VII-Awareness

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Alex	18 May 2003
Card number VII in the Osho Zen Tarot is called "awareness". It corresponds to the Chariot in the classic decks. I would like to hear your thoughts on the associations between these two cards: The Chariot, and "Awareness", if you have any. I find it difficult to make the connection. Alex.

bec	18 May 2003
The chariot is actually telling to be aware of numerous things: Don't attack blindfolded, the chariot can only go one way, no reverse and no easy turn abouts Be aware to know the difference between black and white, in our everyday lives things are all tangled into these grey zones, the only real way to live with that, is to have black and white, good and bad, yes and no set. Know your enemies and friends, that way it is easier to be kind to everyone. Grey zones are for those who truly knows what they want and believe in. Awareness you see in rider of the chariot's crown, 12 stars, the 12 zodiacs - be aware that we are of same and very very different. Chariot also calls out for awareness of our mind and heart - think with mind and feel with heart - if you get them mixed, the phinxs will run loose and in each direction, taring you apart. This is what comes to mind - hope it gives something to the debat

Belladonna	18 May 2003
The charioteer requires awareness of his surroundings in order to make a strong, decisive, choice to move with such power and speed in a new direction. He needs to understand the conditions of his environment, the landscape, the weather, the time of day, the season in order to navigate it efficiently and successfully. He also gains further awareness of the world through his travels.

jmd	18 May 2003
Though I personally wouldn't describe the Chariot as principally connected to awareness, there is certainly an aspect of this which plays through in the card. If, as I personally think, the image of this card has been influenced by Plato's imagery of the three parts of the Soul (as I mention in my Chariot rendition for the first Collaborative Aeclectic Tarot), then awareness indirectly is important, though somewhat peripheral. 'Awareness', I suppose, could be a useful term for each and every card - the question becomes what type of awareness does this card specifically indicate (and here the previous responses already address this). Just some quick thoughts...

allibee	18 May 2003
My idea on Awareness with the Chariot is that for him to steer it, to control it, he must use all his senses - his awareness of what is going on around him. Like a Mountaineer he must remain aware of the dangers and conditions all around him, like the Formula One driver, taking everything into account. These determinations must, by their nature, come from the awareness. They would be employed in combination with the intuition, but never allowing emotions to creep in to the equation. Emotions harbour Fear, Arrogance, Rapture, Sorrow, etc ... none of which the Charioteer needs. Maybe therefore it is possible to say the the Emperor is control based on logic, and the the Chariot is control based on awareness. Just my thoughts Allison

Thirteen	19 May 2003
I like very much what Bec and Allibee have said. I think it's on the money that if you're unaware--driving that Chariot daydreaming, you're going to have one serious accident! The Chariot is often about focus--you have to know where you're going, and you have to know how to control your steeds and you have to know how to drive to get there. You even have to know your chariot--it's strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, most Chariots are driven in races or in wars--and if you lose your focus, for even a moment, you're in trouble. You will lose, or turn over, your horses will go out of control--or if you're in a war, you might die. I'll go one further--if you imagine yourself racing a chariot, controling those almost out of control horses, keeping that chariot from tipping over--you can see how you would be, at that moment, aware of NOTHING ELSE but getting to your goal. I don't know if this is precisely the Osho Zen's idea of Awareness--but to me, the Chariot is a very awake card, very focused and not easily distracted. Very much in the now--as, perhaps, a martial artist might be in a fight. In that way, it's one of the most Aware cards in the deck.

Alex	20 May 2003
Goes like that: "The awareness that is growing inside you now is not the result of any conscious "doing", nor do you need to struggle to make something happen. Any sense you might have had that you've been groping in the dark is dissolving now, or will be dissolving soon. Let yourself settle, and remember that deep inside you are just a witness, eternally silent, aware and unchanged. A channel is now opeing from the cirumference of activity to that center of witnesing. It will hepl you become detached, and a new awareness will filt the veil from your eyes" It is funny that it talks about a very PASSIVE awareness... the one that emerges from within, not the one we try to push forward. Alex.

allibee	20 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Alex It is funny that it talks about a very PASSIVE awareness... the one that emerges from within, not the one we try to push forward. Alex. Kinda sounds like a passenger, not the driver :O)

Belladonna	20 May 2003
That somehow fits the picture in the RWS deck. The charioteer LOOKS passive, unmoving, stable. The whole chariot looks pretty solid, come to think of it. And the sphinxs sit, ready for action, directions from the charioteer, I suppose. But you don't really get the sense that there is all this power and energy charging ahead.

allibee	20 May 2003
It all depends on the deck, look at my Prediction deck Chariot: http://www.spiritone.com/~filipas/Masquerade/Reviews/predictn.html a bit of hurly burly, precipice defying action going on there, but he DOES look in control. A.

Alex	20 May 2003
what a beautiful deck, allibee.

Sobeknofret	21 May 2003
It makes sense to me that the card could be called awareness. I always think of it in terms of Plato's dialogue The Phaedrus, where Socrates uses the metaphor of a charioteer driving two horses, one black and the other white. Both horses represent desire, one bad desires and the other good desires. The charioteer must maintain perfect awareness of each of the horses and himself if he is to effectively drive without crashing the chariot. Neither must be allowed to get ahead of the other. The chariot card to me has always been about maintaining balance in both the personal and professional senses and keeping an eye on your situation, which can only be done through perfect awareness. It may be passive awareness, as others have indicated, but the potential for that awareness to erupt into action is always present.

Belladonna	21 May 2003
The chariot card has been about maintaining balance in my life as well. In my case, balancing my more introverted side with a need to "get out into the world." And it does require awareness- awareness of my moods, what's affecting them, where I'm out of balance and what I can do to restore that in order to keep moving. Sometimes I feel like I'm going around in circles- driven by just one horse!

xouroboros	25 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Alex It is funny that it talks about a very PASSIVE awareness... the one that emerges from within, not the one we try to push forward. This being a Zen-oriented deck,I would presume that the awareness referred to would be one of no-action,for purposeful action would not be awareness of the "steeds" (desires?),it would be thoughts of a goal. This would bring one out of the immediate moment of being and project one's mind into an illusion of future. Goals are always purposeful action or "karma". Awareness would,imho,would be non-purposeful action,the action of "no-mind".

paradoxx	25 May 2003
I associate the Osho Keyword "Awareness" as psychic energies. Being associated with Cancer i can see how this can establish itself verywell. The RW system does not identify with psi energies but the Osho card (as well as others) does. I prefer this interpretation over most VII(Chariot) depictions, this one flows with the natural energy of the card a little more. Essentially, awarness becomes the Chariot.

The VII-Awareness thread was originally posted on 18 May 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.