part0049

One must be an Exempt Adept, and have become ready to pass on, before one can see the symbols even from the lower plane. Only a Master of the Temple can fully understand them. [273]

Image : An armoured figure sits between wheels and pillars supporting a canopy. He holds a circular disk which appears to be spinning. At his feet are four statuette-like creatures. The figure has a crab upon his helmet and stars on his upper body.

In the appendix of the Book of Thoth , in a section on “General characters of the Trumps as they appear in Use”, Crowley gives an often-overlooked series of verses for each of the Major Arcana. He also provides a series of keywords and phrases for each card. Those given for the Chariot contain something very interesting – buried in the keywords is the specific phrase “authority under authority”. This appears to be a re-statement of A. E. Waite’s own phrase for the card, where he states “captivity captive”

If so, cannot be a coincidence and shows that Crowley paid at least some attention to Waite’s work on tarot, despite deploring and disparaging it in his reviews. In Crowley's context, authority under authority relates to his Thelemic dictum, "love is the law, love under will", which places the two Sphinxes on the Chariot as serving the adept.

“This hieroglyph, which we give here the exact figure, is perhaps the most beautiful and the most complete of all those that make up in the clavicle of the Tarot”.

In this section we will look at the Chariot card as depicted and described by A. E. Waite (1857 – 1942) in Pictorial Key to the Tarot , published in 1909 to accompany the tarot deck initiated by Waite and co-designed and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith (1878 - 1951). We will particularly look at the card as symbolising the position of the 'mind' in the mystical journey, as envisaged by Waite.

This card, as several other of the Major Arcana, was inspired by original designs by Eliphas Levi (1810 – 1875), whose depictions also influenced the work of Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947) in his own tarot deck, the Book of Thoth , first published in 1969.

Levi saw this card as depicting the Chariot of Hermes, the god associated with the mind. He pictured it drawn by two sphinxes, representing “love” and “power” (will). He wrote that these provide an “enigma to the neophyte” to resolve – a riddle to which we will return when we look in this article at Crowley’s depiction of the card.

In Pictorial Key to the Tarot , Waite states clearly that this card “above all, represents the triumph of the mind” (PKT, p. 96). He goes on to say that the victorious hero illustrated in the card has conquered four planes; the mind, science, progress and “certain trials of initiation”. These represent the four worlds of the Kabbalah, the trials being later described as to be understood “physically or rationally”, corresponding to the world of Assiah, or action. Thus, progress belongs to the world of formation, science to the world of creation, and the mind to the world of emanation.

Waite also draws on biblical references in describing his design; the “princely figure” bears the Urim and Thummim upon his shoulders. These are elements of the breastplate worn by the High Priest and were said to be used for divination – for knowing the will of God. The origin of the words themselves is uncertain, but they may mean “lights” and “perfection”. Levi saw them as “revelation” and “truth”.

He goes further in other works, to explain how the way of divine union is symbolised by chivalry and by the sacrament of knighthood, which we can presume is illustrated within this card. He says that whilst some knights (in the “life of spiritual valiance”) die in warfare, and some reach retirement and return to live in “castles or palaces, as barons or princes of old”, some few attain the “outer courts and precincts of the holy city”. We see this holy city illustrated in the background of the card, developing the card beyond Levi’s design.

As an aside, there is more evidence in this card of Waite’s rush and uncertainty with the final designs by Colman-Smith; he refers to the figure holding a sword, but no sword is present. It seems somehow unfinished, this particular design. Notice also the lack of a clear border from which the figure emerges from the chariot. We have sometimes postulated that Waite originally asked Pamela to re-draw Levi’s few illustrations of tarot majors, as a direct copy, such as the Wheel and the Devil, before realising that they would in fact be able to produce a new deck of their own design. When we ponder on this scenario, we think that the Chariot was the first card to be drawn by Pamela. As ever, it is a story that we will never know, but would be fascinating to have a record of the actual design process.

Waite continues to allude, in his obtuse way, to biblical lore when he says of this card that “he has led captivity captive”. It could be that he simply thought – or it didn’t matter to him – that his readership would instantly recognise this quote. He is referencing Ephesians [4:8]:

“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men”.

One commentary on this verse suggests that it is a direct allusion to the manner in which conquerors returned to their home city:

“As great conquerors, when they rode in their triumphal chariots, used to be attended with the most illustrious of their captives led in chains, and were wont to scatter their largesses and bounty among the soldiers and other spectators of their triumphs, so Christ, when he ascended into heaven, as a triumphant conqueror, led captivity captive" [Matthew Henry Commentary]

To some it is a reference to the liberation of souls from an earthly bondage to a divine ‘captivity’. The “gifts” given to men upon this ascension of Christ are seen to be the manner in which different apostles might preach the gospel; sometimes it is seen as the gift of the holy spirit to the Church following the rising of Christ.

