Vertigo Study: The Chariot

It seems fitting to continue the study discussions with 7-The Chariot--especially since the discussions of both 16-The Tower (which can be seen as the flip-side/card of The Chariot) & 6-The Lovers (which precedes The Chariot). Also a current personal interest in The Chariot of its energy pattern, its possible influences & significances.

The Tower thread can be found here:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?threadid=28628

The Lovers thread, here:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?threadid=28872

As with all of the card images of The Vertigo, the alternative style that characterizes the deck is evident in The Chariot:

http://www.area23.org/perdition/reverie/tarot/major_frameset.html

Oft characterized as an ancient means of transportation in the form of a chariot or some resemblance of same, this Chariot manages to both contradict the traditional concept & yet retains haunting echoes of the traditional.

The prominent image is a profile line drawing of a horse's head & neck, its mane flowing behind. The lines appear to be made with a continuous, graceful & quick brush stroke--suggestive of motion & speed. The horse's countenance expressive of intent or singular purpose, emphasized by the single large eye staring ahead as if wholly focussed reaching his destination. Key words: determination; persistance; endurance.

Within the confines of the horse's head can be seen a vague shape reminiscent of the fossil/bones seen in The Fool & elsewhere. Perhaps a reference to The Fool embarked on a journey &/or as metaphor for The Fool's journey. A disembodied yet solid hand loosely holds reins of red--red evocative of the vital life force or energy that propels &/or drives one on a journey or a mission.

The lack of tension in the reins suggests the unseen driver or charioteer has given the horse his "head". Leaving the horse to move at will--indeed, The Chariot can represent the will & its application. Through the bottom portion of the horse can be seen the blurred shape of a single wheel. Its lack of definition attests to the speed of the horse's pace & its corresponding effect on the unseen vehicle that create such a blur of motion wherein both animal & vehicle move too fast to be seen clearly. Whilst speed may be a factor, adapting to changing conditions is also a factor or one may stumble or fail to make headway.

The vague shapes in the foreground & background suggestive of structure or structural influences that may either encourage or impede. High overhead in the left-hand corner is a dark disk radiating blotches of yellow that hint of both the Sun's energy, its life-giving rays & of the Sunflower, a sun-seeking flowering plant that grows to great height. Key words/phrases: direction; endeavour; reaching for a goal or the sky is the limit.

The appearance of The Chariot can pose as a statement, an invitation/opportunity or as a challenge. One may be literally in the driver's seat or at the mercy of forces beyond the immediate control; going along for a ride. It can represent the path/course of the life; a figurative expression or a literal vehicle.

As a Year Card, it both tantalizes & challenges.

From MeeWah to Plato to Me

First of all, thank you, MeeWah, for your broad and insightful look at The Chariot—it set off sparks that left me thinking long and hard about the card's meaning for me and had me googling to check out my old memories of Plato and his haunting image of the Charioteer.


When I pick up The Chariot, the first thing that strikes me is what looks like yet another Dave McKean “fossil”—a curious x-ray shot of bone and tooth and glassy eye.

In the booklet that accompanies the Vertigo deck, Rachel Pollack suggests that this “fossil” might be some kind of fish, but given where it lies, embedded within the brown outline of a horse, I'm much more inclined to think that it’s the artist’s vision of the horse’s prehistoric ancestor, the earliest quadruped, never tamed, long extinct—except in the soul of its descendant, where it’s still very much alive.

Whatever it is, it manages to look both predatory (the sloping brow with its “beak” at the end; the long row of teeth) and idiotic (the loopy eyeball and the exaggerated grin) at the same time.

MeeWah said:

Within the confines of the horse's head can be seen a vague shape reminiscent of the fossil/bones seen in The Fool & elsewhere.

Click to expand...

My hunch is that once again McKean is recycling the image of the fossil that we saw in The Fool and in Death—and he’s doing it for more or less the same reason, playing with its meaning in a new context. It was suggested that in those two cards the fossil might be hooked up with notions of instinct, emotional drives, the Id—the opposite of conscious, thought-out, rational processes.

I’m hazarding the guess that the same image stands for exactly the same ensemble of concepts here in The Chariot—and that the fossil looks “prehistoric” and “untamed” and—at least in some aspects—“predatory” and “idiotic” precisely because it embodies everything that is the opposite of what we call “the Rational,” from unconscious truths and drives to pure insanity.

[Apropos: There’s a hint of the same fossil just above Mad Hettie’s head in The High Priestess. With its mouth wide open and ravenous, it’s masquerading as a bag or piece of litter, stuck on the HP’s two windshield wipers. Here too, I think, Dave McKean is at play.]

It seems then, that instead of drawing two horses side by side, as is most often done, McKean has posed one inside the other (though which is uppermost at any given time may depend on your viewpoint!) and that like the black and white sphinxes on the RWS card, they may be taken to signify the right brain and the left, the instinctive and the thought-through, the untamed and the civilized.

