VII ~ Let's take a ride...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 13 Oct 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

firemaiden	13 Oct 2003
"Step right up!! One at a time... show me your ticket, young lady! Destination, Missy? ... Paris? oh, merveilleux!. You, Signora? ... Roma? Benissimo! You, sonny boy? ... Ancient Greece? whoah!! How do I say 'cool' in Ancient Greek? Hey Buddy.. hey you! Yeah, you with the glasses -- hey, where's your ticket? What? You want to know where we are going? Insolent fellow! What? You don't think we're going too far with both wheels attached at the back, perpendicular to the path, led by four stone gargoyles, and encased in concrete???. HA! Just remember, oui, oui: Well? Wanna see the cockpit? come on in!! Wanna navigate? Here, hold this. Oh, heavens, no, its not a bike reflector!! ...or...the crystal to a light house... What, you've never seen a cosmic steering wheel?... Hey, hey!! cut that out!! stop trying to steer!! You don't do that, you just shine it forward and let it go where it wants too. That's better! Oh quatch sshhh, where are we going... Quit asking me, you tell me! where would you like to go? Just a second, I have to talk to this lady in coach... whoah, lady, calm down! --excuse me?... You wanted the Victory Chariot? You want to know if you are in the right place?? I dunno, are you? Anyhow, Victory? What's that got to do with it lady?" "Well, it says right here, in this little white book..." "It does indeed, does it?.... hand that over, lady, those are strictly forbidden here" She shuts her eyes in humilation and hands over the illegal document. It bursts into flame, just as the the chariot begins to lift off... -------------------- But ... where are we going? What does Victory have to do with it? And what is the true meaning of this, most mysterious Arcanum?

jmd	14 Oct 2003
How does one follow on such a post? Maybe there is no choice but to board-on and make the internal journey oneself... Does the Chariot move, or does the world move to accomodate the place one needs to be? Does the victorious element shine through, or does it reflect one's own threefold Soul? Is this the voyage which begins to speak following L'Amoureux's difficult choice... and whose destination remains unfixed? where the journey itself becomes destination, where one's open-ness to the world as it comes to meet one becomes a Karmic victory, and one becomes a master of a journey in the midst of being travelled... Wonderful ways you have with words :)

Umbrae	14 Oct 2003
Motion. Victory. Most folks spend their lives in stasis – nurturing risk avoidance. Living by proxy…substituting a value in possessions…that cannot hurt you…rather than a value in persons…who can. So motion – not to simply decide, but to do – to risk…that is victory. Victory over complacency. Victory over status quo. Victory over life by proxy. Waite used the word ‘will’; “The charioteer controls the horses by force of will”. Well now it takes gumption to step outside of your comfort zone, to reach for that which is beyond the ordinary – and beyond the material. Risk. Motion. To step off the curb and then cross the street to do something. Help another, harm another. Both require that you do. Like hitchhiking…you can stand by the side of the road all you want…but until you stick your thumb out, there is no hitchhiking and therefore, no risk. One more point. To chase two hares is to catch none. The Chariot is not about senseless or stupid risk. It’s about doing. Which is risk. In a way. Motion requires focus. Without focus, you must live life by proxy. It’s a choice. The Chariot follows love. To make the choice to love requires risk. To truly love – requires that you risk all. That you expose yourself. All of your shortcomings. And to love all of their shortcomings. There is no surrogate love. “Step right up, see the man who swallows steel. Razor sharp steel swords. See the man who eats fire – Step right up! Don’t get too close to the wagon wheel sonny, you’ll get grease on your pants. Step right up! The bearded lady – a real beard and every inch a lady…Step right up! See Zelda straight from gay Pa’ree, she can shimmy she can shake…Step right up! Discover your future with the cards as read by…”