The “triumph” is a literal chariot which was paraded through the streets in Italy during victories and celebrations. It was sometimes cubic in construction, as depicted by Levi and then taken up by both Waite and Crowley. It has been suggested that the “trumps” of Tarot mirror the procession of the virtues which were paraded in these festivals, where one virtue “triumphed” another in a hierarchical series – it is from where we get the word “trump”. To those familiar in childhood with the “Top Trumps” card game, it may seem curious that this was originally based on a teaching of an ascent of increasingly virtuous behaviour.

To Waite, the gift of the Charioteer is clearly the gift of “mind” in its capacity to contemplate the divine, through philosophy, through science, through advancement of self-insight and culture (“progress”) and through the “trials of initiation” which are likely those which test the cognitive mind rather than the intuition.

Waite sees the mind – or consciousness – as an important, but not complete, stage of mystical development. He writes elsewhere that self-awareness, the searching, is “how the process begins in consciousness”, yet it is only the beginning. Above it are more abstract states such as love and grace – ultimately, the life of the seer is the only ground for judgement; “It is sanctity alone which is qualified to sign, seal, endorse and deliver the evidence”.

The mind can only get us so far, such as by writing or studying mystical literature for contemplation. Waite admits, again in his convoluted manner, that “there are, unquestionably, some high intellectual modes which make no especial levy upon sanctity per se , and they also are to be judged on their special warrants”.

There is also a cross-reference of the “captivity captive” verse to Proverbs [30:4]:

“Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know!”

Here we see that the Christ figure has attained the ability to move between the upper and lower world, whilst mastering the four elements. It refers to the correspondence of the Chariot between Binah and Geburah as raising oneself from limitation and the disciplines of the mind towards a deeper understanding. It is of relevance that one biblical commentator suggests that this ascension bears witness as a proof that “the light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not”, one of the pivotal statements given to the candidate in the Golden Dawn Neophyte initiation ritual.

Waite then critiques the card – and hence, the mind itself – by noting the Sphinx which appears on Levi’s original drawing of the card – again, taken up by himself when he directed Colman-Smith in her drawing of the image. He says that the Charioteer has “answered the Sphinx”, but because he has mastered the riddle of that creature, the riddle must be of the Mystery of Nature, not that of Grace. This is a curious statement, and like much of Waite, bears a little investigation.

If we read further in his terse description of the card, he concludes by writing that “if he [the Charioteer] came to the pillars of that Temple between which the High Priestess is seated, he could not open the scroll called Tora , nor if she questioned him could he answer.” He goes on to finish, “He is not hereditary royalty and he is not priesthood”.

In effect, Waite is pointing out the limitation of the rational mind to comprehend the mysteries. As Bacon's aphorism has it; "Animus ad amplitudinem mysteriorum pro modulo suo dilatetur, non mysteria ad angustias animi constringantur" (Let the mind, so far as possible, be expanded to the greatness of the mysteries, not the mysteries contracted to the compass of the mind).

The High Priestess, to Waite representing the deeper and more experiential connection to the divine, that of the Shekinah , an awareness of the physical presence of God in all things, is not open to the Mind, no matter what triumphs might be gained by the mental process. There remains a higher source, that which must be gifted by grace, for the whole soul to be elevated.

Waite brings home this point when he says that the conquests of the Charioteer are in the manifest world, not within himself – the mind is entirely other-directed, it applies itself to other things, and cannot apply itself to itself, for in doing so, as Waite suggests “the liberation which he effects may leave himself to the bondage of the logical understanding”, which is an interpretation of the “captive leading captive” verse. It is the mind getting tangled in itself – the philosopher asking circular questions such as “If I know that anything can be untrue, does that knowing itself become untrue?”

This bondage of “logical understanding” is taken directly from the location of the Chariot on the Tree of Life, as being between the Sephiroth of Binah, ‘understanding’ and Geburah, ‘judgement’. However, as we have seen, Waite was not entirely critical of the reasoning mind. He devotes a section of Steps to the Crown to “substitutes of the true knowledge”, saying this:

“Reason is the guide of the instructed man; it does not content him entirely, and it does not entirely suffice for him; but at least it consoles and sustains him”.

In the end, it is the world of mind that reflects upon that of nature, and with thought below and grace above; it is an endless world without boundaries through which the Chariot carries us;

The world of mind is wider than the world of matter, as it is indeed older. In the unsounded depths of its oceans lies the past of all the universes; on its heights are stars that we never see in the common daylight of consciousness. What fields for exploration – what vistas of great adventure!

