Read Tarot78 Cards, Your Message← Back to Home
📖 Table of Contents

The Chariot and The Hermit: Solo Journey

Quick Answer: Yes — but only if you've been feeling the tension between pushing forward and needing to step back. This combination often appears when you've been driving hard toward something and sense you're missing important signals, or when you've been in retreat and feel the stirring to engage again. If you're at a crossroads between action and contemplation, The Chariot and The Hermit together suggest the answer isn't choosing one over the other—it's learning when each is called for.

At a Glance

Aspect Meaning
Core Theme Directed will guided by inner wisdom
Energy Dynamic Complementary tension seeking integration
Love Relationships balancing independence with intimacy, or knowing when to pursue and when to give space
Career Success through strategic solitude, or ambitious goals refined by introspection
Yes or No Yes, but take time to reflect first

The Core Dynamic

When The Chariot and The Hermit appear together, they create one of tarot's most instructive paradoxes about the relationship between action and contemplation. The Chariot charges forward with unwavering focus—willpower made manifest, the triumph of determination over obstacles, the warrior who bends reality to their purpose. The Hermit stands alone on a mountain peak, lantern raised, finding truth not through conquest but through withdrawal from the world's noise.

This isn't simply "action plus reflection." The combination reveals something more essential: that the most powerful forward movement often requires prior stillness, and that wisdom gained in solitude finds its purpose only when carried back into the world.

"This combination often appears when you must learn to be both the warrior and the sage—knowing when each is called for."

Consider what happens when unbridled drive lacks inner guidance. The Chariot without The Hermit's wisdom becomes mere force, winning battles that didn't need fighting, arriving at destinations that were never truly desired. Ambition without reflection can carry you very far, very fast, in entirely the wrong direction. You may conquer external obstacles while remaining enslaved to internal ones you never stopped to examine.

Equally, consider what happens when contemplation lacks the courage to act. The Hermit without The Chariot's momentum becomes isolation disguised as wisdom, withdrawal that serves avoidance rather than genuine understanding. You can spend years on the mountain, lantern raised, seeing clearly—yet never descending to apply what you've seen. Wisdom that doesn't eventually translate into action remains incomplete.

The Chariot is associated with Cancer in traditional correspondences—cardinal water, the protective shell, emotional force channeled into determined movement. The Hermit corresponds to Virgo—mutable earth, the harvest of experience, the patient distillation of understanding. Together they suggest that genuine progress requires both the courage to move and the discernment to know where and when.

The integration these cards offer is practical and profound. When you can charge forward with full conviction AND maintain the capacity for quiet reassessment, when you can retreat into solitude for guidance AND emerge ready to act on what you've learned, you access a mode of being that is both powerful and wise. This is the general who meditates before battle, the entrepreneur who takes sabbaticals, the leader who listens deeply before deciding.

The key question this combination asks: Are you moving with wisdom, or merely moving? And if you've been still, is it contemplation or avoidance?

When This Combination Commonly Appears

You might see these cards together when:

  • You've been working nonstop and suddenly feel an urge to withdraw, but can't tell if it's wisdom or avoidance
  • A period of solitude has given you clarity, and now you're wondering how to translate insight into action
  • You achieved something you worked hard for, but arriving feels hollow—like you forgot to ask why you wanted it
  • Someone close to you says you're either "always on" or "completely checked out," with no middle ground
  • You're about to make a major move (job, relationship, relocation) and part of you insists on pausing first

The pattern looks like this: You're not lacking drive or insight—you have both. The question is timing and integration. The Chariot says "move." The Hermit says "wait and see clearly first." These cards appear together when life is asking you to develop the wisdom to know which voice to follow when.

This pairing tends to surface at moments when your momentum—or lack of it—requires examination. You may have been driving hard toward goals and sense that something important is being missed in the rush. Or you may have been in a period of withdrawal and feel the stirring of readiness to engage again.

