al-majus

Divinities: Tishtrya, God of the Rains

Month: Tir

Zodiacal Constellation: Cancer

Hero-work, a calling, card number seven is The Rook.

Just like the chess piece, the word “rook” stems from the Persian, rokh meaning “chariot.” The card is ruled by the astrological sign Cancer, Latin for “the crab,” also popularly known in the West as the sign of the Moon Child. Its Persian equivalent is Tir, the fourth month of the Iranian calendar, named in honour of Tishtrya, a central yazata of Zoroastrian cosmology that is believed to actually be of much older pre-Zoroastrian, Indo-Iranian origins.

The god of rainfall and fertility, the life-giving waters, Tishtrya is invoked as the “bright and glorious star,” the most brilliant star in the firmament who brings water to earth, Sirius. In the Khorda Avesta, Tishtrya fights a battle, known as the Vourukasha, against his archenemy, Apoasha, demon of drought and famine.

He appears as a youth, a bull and a white horse. His symbol is an arrow.

Divinatory Meaning: hero-work, an artistic or spiritual calling, life-purpose; also succour, luck, providence

Written by Alaleh Mohajerani

Works Cited

Fine, Sinéad. “The Chariot.” Sinead Fine, n.d,https://sineadfine.com/tarot-card/the-chariot-vii/

Flowers, Stephen E. The Magian Tarok: The Origins of the Tarot in the Mithraic and Hermetic Traditions. Inner Traditions, 2019.

Flowers, Stephen E. Original Magic: The Rituals and Initiations of the Persian Magi. Inner Traditions, 2017.

”The Chariot (tarot card).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 February 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chariot_(tarot_card)