Pearls of Wisdom - The Chariot

Marli

What a gorgeous Chariot Card! Soooooo many little details packed into this card, so where does one start....

The central figure rides at a powerful pace, he sits alone. He wears a laurel wreath upon his head as his crown, as well as a pointed redish pink and gold hat with flaps that fall on each side of his face and end with a pearl at the bottom of each side (sort of like the papal hat the pope wears). He wears some sort of robe over his clothes, with the centre in a deep blue and crest embedded into the centre of it. The arms of the robe are red, but reveal a light blue sleeve on his right arm and a gold sleeve on his left. He has one blue eye and one green eye, as did the lady from the Stength card.

His chariot is made of what looks like wood, but the piping around the top of the chariot as well as the posts leading up to the canopy at the top is in green in a sort of wrapped pattern. The canopy itself has the same redish pink and gold material as the hat he wears. There is a curtain on each of the four posts, and each is held in place by a string of pearls tying them to the posts. The top of the canopy is in the same piping style as that of the chariot, but in the same material of the curtains it borders. The 4 posts themselves have a green flag on the top of each post, which bear the symbols for the 4 elements Air, Fire, Water and Earth.

The chariot is pulled on massive steel wheels and by 2 unicorns, on reigns held tight by the man. The unicorn on the left is pink in colour (body and hair), but wears a silver mask on it's face and horn, and a dark blue coat with red, green, blue and yellow tassles and the piping around the neck and coat follow the same colours and is again in the same wrapped pattern as the piping on the chariot, and there is a green strap across the centre of the unicorns back from one side to another and there are 3 stars on the visible side of the coat. The unicorn on the right is identical to the other except that it is blue in colour (body and hair), his mask is in gold, but the covering for his horn looks pink and it's coat is red.

The horses speed create dust swirls under their feet and all around and behind the chariot, making it almost look as though clouds are their road. Behind them all are two different sides of night, the left side much darker skies with almost dull looking stars in comparison to the right side, where the sky is a little lighter, but the stars are shinning ever so brightly (7 stars all together), and what looks like a golden coloured circle behind his head...the moon??

On the top left border is the Rune for Ehwaz and beneath it is a gold torch with a very vibrant fire burning at the top and a dark green and red snake wrapped around it. At the bottom is the laurel wreath from the mans head and a string of pearls is wrapped around it. From the wreath there are white irises that almost touch the torch.

on the top right border is the Rune for Teiwaz and beneath it is a silver torch, whose flame seems slightly less intense to the one on the left and another green and red snake, which is again much paler than the snake on the opposite side. At the bottom is the crest that the mans chest bears, there's a tree in the centre, with the same golden circle behind the centre of it with what looks like air swirls all around it, a star marks each corner of the tree except the top right, which bears an eternity symbol. Underneath the tree, we can see the earth and it's roots buried deep into it, one root touches something under the earth that resembles water. The top part of the emblem forms a square and again has the 4 elements represented 1 on each corner, the bottom of the emblem is in the shape of a triangle and has a pearl at it's point, the whole emblem is again surrounded by a string of pearls. And again, there are white irises rising from behind the emblem almost touching that torch.

The mans attire, the lavish chariot and even his horses attire denote this mans importance. The whole image immediately conjurs thoughts of sheer determination to stay the course. He controls the direction of his horses and by extension his destiny lies in his hands, and he looks calm and resolute all the while, determined not to be distracted by anything or anyone. The white irises elude to the promise of the future, which tells that in the end he will be successful in his quest.

The one thing that eludes me is the golden circle behind both his head and the tree on his emblem... any thoughts?
 

Rede Seeker

Riding on Clouds?

The billowing white under the unicorns' hooves reminds me of clouds. Could our Charioteer be driving his team through the night sky?

The golden circle behind the Charioteer looks to be a Harvest Moon. If it weren't for the stars and dark sky, it would look like a sun. Harvest Moon can be a magickal time.

Another thought - perhaps the Chariot is moving in one of the Dream Planes? The Old English Rune Poem for Tiwaz is:

'Tyr is a token
It keeps troth well with noble men
Even on it's course
Through the mists of night, it never fails.'

Tiwaz guides the Charioteer on whatever road he travels over, he is ever on his course...he never fails.

The unicorns seem to be a complimentary pair - one is pink with blue livery; the other is blue with pink livery. This could be a reflection of the Ehwaz Rune - harmonious teamwork.

Ehwaz = Third Aettir, Third Rune = 19
Tiwaz = Third Aettir, First Rune = 17
Ehwaz + Tiwaz = 19 + 17 = 36
36 = 3 + 6 = 9 = Hagalaz = Second Aettir, First Rune = Consolidation of elements into a seed form; completion
 

Rede Seeker

More Thoughts

The two eyes of different colors; the two sleeves of different colors - these reinforce the complementary pairs theme that we see with the unicorns.

I love how the Chariot curtains billow indicating the break-neck pace of the driver and team.

The shading from dark to less dark; one torch darker than the other; one serpent darker than the other is interesting. Does it also reflect the complementary pairs theme?