MeeWah said:

The lack of tension in the reins suggests the unseen driver or charioteer has given the horse his "head". Leaving the horse to move at will--indeed, The Chariot can represent the will & its application.

Click to expand...

In his dialogue the Phaedrus, Plato tries to explain human behavior by having us imagine the soul as consisting of three elements: the Charioteer (the Rational Power of the Will) and two winged horses, one of them White and noble, like the gods’ own horses (Spirit); the other Black, untamed, pleasure-driven (Instinctive Drives). He describes in sometimes funny detail the ongoing battle over direction, especially when someone falls in love! His point, though, is a serious one: that the Rational must always strive—difficult though it may be—to keep the Irrational in check and to make sure that it runs in tandem with the Spirit.

The cultural sands have shifted, however, since Plato’s day (and again since the Renaissance) when the right of Reason and the Rational Will to seek and keep control over all aspects of human behavior seemed so obvious. And psychological insights have deepened too. And I honestly don’t know whether Plato’s beautiful imagery carries any true message for people of today, who are striving to discover some subtler relationship between the Reasoning Will and everything that belongs to the world of the irrational and instinctive and intuitive. I wonder: Do we still think that Reason can—or should—take ultimate control?

MeeWah said:

One may be literally in the driver's seat or at the mercy of forces beyond the immediate control

Click to expand...

So when I see the hand of the charioteer (how small it is!) reach out on the right side of the card, I can see the human Will seeking to control—or even controlling— the drives and aspirations that underlie our behavior, but I’m not at all sure that this control goes deep or that it will last for long.

Portent: An emphasis on control over yourself and over your world (especially through the exercise of your Will) provides you with a triumph. But be aware that there are forces within you that are not subject purely to your Will—or to any “control” at all.

etal

Re: From MeeWah to Plato to Me

Attempting to use the quote feature but will not know how successfully until after the post actualized.

etal said:

First of all, thank you, MeeWah, for your broad and insightful look at The Chariot—it set off sparks that left me thinking long and hard about the card's meaning for me and had me googling to check out my old memories of Plato and his haunting image of the Charioteer.

When I pick up The Chariot, the first thing that strikes me is what looks like yet another Dave McKean “fossil”—a curious x-ray shot of bone and tooth and glassy eye...

...that the fossil looks “prehistoric” and “untamed” and—at least in some aspects—“predatory” and “idiotic” precisely because it embodies everything that is the opposite of what we call “the Rational,” from unconscious truths and drives to pure insanity...

It seems then, that instead of drawing two horses side by side, as is most often done, McKean has posed one inside the other (though which is uppermost at any given time may depend on your viewpoint!) and that like the black and white sphinxes on the RWS card, they may be taken to signify the right brain and the left, the instinctive and the thought-through, the untamed and the civilized.

Click to expand...

That is along the lines of what I was trying to impart, though expressed far better above by etal.

Within the horse is the embodiment of duality, such as the primitive versus the civilized. Duality a theme that permeates the life whether recognized or not. Its existance an integral quality, the part of the earthly, human life that consistently & simultaneously challenges or inspires any or all endeavours. Its influence inescapable & expressed in all the cards of almost any deck--though some decks' cards or their individual cards tend to express more readily the extremes in upright position. Or may depend upon how a card strikes at a particular moment.

etal said:

In his dialogue the Phaedrus, Plato tries to explain human behavior by having us imagine the soul as consisting of three elements: the Charioteer (the Rational Power of the Will) and two winged horses, one of them White and noble, like the gods’ own horses (Spirit); the other Black, untamed, pleasure-driven (Instinctive Drives). He describes in sometimes funny detail the ongoing battle over direction, especially when someone falls in love! His point, though, is a serious one: that the Rational must always strive—difficult though it may be—to keep the Irrational in check and to make sure that it runs in tandem with the Spirit.

The cultural sands have shifted, however, since Plato’s day (and again since the Renaissance) when the right of Reason and the Rational Will to seek and keep control over all aspects of human behavior seemed so obvious. And psychological insights have deepened too. And I honestly don’t know whether Plato’s beautiful imagery carries any true message for people of today, who are striving to discover some subtler relationship between the Reasoning Will and everything that belongs to the world of the irrational and instinctive and intuitive. I wonder: Do we still think that Reason can—or should—take ultimate control?

Click to expand...

Reason said to be the element that makes man what he is; that separates him from all other creatures on earth; that gives him "dominion" over the earth & thus, also over all other creatures of earth. Not to digress overly much but in observing man's proclivities or activities, one may seriously question *the kind or quality of reason* that leads to an action.

