become a personalized, DIY encyclopedia for your tarot journey.

Below are a few examples of the activity and journaling pages in The Great Work Book, featuring those related to Cancer and The Chariot tarot card.