January 26-28, 2014: VII. The Chariot

Avshalom Binyamin

I like this card a lot.

I see the chariot as the vehicle of our personality that carries the core Self along our particular orbit. Mastered, this means the personality does a two-fold job: (1) armor/protection safeguarding the True Self against the forces that would seek to change it and (2) carrying the True Self along it's ideal vector.

When the personality inclinations are not united, the chariot is carried along in a vacillating course, wasting time and energy going in circles sometimes. If the armor is over protective, it can restrict movement. If it is too permeable, we can be wounded and driven off course.

The Almodovar film, The Skin I Live In, is a meditation on the symbols associated with this card.

Danica

The color is soft and firm at the same time; I feel as if this egg of light is moving, like it’s some kind of vehicle inside which I am seated
The wheels on the Card – Rota – whirls of the World…
the hitched animals-Elements perform their function with perfection; this is refined Nephesh; they are the drive (propulsion) and these wheels are experiences of the World.
-The Card depicts the Mission of direct connection between Nephesh & Neshamah (the Cherubim below, Binah above); the Ego = only a function, a tool (chariot, vehicle; like this charioteer, who is only an armor); it has no contents of its own, besides this form, it serves to connect Nephesh and Neshamah and has the property of reflection; nevertheless, this Form must be perfect in order for the connection to be properly established (the armor is of gold, with 12 jewels – zodiacal constellations…)
The treasure it holds = the Grail; the red circle in the middle looks like a Rose, the live core of existence…
The only function of this armored warrior (Ruach, the Ego) is to carry and guard the Grail! he is peaceful, protected and protective (Cancer attributions); he is soft (gold) and therein lies his stability and permanence.

The color associations: treasure of the earth, the secret wealth accumulated through the Aeons, by the lives and disappearance of innumerable generations of species.
Chariot = a house that moves!
Looking at the Grail I remember the lines from Liber LXV, IV – “…the wet heart of the creation…”
This Grail is not an object, not a thing, it’s not even a phenomenon: it is the Essence of Life, and its manifestations are various (those are phenomena); its analogy on bio-physiological level is definitely blood, and in nature Water as an Element, but the Grail is not that – it’s symbolically depicted by that, and in its core it’s the Liquid-Essence-of-Will, it is the Yin aspect of the dynamic of Will. (Water and blood seem like good analogies for this aspect of Will: adaptability, but yet being- themselves despite changeability and dispersion…
The Grail is utterly individual, in the sense of its “content”, although simultaneously it’s the same for all, universal.
One becomes this charioteer by complete Surrender , para-bhakti ( which implies Service, and soldierly self-discipline; I Ching : “The warrior acts on behalf of his great prince”).
This Surrender (complete, perfect, total) is the Water in the desert; it is that which protects (carries in itself, maintains) the possibility of Life in the circumstances of death (complete destruction of the Ego-structure); there remains no Ego in any previously-known sense; still, there remains Individuality in the sense of authentic and unique nature of an individually incarnated Star (it is this that fills the Grail).
“Downward” motion = manifestation of this Essence of a single Star through Acting (on all levels) – it creates Karma, by necessity; “upward” motion = death of the Ego, transformation of existence, initiation into NOX.

A warrior – a traveler… struggle…strength, courage…
Victory! This is the Triumphant principle, the source of idea of Victory as such (the root of Netzach?).
Stability-in-Change (hence, Strength)
Order; the Path (connection of all experiences; continuity of consciousness)

A see, black, dark indigo; it’s Nuit! Individual stars – all of them – are each one Chariot! Their Grail – their core (on all levels) = their essential Nature (and their origin - it’s all in their core, it defines their nature-motion-everything they are).
Life is un-destructible!!!! (All phenomena of life-and-death, of “living nature” as it is now known to human science, but not only that – ALL in the Universe is Alive!)
What is Life? This sameness-in-change and continuity of that = that which makes an individual being what it is…
There is some volcano-alike ecstatic energy in this Card, it is hidden “inside”, not directly “visible”, but all-potent.