It seems the irrational may act as a bridge between the rational & the Spirit/the Divine, but it could also be seen as the Spirit/the Divine is a bridge between the rational & the irrational. Or we may be speaking of how many angels dance on the head of a pin.

etal said:

So when I see the hand of the charioteer (how small it is!) reach out on the right side of the card, I can see the human Will seeking to control—or even controlling— the drives and aspirations that underlie our behavior, but I’m not at all sure that this control goes deep or that it will last for long.

Portent: An emphasis on control over yourself and over your world (especially through the exercise of your Will) provides you with a triumph. But be aware that there are forces within you that are not subject purely to your Will—or to any “control” at all.

Click to expand...

Also struck by how small & even insignificant the hand appears & especially, in proportion to the horse! Metaphorically, the hand represents man or the individual effort in the face of all that confronts.

That seen as "control" oft an illusion. Or one may think he possessed of control whence in actuality, there may well be none. Whilst seeking a measure of control prudent for the discipline it exerts, too much control inevitably is or leads to distortion; parady or extremes. Hence The Chariot represents not only duality but balance within duality.

Edited for spelling.

Re: Re: From MeeWah to Plato to Me

Having spent some time chewing over MeeWah's original post again, and now her reply to my own, I'm noticing how carefully balanced and (at least potentially) optimistic her take on The Vertigo Chariot is, especially if you concentrate on keywords like "determination" and "endurance" and appreciate how often the notion of duality is brought to the fore—"encourage or impede; in the driver's seat or at the mercy of forces beyond one's control."

MeeWah said:

Within the horse is the embodiment of duality, such as the primitive versus the civilized. Duality a theme that permeates the life whether recognized or not. Its existance an integral quality, the part of the earthly, human life that consistently & simultaneously challenges or inspires any or all endeavours. Its influence inescapable & expressed in all the cards of almost any deck....

Whilst seeking a measure of control prudent for the discipline it exerts, too much control inevitably is or leads to distortion; parady or extremes. Hence The Chariot represents not only duality but balance within duality.

Click to expand...

I think that it's here that I'm going to find the answers to the questions and doubts I raised in my previous post about the power of the Rational Will that seems to drive The Chariot. There will always arise, after all, times of crisis and real human problems whose solution requires—in whole or in part—the cool application of reason, the steady assertion of will power.

When I stop to think of it, even in the Living and Arts section of the daily newspaper, Dear Abby and her imitators often advise their "clients" that the best way to improve their lot is by taking the most rational approach. Or—just in case I've read Dear Abby wrong—there's Randy Cohen, the Ethicist for the Magazine Section of the New York Sunday Times, who applies an extraordinarily exquisite brand of reasoning to the moral difficulties his "querents" put before him and frequently appeals to their will power. (Though he ALWAYS balances his approach with a real sensitivity to the feelings of others.)

Should a tarot reader—usually sitting at much closer range to the client than Ms Abby or Mr Cohen—be any less willing to stress that there are situations when reason and will power must be called into play? Especially if The Chariot is lying upright on the table?

That option should at least be available, ready for use depending on the client, the question, the situation, the other cards, and all the variables that a good "balance" demands.

etal

P.S. I would note—for the negative pole of the balance—that while the card as a whole is bright white and charged with energy, the sun that MeeWah pointed out in the upper left hand corner is clearly in full eclipse, with a typical aura of sunbursts encircling it (I forget what you call the phenomenon that apears around the edges of the sun during a solar eclipse—there's a special word, I think).

P.P.S. Is that a hand in the lower left corner, even smaller than the other hand? And is it raised in an attempt to stop the rush of the horse/Chariot/Will?

Re: Re: Re: From MeeWah to Plato to Me

etal said:

P.S. I would note—for the negative pole of the balance—that while the card as a whole is bright white and charged with energy, the sun that MeeWah pointed out in the upper left hand corner is clearly in full eclipse, with a typical aura of sunbursts encircling it (I forget what you call the phenomenon that apears around the edges of the sun during a solar eclipse—there's a special word, I think).

P.P.S. Is that a hand in the lower left corner, even smaller than the other hand? And is it raised in an attempt to stop the rush of the horse/Chariot/Will?

Click to expand...

The Sun is in eclipse but mind went blank & could not think of the term.

Is what appears around the edges during a solar eclipse called "sunspots"? The book Eclipses is surprisingly of no help, but I may not be looking in the right place.

Do not see another hand, but it does appear as something that could conceivably "block" the passage.

From MeeWah to Plato to Me to NASA

MeeWah said:

The Sun is in eclipse but mind went blank & could not think of the term.

Click to expand...

When in doubt, go to the people at the top: first Plato, now NASA, at whose web site I found this link to a spectacular picture of the phenomenon known as......(Drum Roll.....Trumpets......Mormon Tabernacle Choir) The Solar Corona!

http://www.mreclipse.com/Store/TSE99/TSE99print.html

etal

Upheaval!