Returning to the original riddle proposed by Eliphas Levi, that of the two sphinxes, we might consider this as presenting the Neophyte in the Mysteries with an enigma of relationship; how does the mind relate to the world - and itself? How do we recognise its limits and is it possible to escape such limits? How does the mind relate to intuition and love?

Perhaps we might also seek the answer from Waite in a simple symbolic key within the Tarot Majors, for there is another card on which the Sphinx appears. This is the Wheel of Fortune card, where the Sphinx is said to represent "equilibrium" (PKT, p. 108). If we take this card as the answer to the Chariot, we read that it is "the perpetual motion of a fluidic universe and [for] the flux of human life". (PKT, p. 108).

Waite notes that the design contains the divine name IHVH, to show that Providence is interwoven into the fabric of existence. He then clarifies, "this is the Divine intention within, and the similar intention without is exemplified by the four Living Creatures" (PKT, pp. 108-111).

Waite is explicit that the Sphinx is not on a plinth above the Wheel but rather on the Wheel itself. It may seem like a trivial point, but Waite is seeking to elevate the symbolism; the Sphinx is able to sit still, despite the Wheel turning. It is this paradox - "stability amidst movement" that is illustrated by the design, which would be lost if the Sphinx was resting on a separate plinth or table.

And it is possibly this idea which answers the enigma posed by the Sphinxes in the Chariot - the very nature of Time, which is of course the theme of the famous 'riddle of the Sphinx'.

How does the mind move, from a solid state? It moves in time - and everything arises in time; both the sphinxes of will and love emerge and change in time, where the only constant is the awareness in which such notions arise.

The symbol of the Graal carries much significance for Crowley in terms of sexual magick and the mystical experience; it is both a symbol for the feminine and the dissolution of the self. In Magick, he devotes the whole of Chapter 7 (corresponding to the Chariot) to the discussion of the Graal and the formula of Abrahadabra, which we will look at later in this section.

He terms the formula of Abrahadabra, in connection with the Graal, the formula of renunciation; in a very specific context. The act of renunciation is an act of surrender – here, it is the first and last act of the individual; the surrender to the loss of self in the sexual act, and the surrender of the self in the Abyss of mystical progression.

This is the opposite, Crowley asserts, to the act of renouncing anything for some personal gain, which he terms an act of black magick. [274] So, the male gives life to the female, who bears it, as the spirit enters the grail and gives life. Likewise, the blood of the saints is wholly given to that grail, which is the sole sacrifice of every element of individual awareness to the divine. In the Abyss, no single element must remain, otherwise the whole force of the psyche will aggregate to it and again bind it to the attachments of the world in an overwhelming assault. This devastation of the soul creates a “Black Brother”, whose ego process becomes embedded deep inside a shell of spirituality.

The Charioteer is an empty suit of armour, for he has made this complete sacrifice – in a reading, we can utilise this profound symbolism to suggest the nature of sacrifice and renunciation, even in the most mundane of situations. In effect, every situation, conflict or challenge, is a call to sacrifice our attachment to the illusion of the individual self.

As Crowley says, “on this word alone a complete volume could, and should, be written”. [275] Unfortunately, despite Harris making a last-minute amendment to the illustration in 1941, there is still a mistake in the spelling on the final card. Harris had written “the alteration of Abracadabra (Charioteer) & the Taurus Disk card are complete” but this was during the worst bombing period of the blitz, and no doubt she - and the whole country - had other things of concern than the spelling of a magical formula.

The word Abrahadabra is an example of a “barbarous word”, an apparently meaningless word or one malformed from a recognisable word. In its original form of Abracadabra, it appeared in the 3rd century as a protection against disease when inscribed on an amulet. The word was often spelt repetitively in a triangle, removing letters in each line. Similar words could be found in medieval grimoires – magical books – and were familiar to Crowley. He wrote that their use was to bring about the dissolution of the ego; “the long strings of formidable words which roar and moan through so many conjurations have a real effect in exalting the consciousness of the magician to the proper pitch”. [276]

Having re-spelt the word for purposes of numerology – gematria – Crowley saw it as the “formula of the Aeon” (‘Thelema’ is the Word of the Aeon) and the “cypher of the Great Work”. [277] It has the numeration by Gematria of 418, which is the sum of the numbers of the letters of Cheth, itself the Hebrew letter which corresponds to the Chariot.