Al-Shariyf

I am not content with the outcome of my mediation on this card but here go the notes:

Day One:
A tide - attuning inward to move outward. The canopy of the sky extends downward & is interconected. It houses the charioteer who bears the grail*

*The meditation was interrupted on this day. My girlfriend's best friend came into town with his boyfriend and they arrived at our apartment while I was meditating. The topical theme of "travel' was prevalent here. Also, during the meditation I heard a whisper and it said "Wait".

Day Two:
The Chariot is powered by the Neschamah. The engine is the combination of the four - no, the act of combining the 4 elements pushes it forward.

We are the Chariot. The voice of Silence within us it the Charioteer. When we listen to the voice & act in alignment with it's guidance, we steer it forward. When we don't listen, we steer it off course.

The seat of the Charioteer is The Moon - I am so perplexed by this card but the one thing is certain that I keep coming back to is the whole of my being is a Chariot. I am a Chariot - who's driving me?

Day Three:

Very tired.

Fought myself during the mediation didn't get much but this:
The seat of the Chariot is the moon
The canopy of the Chariot is the stars above
The tides of the inner life propel it forward.

Al-Shariyf

Danica I was so looking forward to your reply! I had this feeling that you'd have gotten a ton out of this mediation.

Thanks for sharing your notes. There were some things that you communicated beautifully that I couldn't articulate, so I discarded them.

Danica

@Al-Shariyf said

"Danica I was so looking forward to your reply! I had this feeling that you'd have gotten a ton out of this mediation.

Thanks for sharing your notes. There were some things that you communicated beautifully that I couldn't articulate, so I discarded them."

You have no idea how great and encouraging it is for me to hear/see words like this in the midst of exact Saturn's transit to my natal Mercury Thank you

I've changed the schedule from morning to evening, and have been doing a short (somewhat improvised) version of Yoga Nidra before the meditation during the last couple of days.

Al-Shariyf

@Avshalom Binyamin said

"When the personality inclinations are not united, the chariot is carried along in a vacillating course, wasting time and energy going in circles sometimes. If the armor is over protective, it can restrict movement. If it is too permeable, we can be wounded and driven off course."

I love this! So elegant!

@danica said

"You have no idea how great and encouraging it is for me to hear/see words like this in the midst of exact Saturn's transit to my natal Mercury Thank you

I've changed the schedule from morning to evening, and have been doing a short (somewhat improvised) version of Yoga Nidra before the meditation during the last couple of days."

That's awesome.

What's Yoga Nidra?

Danica

@Al-Shariyf said

"

What's Yoga Nidra?"

It's a technique for deep relaxation ("Yoga Nidra" means yogic sleep); one progressively enters into deeper and deeper states of relaxation, but without loosing awareness, that is - without "falling into sleep" in the usual sense.

My yoga teacher used to say that an hour of Nidra has the same refreshing and relaxing effect on body-mind as eight hours of good night sleep.

There are various audio instructions on YouTube (voice-guided practice), but I strongly recommend the book "Yoga Nidra" by Swami Satyananda Saraswati - it gives detailed and comprehensive information, with different variations of the technique.

Mephisto

Tarot Meditation: "The Chariot" 2.12.14 10:35-10:50 P.M.

Guardian of the Grail: the Charioteer sits above the four Kerubs, master of the elements, stable in the midst of change. The Divine Feminine, the blood of menstruation, of the Moon, Cancer. Crab, dweller in the tides of Luna. The blood-black infinity behind the eyelids.

(Luna in Cancer)

2.13.14 10:31-10:47 A.M.

Good meditation: no interruption.

Slightly sinister aspect to this card: the Blood of the Saints in the Grail. But there is no longer a sacrificial aspect to death in this Aeon; death is undertaken willingly on the path to mastery. "Abracadabra" written above the Charioteer: is this error intentional? "Abrahadabra"=true numeration 418 and 418=Cheth.

2.14.14. 8:08-? A.M. *

Luna in Cancer. [I take note of the prevailing Astrological conditions, though now I see the sphere isolates one from outside influence to allow full permeation of the card.]

The images of the paths reflect the natures of the Sephiroth: I see intuitively the Mystery reflected by the image of the Chariot, the Feminine Binah in relation to Geburah. (That's it!--"relationship.") I understand how each Thing-In-Itself only has relation to the whole.

A decent meditation. I am progressing in my ability to focus & visualize the "egg of light"--(to be ctd.) [another interruption]

--at any rate, Faye [my black cat] whined outside the window until she too was admitted to the meditation. She nuzzled the card out of my hand and then stepped on my computer keys turning on a trance song on shuffle called "Fata Morgana" [the cat is named after Morgan le Fay, and I had never heard this song before--strange synchronicities!]. She then proceeded to jump into pile of cardboard boxes which fell over. The little she-devil! Amanda [my girlfriend] then walked in and all concentration went out the window--I can't work in these conditions!

Some thoughts: the Charioteer sits in a meditative pose, reminiscent of the Buddha. The crab has an element of absurdity, like the camel. The riddle of the four elements: only to be resolved in contradiction. A pure blue-white vibration shines in the background: the reflection of the Supernals. The Charioteer is enthroned on the Moon.

Try again, round 2:

9:08-9:22 A.M.

Interruptions, fragmented meditation...on to "Adjustment."

Hermitas

I am the Chariot. Being 7, I AM the Victory of the 6.

By this form and structure, I have brought into alignment Six Kingdoms to their very Will to War, and my own, a Seventh.

By the Power of this, I Move.

Anael Lucis

He moves toward the Sun which is indicated by the reflection of the sun in the “shield” and by the shadow that shield casts on his body-armor – sun is directly in front of him - he is heading toward Tiphereth!

His shield has a mirror-like quality; Sun as perpetual vibration of sound and light bouncing off the shield. The "shield" also reminds me of the view of the cup when looked from above - connects to the idea of the Grail.

Above his head on Chariot is spelled out "ABRACADABRA" (as opposed to AbraHadabra) - since the spelling is with the C rather than H I don't see that it can still enumerate to 418, although this number has been attributed to this card. I wonder why it was spelled with a C in this case. However the spelling of the letter of the card CHETh/Heyth enumerates to 418 - the number of the Great Work.

Chariot led by the sphinx - which are representative of the 4 virtues/powers of the Magician: to know, to will, to dare and to keep silent. Lion on his left (feminine side) has breasts – emphasizing feminine polarity. I noticed legs of Lion and Bull have been switched - one way to interpret this is that the corresponding qualities and values of each Kerubic sphinx are mutually dependent and interconnected - can't have one fully developed without the other; they grow simultaneously supporting one another. Also the 4 Kerubim here amount to 4 emanations: Light, Love, Liberty and Life

There are three elements present in the image/idea of the card:

The Chariot as the instrument of the 2. Charioteer who directs the 3. Sphinx - or rather action of the sphinx (the deed, the doer, and the action of doing)

To mind comes Krishna riding the chariot in the Bhagavad Gita. In the context of the person (Indian tradition) Chariot = body, Charioteer = Higher Self (Atman), and Spinx/Horses = senses.

In the Buddhist context I would interpret it in the following way:
Chariot = the 5 Skandas or Aggregates: 1. Form, 2. Sensation/Feeling, 3. Perception, 4. Mental Formations (thoughts, compulsions, opinions, etc) and 5. Consciousness
Charioteer - Buddha-Nature (Skandas arise within Buddha-nature and hence are subject to it)
Sphinx/Horses - Karma (lit. action - the ripening effects of our past actions; karmic seeds can be skillfully prevented from ripening in the case of negative actions, or can be cultivated to grow and ripen faster in the case of positive actions - hence the karma is not the absolute determinant of our destiny, and can therefore be directed by the Buddha-nature) - I think this can be one way of looking at it.

Charioteer is in the state of perpetual motion – always moving forward and doing so swiftly
Colors of 3 mother letters prominent corresponding to 3 alchemical principles working together; also colors of Nuit, Hadit, Ra Hoor Khuit
The upper part of his chariot in blue is Nuit bending over him – he is protected and directed by the Great Mother; he is veiled by the warrior energy of Ra Hoor Khuit (red cape) and is swift and active; he wears golden armor, behind his golden chest-plate burning flame of Hadit

He carries a growing potential with him (Grail) and moves swiftly in the direction of the highest
Light of the HGA shines upon him – reflected in his armor which is gold, which indicates his royal/divine birthright