The Chariot and The Hermit commonly appear together when someone has achieved significant external success but feels disconnected from their inner compass. The career advancement happened, the relationship was won, the goal was reached—yet there's a hollowness, a sense of having arrived somewhere without knowing why this particular destination mattered. The combination suggests that continued forward motion without reflection will only deepen this disconnection.

This pairing frequently appears during periods of burnout or its approach. The Chariot's energy, when sustained too long without renewal, eventually exhausts itself. The Hermit's appearance alongside it may be the psyche's way of signaling that withdrawal isn't optional—that if you don't choose stillness consciously, your body or circumstances will choose it for you.

You may also encounter these cards together at the beginning of significant undertakings. Before launching a business, entering a committed relationship, or making a major life change, this combination advises that preparation isn't merely practical but spiritual. What do you actually want? What does your inner guidance say? Have you asked? The Chariot's energy wants to GO, but The Hermit counsels that a pause now may save years of misdirection later.

Emotionally, this combination often corresponds to a state of tension between restlessness and the pull toward solitude. Part of you is eager, ambitious, ready to conquer. Another part craves silence, space, the company of your own thoughts. The cards appear to validate both impulses—neither is wrong—and to suggest that integrating them is the real work.

People frequently encounter these cards together when facing decisions about pace: whether to accelerate or decelerate, to push harder or pull back, to engage more fully with the world or retreat from it. The answer is rarely simple, because the combination itself embodies the truth that both modes have their seasons.

Both Upright

When both The Chariot and The Hermit appear upright, the combination expresses its clearest and most constructive message: conscious integration of drive and discernment. This configuration suggests access to both energies without either being blocked or distorted.

This isn't a moment of forced choice between action and contemplation. You have the capacity for powerful forward movement AND the wisdom to guide that movement well. The question is how to sequence and balance these energies effectively.

Love & Relationships

Single: This combination may indicate a period where your approach to finding partnership benefits from both active pursuit and selective withdrawal. Perhaps you've been dating intensively and the cards suggest stepping back to clarify what you actually want before continuing. Or perhaps you've been in a long period of solitude and The Chariot's energy signals readiness to engage more actively—but with the discernment The Hermit provides, not indiscriminately. You might find that taking time alone to understand your patterns and desires makes your subsequent efforts at connection more effective and more authentic.

In a relationship: Existing partnerships may be navigating the balance between togetherness and individuality. Both cards speak to forms of independence—The Chariot's self-directed willpower, The Hermit's need for solitude. In relationship, this might manifest as one or both partners needing more space for individual pursuits, or as a couple needing to clarify where they're actually headed together. The combination supports honest conversation about pace and direction: Are we moving toward shared goals? Do we each have sufficient solitude for our inner lives? This pairing reminds couples that healthy relationships require both the drive to build something together and the space for each person to maintain their own inner guidance.

Career & Work

Job seekers: This combination suggests that effective job searching requires both aggressive pursuit and strategic withdrawal. You may need periods of intense networking, application, and interview preparation—The Chariot's focused drive—alternating with periods of reflection on what you actually want and how each opportunity aligns with your deeper direction. The Hermit's energy can help you avoid the trap of accepting any position just to end the search, while The Chariot ensures you don't remain passive when action is needed. Consider taking time before each major interview or decision to consult your inner guidance: not just "can I get this job?" but "should I want it?"

Employed/Business: Those currently working may benefit from building more intentional solitude into their professional lives. Leaders might find that strategic retreats—actual physical withdrawals from daily operations—generate insights that transform how they lead. Individual contributors might discover that the most productive action emerges from periods of contemplation, not continuous busyness. If you've been driving hard, consider what a Hermit-style pause might offer: clarity, renewed purpose, course corrections before you've traveled too far in suboptimal directions. If you've been hesitant or stalled, The Chariot says the time for reflection has yielded what it will; now act on what you've learned.