Cheth is spelt CYTh, being Cheth itself (8) + Yod (10) + Tau (400), totalling 418, which Crowley saw as the “most important of the key-numbers of Liber AL”. [278]

Crowley refers us to the Equinox of the Gods , where he provided a table of numerations for the Book of the Law . [279] Several of these have the same sum; RPSTOVAL, AIWAS, PARZIVAL, and HERU RA HA. The first word is part of a strange cipher which appears towards the end of the second section of Liber Al:

“4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it”. [280]

The second word is the name given to the entity which Crowley saw as dictating the Book of the Law to him in Cairo. The third word is the name of one of the Grail Knights, and the fourth, the composite form of Horus, as a child. [281]

Crowley also hints at many other magical words and formula in his writings; he points out that every proper name of a god, such as ABRAXAS, XNOUBIS or MEITHRAS gives the formula to invoke that deity. [282] He even hints of a magical word of great power whose “analysis contains all Truth, human and divine”. Unfortunately, this is only made aware to “members of the IV O.T.O.”. [283] This is likely the word JAH-BUL-ON, of uncertain origin but in one case suggested to be the conflation of Jeovah, Baal and Osiris, three gods of different religions - heretically seen as one god. [284]

The symbolism of the child, the proof of mysticism, the formula of magic and the great work complete – the uniting of the microcosm and macrocosm, are all bound together for Crowley in the gematria of this word. The Charioteer is thus the illustration of all these things; he is Parzival, the pure fool, the empty child, the composite and the unity; all subsumed in the grail of understanding and sacrifice.

The Canopy represents the night of Binah, the state which follows the dissolution of the soul into utter unity. It is a vast and silent heaven, an awareness only interrupted by the formula of Abrahadabra, the last word of the completed Great Work. It is another illustration of Nuit, the endless existence in which all bodies are created and returned. In a reading, it can signify a protection that is above the situation, beyond it, and must be understood to rise above it.

The Charioteer wears amber armour, which colour corresponds to the sign and the path, but also carries much deeper symbolism. Amber is seen as the ‘perspiration of the sun’ and was sometimes taken to be the tears or blood of various heroes. Whether Crowley was aware of this additional symbolism there is no indication in his writing, but it is a perfect fit for the Chariot. As amber sometimes contained fossilised life, it was also connected with fertility, as is the Grail. So, we may read the amber colour of the armour as protective, sustaining, and, in a sense, the saying that we are “strong in the broken places”.

The ten stars on the armour correspond to the ten sephiroth in Assiah, the world of action. This is the lowest world of matter and is seen by Crowley as an “inheritance” from the boundless world of Binah, in Atziluth, the world of emanation. [286] It suggests that all activity is part of an endless emanation. Crowley later mentions that the Charioteer is “throned in the chariot rather than conducting it” because it illustrates the system of progression is perfectly balanced, and so does not need any direction. [287] Here, Crowley is alluding to the state of the Master of the Temple above the Abyss, who has released attachment and individuality, so there is no ‘control’ because there are no longer any ‘two things’ to control or be controlled.

We might suggest in a reading that the situation will only be made worse by any intervention or attempt at control. We can use all the obscure and profound statements in the Book of Thoth as part of our most mundane and everyday readings, because it tells us ultimately that everything is always connected. Like the Charioteer, our only function is “to bear the Holy Grail”. [288]

The crest atop the helmet of the Charioteer is that of a crab, signifying Cancer, to which the card corresponds in the zodiac. The crab moves sideways, so is a fitting symbol for the chariot, which moves everywhere – not just in one direction. As with all the specific symbols on a card and in a deck, we can point to this in a reading as part of our interpretation. We can talk about going sideways to avoid a risk or an unknown, rather than meeting it straight on or retreating from it.

In the wheels we see several layers of symbolism, particularly biblical, sexual and Kabbalistic. The wheels are scarlet, symbolising blood in sexual symbolism and Geburah on the Tree of Life. These are the symbols of the movement that sets life in motion. They also revolve, connecting back to the Wheel tarot card itself, as we saw in the symbolism of Cancer. It is instructive to compare the Wheel and Chariot cards as a pair in contemplative work.

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. [Ezekial 1:16]

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. [Ezekial 1:10]

They attest to the apocalyptic nature of the Thoth Tarot, which draws on biblical references cast through Crowley’s own earlier visionary work. In a reading we might consider these four animals as suggesting we bring stillness to the elements of a situation, hold our own counsel, and literally let the wheels spin.

The four pillars can be interpreted in a spread as indicative of support, protection and stability. Each of the four pillars represents a letter of the Tetragrammaton, the four-lettered name of God spelt Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh. Whilst having several interpretations – which we will see in the Adjustment card - Crowley sees them here as representing the Universe, as the four worlds of Kabbalah and the four elements, etc. They support – or perhaps, derive from – the Canopy of Binah. In a reading, these symbolise the support necessary to move on with ones will and we can ask the client where they might seek such support.

The Chariot is the card of victory and success, should you stick to your will. It may be important to empty yourself of the lust of result, engaging in the situation for its own sake. A card of the moment-to-moment appreciation of an ongoing relationship or project. When this card is in the outcome position of a reading it is highly significant – everything must be left exactly as it is whilst you hold on tight.