firemaiden	14 Oct 2003
Thank you my great friends. :) After I posted this, I went to sleep and dreamed of the chariot. A tough girl with natty hair got on asking for spare change, only the question was in French: "auriez-vous un peu d'être?" In my dream in was clear that "être" meant spare change in order to live, but in daylight, I see that she was asking for more: "might you have some being-ness to spare?" was the true meaning of her question. In the dream, I felt I needed to take care of her and give her love. She was quite damaged, hungry and wounded all over... The chariot took us to a beautiful spot, like a temple on a snowy mountain. We could look out through a large vista window and see snow for miles. I took her needs to heart, and tried to see how I could help her. To my great relief a Doctor came to my aid, and said he would help me help her. There were two tables set up in this vista room, for the luncheon of the Riders of the Chariot... I looked for her at one table, and not seeing her grew worried, -- then I looked for her at the other, finally saw the smile of the great doctor, who had her laid out on a bench, resting, her cuts and wounds all soothed with balm, bandaged,, and taken care of. :) If the lesson of the chariot was first to take the terrifying leap from thinking to doing, and then -- this must have been the second part of the lesson -- the sharing stepping off the curb and crossing the street to do something. Help another, harm another...

Chronata	14 Oct 2003
Thanks Firemaiden...Umbrae...jmd... for sharing this journal of a journey! It made me smile. It made me contemplate. It made me dream...

Alissa	14 Oct 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden I see that she was asking for more: "might you have some being-ness to spare?" was the true meaning of her question. The question we ask of ourselves every day, when living mindfully, or so the bodhis tell us. She sounds like she was One. Odin was known to appear in the guise of a one eyed beggar, was He not? Action causes one reaction. Nonaction causes another. My favorite nugget of Chariot wisdom : "There could be a pleasant surprise during the journey but be careful not to let the opportunity slip away."

firemaiden	14 Oct 2003
Oh Alissa, that is amazing! a bodhi? I shall not let the opportunity slip by to learn about the bodhis!

zorya	14 Oct 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden "Step right up!! One at a time... show me your ticket, young lady! Destination, Missy? ... Paris? oh, merveilleux! . You, Signora? ... Roma? Benissimo! You, sonny boy? ... Ancient Greece? whoah!! How do I say 'cool' in Ancient Greek? give me a ticket for that train, but tell me not the destination for i do not wish to care and no destination can ever be sure. you must, however, tell me the intended route because i have to maintain some semblance of control. no victory may exist without a defeat so i must keep my eyes wide open. i have packed my lace handkerchief for the tears that will be shed as there are no gains without losses. ... and when these wheels have stopped turning, i will know that i have earned and treasured every mile traveled.

Umbrae	15 Oct 2003
Quote: Originally posted by zorya give me a ticket for that train, but tell me not the destination for i do not wish to care and no destination can ever be sure. The Welsh poet Gwen Thomas once said, “The joy is in the walking. We are deluded by the destination.”

Major Tom	15 Oct 2003
*singing* rolling, rolling, rolling! Keep those doggys rolling - Rawhide! Just ride em hell for leather. get em up! ride em up! ride em out! ride em in! Rawhide! Its your life. How do you chose to ride it? As above, so below? The wheels turn or the earth moves according to how you see it. The magick of the spiritual being in physical form. }) Isn't it grand to be alive?

Inana	15 Oct 2003
Quote: Originally posted by zorya give me a ticket for that train, but tell me not the destination for i do not wish to care and no destination can ever be sure. Zorya, this sentence reminds me more on the Fool than the Chariot. Anyways I agree theres no winner withouth a loser. So... which is the ultimate meaning of victory? Having the control? I always lacked understanding on this card, and this thread its appropiated for me right now. Your words make me think. And thats a beautiful dream Firemaiden. Im wondering what the gargoyles or the horses are thinking... Probably they arent allowed to think, just obey the charioter.

jmd	15 Oct 2003
... I wonder if I should... why not! Just a little plug for my depiction and description of my Chariot card in the first collaborative Aeclectic Tarot project ;)

firemaiden	15 Oct 2003
Yes, jmd in your description you speak of the star -- Quote: the emblematical representation of the guiding Blazing Star - becomes the focus of the Soul as it seeks the Spirit. Is the star the same as the bike reflector/cosmic steering wheel?

jmd	15 Oct 2003
maybe...

firemaiden	16 Oct 2003
(...are we going to let him get away with this?)

The VII ~ Let's take a ride... thread was originally posted on 13 Oct 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.