Finances

Financial matters under this combination benefit from the integration of decisive action and careful reflection. The Chariot's energy supports bold moves—investments, negotiations, strategic financial decisions that require confidence and forward momentum. The Hermit's energy ensures these moves are considered rather than impulsive, aligned with long-term wisdom rather than short-term excitement.

This pairing often suggests that financial progress requires both: periods of active wealth-building, deal-making, and professional advancement, balanced with periods of stepping back to review whether your financial direction still serves your deeper life. Are you accumulating for the right reasons? Does your relationship with money reflect your actual values? The Hermit asks these questions; The Chariot acts on the answers.

What to Do

Assess your current balance between action and reflection. If you've been in sustained drive mode, schedule genuine solitude—not vacation filled with activities, but actual withdrawal for inner work. If you've been in contemplation, identify the insight that's ready to become action and commit to pursuing it with The Chariot's full force. The goal isn't to choose between these energies but to move fluidly between them. Consider creating a regular rhythm: periods of outward engagement followed by periods of inward examination. The leaders, artists, and achievers who sustain meaningful work over decades almost always describe some version of this cycle. The goal isn't choosing between the warrior and the sage—it's knowing which one the moment requires.

One Card Reversed

When one card is reversed, the dynamic shifts significantly. The reversed card's energy is blocked, excessive, or expressing its shadow side, creating an imbalance that colors the entire reading.

The Chariot Reversed + The Hermit Upright

Here, The Hermit's contemplative energy functions clearly, but The Chariot's capacity for directed will is compromised. This often manifests as wisdom without the power to implement it, or insight that never translates into action.

You may understand clearly what needs to be done—The Hermit's lantern illuminates the path—but feel unable to actually move. Perhaps your willpower has been depleted. Perhaps obstacles seem insurmountable. Perhaps you've been in reflection so long that the muscle of action has atrophied. The reversal might also indicate scattered or misdirected drive: lots of movement but no coherent direction, like a chariot whose horses pull against each other.

The shadow of The Chariot reversed includes both paralysis and chaos—either inability to move at all, or movement that lacks the focus that gives The Chariot its power. With The Hermit upright, you can see clearly, but seeing isn't the same as doing.

The Chariot Upright + The Hermit Reversed

In this configuration, willpower and drive function strongly, but the capacity for introspection and inner guidance is blocked. This often looks like powerful forward motion without wisdom to direct it—achieving goals that, once reached, feel empty or wrong.

You may be driving hard toward something without having asked whether it's truly what you want. Perhaps you've been running from something rather than toward something, using action to avoid the inner examination that might reveal uncomfortable truths. The Hermit reversed can indicate fear of solitude, avoidance of self-knowledge, or isolation that serves withdrawal from life rather than deepening of it.

The Chariot upright here provides tremendous momentum. The question is whether that momentum serves you. Without The Hermit's guidance, you might win battles that cost you the war, reach destinations that don't nourish you, or maintain a pace that gradually depletes rather than fulfills.

Love & Relationships

With The Chariot reversed, relationship pursuits may stall or scatter despite having clear insight into what you want. Perhaps you know the kind of partner or relationship you seek—The Hermit's wisdom is available—but cannot translate this into effective action. Singles might understand their patterns perfectly yet feel paralyzed in dating. Those in relationships might see clearly what needs to change but be unable to initiate the conversation or make the move.

With The Hermit reversed, relationship energy may be active but unguided. You might pursue connection aggressively without pausing to consider whether specific people or situations actually align with your deeper needs. There's a risk of using relationship activity to avoid self-examination—seeking in others what can only be found within. Partners might experience you as driven but disconnected, unable or unwilling to slow down for the intimate reflection that deepens bonds.

Career & Work

With The Chariot reversed, professional drive may be compromised despite having wisdom about your direction. You might clearly see the career move that would serve you, understand the steps needed, yet find yourself unable to take them. Energy dissipates, focus fragments, and The Hermit's insights remain theoretical rather than practical.

With The Hermit reversed, career momentum may be powerful but blind. You might be working intensely, climbing steadily, achieving visibly—while avoiding examination of whether any of it matters to you. The executive who never takes a quiet moment, the entrepreneur who can't stop long enough to question whether they even want what they're building—these are expressions of this configuration.

What to Do

If The Chariot is reversed: The work involves rebuilding capacity for directed action. Start small—choose one clear goal that your Hermit-wisdom confirms is right, and commit to concrete steps. Don't try to solve the whole paralysis at once. If your drive has scattered rather than stalled, the work is focus: stop the chariot, realign the horses, choose one direction, and only then proceed. Consider whether extended withdrawal has depleted your engagement with the world's necessary demands.

If The Hermit is reversed: The work involves creating space for genuine reflection. This might feel threatening to The Chariot's energy—it wants to GO, and stillness feels like failure. But schedule the solitude anyway. Turn off inputs. Sit with yourself. Ask the questions you've been avoiding: Where am I actually headed? Do I want what I'm pursuing? What does my inner guidance say that I've been too busy to hear?

Both Reversed

When both The Chariot and The Hermit appear reversed, the combination expresses its most challenging form: neither effective action nor genuine contemplation is available. You may feel simultaneously stuck and unable to use the stillness productively.

This configuration often appears during periods of confusion that feel particularly frustrating. The drive to move forward is blocked or misdirected, AND the capacity to gain clarity through reflection is compromised. There's often a quality of spinning—lots of mental activity, perhaps physical activity, but no real progress and no real insight.

"When both cards reverse, you may find yourself neither moving forward nor gaining wisdom from standing still—trapped in a limbo that serves neither action nor contemplation."

The shadow expression of this combination includes: anxious activity that avoids both genuine engagement and genuine withdrawal, paralysis combined with inability to use the pause for growth, wisdom that can't be accessed and momentum that can't be generated, and the particular suffering of feeling you should be doing something without knowing what, or feeling you need to reflect without being able to actually think clearly.

Love & Relationships

Relationship patterns may be severely disoriented. If single, you might oscillate between anxious pursuit and fearful withdrawal, unable to sustain either connected engagement or productive solitude. Dating efforts may be scattered and unguided, while time alone fails to generate the clarity that would help. There's often a quality of going through motions—either relationship-seeking or self-reflection—without genuine investment in either.

If partnered, the relationship may feel stuck in ways that neither action nor conversation seems to address. You can't move forward together effectively, but you also can't seem to access the individual clarity that would help you understand why. Partners might feel simultaneously restless and exhausted, wanting change but unable to identify or pursue it.

Career & Work

Professional life may feel paralyzed and murky. You may want to advance but cannot generate the focused drive to do so. You may want to step back and gain perspective but cannot settle into genuine reflection. The result is often a kind of professional limbo—maintaining but not thriving, present but not engaged, neither charging forward nor gaining wisdom from stillness.

There might be a quality of going through the motions: showing up, completing tasks, but with neither the ambition that drives advancement nor the discernment that guides meaningful work. Career decisions may be postponed indefinitely because you can't find either the boldness to choose or the clarity to know what you want.

Finances

Financial matters with both cards reversed require particular caution. Neither the decisive action that builds wealth nor the reflective wisdom that manages it well is functioning properly. This can manifest as financial stagnation with no clear cause, poor decisions that aren't examined, or avoidance of financial realities that neither bold action nor honest reflection addresses.

This is not a time for significant financial moves. The combination suggests that your capacity to both act wisely and assess clearly is compromised. Focus on stability while working on restoring access to both energies.

What to Do

When both cards reverse, start with the most basic restoration of both capacities. For The Chariot's energy, commit to one small action daily—something that requires will and direction, even if modest. Rebuild the muscle of doing. For The Hermit's energy, create minimal conditions for genuine quiet—even five minutes of actual stillness, not meditation apps or guided content, but simple silence with yourself. These small practices begin to restore what has been blocked.