When we turn the Vertigo Chariot upside down, the image looks as if it had been torn out of the canvas of Picasso's Guernica: The wheel with its menacing spokes still spins furiously in the upper left-hand corner, threatening to crush the horse's head, which is straining upward, eye bulging, teeth drawn back in a rictus of pain, struggling to escape from underneath.

When the card lay Upright, earth tones outlined the "outer" horse and sketched the reins, and suggested dirt thrown up from the ground by the Chariot's wheel. Now, with the card Reversed, those same bits of vivid color look like blood—perhaps the blood of the charioteer or the horse, wounded in whatever catastrophe has overturned the chariot— dripping from around the hub of the wheel, through the spokes, and down around the head of the struggling horse.

One take on this Vertigo Chariot Reversed is that the headstrong (note the word!), unrelenting, Will/Reason racing the Chariot onward, struggling to control all aspects of the Self and/or Situation through sheer force of Will Power has precipitated an upheaval, internal, external, or both. Things have spun out of control and there has been a bloody crash; now everything seems topsy-turvy and there is a struggle to right things once again.

With the card in the Upright position, I can see the large square over the horse's head—it looks a bit like a blank piece of graph paper—as a symbol of the rational lines, the comprehensive grid, that the Will imposes as a structuring device on all phenomena—even those that perhaps may not be suited to such analytical treatment.

If this is a fair reading, it's equally possible to see that same grid, now in position beneath the horse's head as indicative of the unchanging potential of rational approaches to support in and rescue from disasters that an over-reliance on the Will has itself brought about. And in this I refer back to a maxim that was discussed in another of this Study Group's threads: in our weaknesses we may discover our strengths.

Another slightly optimistic note: Look at the sun (which we agreed was in eclipse even in the Upright position). With the reversal of The Chariot, its catastrophe, the sun has set in the West (on the left of the card) to travel through that dark underworld beneath the earth until it rises once more in the East. And as you can see in the lower right-hand corner of the card, the sun (although still blackly in eclipse) is indeed nearing the end of its night journey and promises to rise once more.

etal

An interesting comparison by etal of the reversed Chariot to Picasso's "Guernica" painting of 1937. Of huge proportions, the painting was commissioned by the then Spanish Republic. Originally in colour but finished in black & white, it does not blatantly portray the blood & death of war, but manages to convey the chaos & agonies through the stark contrasts of black, gray & white used to depict the caricature-like images of societal elements.

There is a similar use of caricature-like imagery in The Vertigo, & in its upended Chariot, a sense of violent upheaval or overthrow visited upon one or the occasion of the intrusive element.

What strikes me first with this image of the upended Chariot is its similar tone to the upright Tower *in concept*. Contextually, much as a mirror image conveys. Each in upright & reversed pairing can be seen as the shadow side of the other.

As etal points out, the grid-like shape is above the horse's head in the upright Chariot. Suggestive of the structural influences; thepowersthatbe; the bureaucracy that looms over the individual will or head.

In examining the image of The Chariot in reverse, certain expressions come to mind: upset the apple cart, putting the cart before the horse, aimlessly spinning the wheels. They all have in common an uncontrolled or uncontrollable element resulting in delay or failure. Perhaps the concerted attempt to impose the will is no guarantee of a desired outcome.

In the upended Chariot, the grid-like shape is beneath the horse's head. That seems to suggest when an intrinsic order is upset or compromised, structure is the first thing to weaken or fall. As if weighed down by its own weight or trampled underfoot, even forgotten in the efforts to restore some semblance of order or control.

Appearing as if left by the wayside, the eclipsed Sun is relatively undisturbed. Regardless of what conditions may prevail, the Sun proceeds onward inexorably in a world that may appear upside-down. It "shines" on both the good & the lesser equally.

For anyone interested in relishing the sympathetic vibes that seem to have bounced off Picasso's Guernica and into Dave McKean's design of the Chariot Reversed, I'm posting a link to an online reproduction. Note, as MeeWah has (I had forgotten almost everything but the horse's head) the parallels in colors and in whites—so close I'm almost ready to use the word "deliberate:"

http://www.mala.bc.ca/~lanes/english/hemngway/picasso/guernica.htm

etal

etal: Many thanks for posting a link to the best online scan of Guernica yet!

The abstract can sometimes express more succinctly than the conventional or traditional images. In Guernica, Picasso's abstract style & juxtaposition of collage-like images express the passion & pathos of the subject of war & particularly, the bombing of Guernica.

War can be said to be the result of the headstrong though that does not mean a discerning intellect is involved in its waging.

Since The Chariot is known as "the warrior card", that Guernica is presented as suggestive of the reversed Chariot is quite appropos & provides food for thought.