By Sarah Taylor

I have a feeling that the energy of the cards — especially the Knight of Wands — has a significant hand in a strong feeling of power that courses through me when I take in this week’s reading. I look at all three solitary figures, one in each card, and they are looking at me directly. No bullshit. Down to business.

The Chariot, The Magus, Knight of Wands from The Röhrig Tarot deck, created by Carl-W. Röhrig. Click on the image for a larger version.

Even the visored figure in The Chariot (who I will refer to as a “he,” taking his gender from other versions of the card) is revving his engine and facing me down.

The next thing I invite you to notice are the colours. Look at the three cards together, specifically the similarities between the left and centre card (The Chariot and The Magus), and their contrast with the third.

The Chariot and The Magus are Major Arcana cards, and early ones at that: cards 7 and 1, respectively. These are cards of self-definition, primarily about who we are on the individual level. As we shift through the Majors, we shift from self-definition into change and crisis and transformation, and arrive the other end seeing ourselves as part of the collective.

Here in this reading, though, we are concerned with questions such as “Who am I?” and “Where am I going?” and “What do I stand for?” This is borne out by the third card — but more on that later.

So, back to the colours of these two first cards: cool blues and blacks and feathered light. The star reflected in the visor of the charioteer is the light that burns from the crown of The Magus.

The Chariot is that part of you that is on the move, directed, focused intently on your own becoming. You head towards that one thing — that thing that is simultaneously drawing you towards it. Obviously, that thing is a part of you that you have yet to meet. And it seems obvious here that you have been homing in on an aspect of yourself that you’ve been in the process of defining. You may not have been able to articulate what it was, but boy have you been feeling it calling to you. It has been nothing short of magnetic.

That’s Mercury, The Magus, The Magician. The aspect of you who is able to create and work magic, to communicate deftly with your higher wisdom and to bridge the world of spirit and matter. It has been calling to you. And you listened: or a part of you did. It donned its crash-helmet (these kinds of journeys can be risky, as you know), jumped into its Formula 1 racing car, and sped off, following a star. Much like the Magi in that well-known New Testament story that many people celebrate next month.

You have been a Magus-in-waiting following a star. Following a star to yourself. You crossed lands, deserts, familiar neighbourhood hangouts, and strange, perhaps frightening, terrain to come to a place where The Magus sits opposite you, looking you in the eye, a small, almost imperceptible smile on his lips.

The Magus as an emerging aspect of you, looking at you, the seeker — the one who has been searching for such a long time. And the funny thing is that he doesn’t seem remotely surprised to find you here with him.

“Glad you could come around. I have been waiting for you forever. What next adventure are we going to go on, you and I?”

Well, the Knight, of course! He is your next adventure. While The Chariot and The Magus represent the story that has been happening inside you, and behind the scenes, the Knight of Wands is the outer expression of that story. And so back to the colours, because now we have shifted from blues and starlight to reds and fire. This is far more visceral; this is hot!

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How you are bringing this new, magical aspect of yourself into this world is through the flames of the individuated, fiery masculine. What does that mean, you ask? It means that you mean business.

You’re not going to sit back and let the same things pass you by that you did before. You’re not going to give yourself anything less than a high-octane boost — much like the boost it took for The Chariot to meet up with The Magus, except this time you’re going to feel it in your body: in the pit of your belly, that fire will burn. It is drive, it is zest, it is no-holds-barred action.

What are you going to do with this fire? That’s up to you, but I can give you a few pointers.

• You will want to channel your creativity in ways that you and others will feel palpably in your world.
• You will be unashamedly expressive with your erotic energy, but in a way that empowers both you and others.
• You won’t take any shit. Including your own.
• You’ll be cool as a cucumber with a red-hot heart and stomach.
• You’ll thrive in your inner fires, but you will not be consumed by them any more.
• You will give yourself sanity space and time — but just enough before you re-enter the flames.
• You will fearlessly allow what no longer works for you to be burned away by the very fire that feeds you. It will both nourish and cleanse you.

Two Majors associated with self-definition. One Court Card that embodies the ultimate in active self-definition. No excuses. Not that you’re inclined to make them any more. You have work to do.

Astrology/Elemental correspondences: The Chariot (Cancer), The Magus (Mercury), Knight of Wands (the fiery aspect of fire)

If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread.