With the triumphant arrival of the victorious charioteer (the 7th card of the Major Arcana), the Ancients wanted each of us to realize that we too can emerge victorious from our battle to achieve balanced union with our subconscious mind. All throughout the entirety of the Tarot, this message is repeated over and over again... that until we gain self-conscious dominion over the subconscious urges and passions that rule our thoughts and emotions and dictate our decisions, we will remain, forever, unfit vehicles for our Higher Selves to enter in. From the very beginning of time, it has always been The Creator's intention that we purify our bodies, minds and emotions so that the Creative Force of the Universe (Holy Ghost) could flow and work through us. That will, however, be impossible until each of us become as clear crystals for God's SolarLight to manifest through our cellular being. It is then we will reflect perfect health within and become radiant healers to all we meet and know. Until then, the ultra-high vibration of our Higher Self is repelled by and cannot resonate within the low vibrations our bodies sustain as a result of poor dietary and physical/emotional habits. If we expect to invite higher consciousness into our lives, we have much work to accomplish and more self-discipline to learn.

As many of you know, the number SEVEN is a very sacred symbol. When God formed the Heavens and the Earth, it was the 7th day that was chosen to declare all labors complete and in perfect balance. So it is with THE CHARIOT... as the 7th card, it represents the achievement of spiritual balance and the completion of all efforts begun (with THE MAGICIAN) to master the seven principles of physical consciousness. Do you recall how THE FOOL upon entering the 3rd dimensional Earth Plane, became THE MAGICIAN and instantly dedicated his life to the achievement of physical, emotional and spiritual perfection so his body would be acceptable as a vessel for the Light energies of his Higher Self. As THE HIGH PRIESTESS he restated his dedication and intent to follow the spiritual pathway to learn more of the physical/spiritual laws of manifestation. As THE EMPRESS he practiced these laws of Creative Visualization and was able to manifest physical abundance through his subconscious mind connection. As THE EMPEROR he learned how to efficiently organize and productively manage his thoughts and their physical creations. As THE HIEROPHANT he sought higher understanding of the laws of spiritual reality through the agency of his Higher Self. In THE LOVERS he learned how to understand, control, blend and effectively balance the powers of his self-conscious and subconscious minds. Finally, in THE CHARIOT, he emerges (having achieved union with the Cosmic Superconscious) as a spiritually protected and fully armed warrior with all the knowledge and emotional balance needed to begin his higher spiritual quest. It's a quest that will lead him along new paths of adventure and conquest that are necessary for his higher spiritual evolvement and transformation. When he reaches the 21st card THE WORLD, he will finally qualify as a spiritually perfected being, free (as a result of his choice) from the temptations and urges of the untamed reactive subconscious mind.

Let's examine some of the symbology of this card. According to Carl Jung, THE CHARIOT is filled with examples of "opposites in balance". Let's start with the chariot itself. It represents your physical body and personality. The charioteer is your Higher Self now totally in residence within the chariot (your physical body and personality) as an agent of the Universal Mind (Superconscious). On each of the charioteer's shoulders are epaulets that represent the two main phases of the Moon (your moods)... the Full Moon (emotional) and the New Moon (logical/rational). The two lunar faces are the same found on the masks of Janus (tragedy and comedy). One is happy while the other frowns; however, even though they represent opposite moods, they operate in tandem (balanced), as a continuum, within your Higher Self's balanced energy.

Next, observe the strange team of sphinxes drawing the chariot. Jung teaches that they are your emotions... feelings that arise from your emotional desire nature. Notice that they are tamed and in a (polarized) state of balance, with their tails obediently tucked under their bodies. Their body colors are opposites... the white being your "positive" constructive emotions and the black the "negative" destructive emotions. The charioteer needs no physical reins to guide or drive them, since he is now mentally in control of all passions, urges and temptations emanating from the subconscious mind. He merely directs and guides them (through choice) by staying mentally aware, in control and within the guidelines of right action spiritually.

The Chariot card was intended to show us how it will be when we finally establish our equilibrium. To do so, we must strive to change our mental attitudes, since most of us are slaves to our past cellular habits and thinking. If we can control our thoughts, we can control our future. Choose to tame the senses and then gently, but repeatedly, suggest positive change, action and direction to your subconscious mind. It takes great and repeated effort to prepare our bodies for the descent of the Higher Self, but it must be done if we intend to become spiritually perfected beings. Even the master teacher, the Christ, pointed this out when he spoke of the human physical/spiritual makeup... he said, "of myself, I can do nothing, the Father within me doeth the work".

copyright 2003-2004, Joe Ivory, all rights reserved