Consider that the blockage of both energies may indicate a deeper exhaustion or disorientation that requires attention. Sometimes both cards reverse when you've been pushed to a limit—of stress, of uncertainty, of loss—and the system needs basic care before either action or wisdom can resume. Rest, support from others, and patience with yourself may be prerequisites to any progress.

Avoid major decisions until at least one energy begins to flow again. The double reversal suggests your judgment is compromised, and choices made from this state often require correction later.

Yes or No Reading

Configuration Answer Reason
Both Upright Yes, with reflection Move forward, but take time for inner guidance first; wisdom and will together support success
One Reversed Conditional Either action or discernment is blocked; address the imbalance before committing to a direction
Both Reversed Not yet Both movement and clarity are compromised; restore basic capacities before making significant choices

Frequently Asked Questions

What does The Chariot and The Hermit mean in a love reading?

In love readings, this combination addresses the balance between pursuit and space, between driving toward connection and allowing room for individual inner life. For singles, it may indicate that finding the right partner requires both active engagement with dating and genuine solitude to clarify what you truly want. The Chariot's willful pursuit works best when guided by The Hermit's self-knowledge.

For those in relationships, the combination often speaks to managing independence within partnership. Both cards represent forms of individual strength—The Chariot's self-direction and The Hermit's solitude. Healthy relationships must honor both partners' needs for these qualities while also building meaningful connection. The combination may indicate a period of negotiating how much space versus togetherness serves the relationship, or it may suggest that individual growth (Hermit) supports rather than threatens the partnership's forward movement (Chariot).

At its best, this combination in love readings describes relationships where both partners support each other's individual journeys while also moving together toward shared destinations—where solitude is welcomed rather than feared, and where purposeful direction doesn't require constant companionship.

Is The Chariot and The Hermit a positive combination?

This combination carries powerful constructive potential when its energies are integrated, but it can also describe challenging states of imbalance. Its positivity depends significantly on how you engage with its tension.

When you can access both energies—moving forward with purpose AND withdrawing for guidance as needed—the combination supports genuine achievement with wisdom. The Chariot's drive becomes more effective when refined by The Hermit's discernment. The Hermit's insights become more valuable when translated into The Chariot's action. This integration is deeply positive.

However, when the energies conflict rather than complement—when you're torn between the urge to act and the need to reflect, or when one energy dominates to the other's exclusion—the combination can describe frustration, misdirection, or stagnation. The ambition that never pauses to ask "why?" or the contemplation that never leads to action both represent the combination's shadow expressions.

What makes this pairing ultimately positive or negative is your willingness to honor both energies rather than forcing a choice between them. Life requires both warriors and sages; this combination asks you to develop both capacities within yourself.

How should I balance action and reflection with this combination?

The balance isn't a fixed point but a rhythm. Different phases of any endeavor naturally call for different emphases. Beginning a new project might require more Hermit energy—clarifying vision, understanding context, ensuring you're pointed in the right direction. Active implementation phases require more Chariot energy—sustained effort, overcoming obstacles, maintaining momentum. Transitions between phases often call for a return to reflection.

Practically, consider building regular rhythms of both into your life. Daily rhythm might include morning solitude for inner guidance and evening review, with active engagement between. Weekly rhythm might include a longer period of genuine withdrawal—perhaps a few hours or a full day—for deeper reflection. Longer rhythms might include seasonal retreats or sabbaticals for those who can arrange them.

The key is that reflection should inform action, and action should provide material for reflection. If your periods of solitude don't affect how you engage with the world, they may have become avoidance rather than genuine Hermit work. If your periods of activity never incorporate insights from stillness, you may be moving forcefully but blindly. The combination asks for a living dialogue between these modes, not mechanical alternation.

The Chariot with other cards:

The Hermit with other cards:

Disclaimer: Tarot is a tool for self-reflection and personal insight. It does not predict the future or replace professional advice.