The Chariot Vll Reversed. The Tarot of Marseilles. An Interpretive Approach to Tarot. Part 2 of 3. The Chariot VII of The Tarot of Marseilles when seen in Reverse provides clues to difficulties a person or project may have in making progress. As most of our endeavours in life are tied to how we employ our spirit, our physical or worldly progress is unavoidably tied to our spiritual journey. My understanding of The Chariot VII is a preparedness for conquest and a movement towards something of considerable value to the charioteer. In the card’s image, the charioteer appears poised and stationary in full armour; but the image is not without a divine tension as the charioteer awaits a battle, the race, or the challenge, to become clear and evident. At any moment s/he will need to act. The prime colours in The Chariot VII : Marseilles are red, blue, gold-yellow, white and peach. Colours are symbolic; they have meaning in and of themselves but can also be understood through the system of Chakras to represent personality traits and as indicators of general well-being. When reversed the colours are, symbolically, ill-defined. Red is repeated throughout the design of The Chariot VII and suggests challenges associated with the First or Root Chakra being out of balance. Red, is the colour of love and passion, courage and strength. It is the energy of the tribe; of community, family and one’s purpose. The ill-defined red is repeated throughout the card - in the moon-faces of the charioteer’s shoulder armour, in his/her sleeves, lower garments and the canopy-supports of the chariot itself and the large upside-down red horse and might signify the charioteer is controlled by his anger and obsession. When the The Chariot VII is upside-down, the charioteer looks out at the world from a compromised position; (on his head in the upturned chariot). He may not have completed necessary arrangements to ensure his/her success. S/he might not have enough self-confidence to pursue his/her goals. Or, possibly, be under the influence of a general lack of self-control over his/her passions and desires. Blue is the colour of royalty, integrity and the Fifth Chakra, the ‘communication centre’ of the body. Deep blue symbolises composure and authority, with the ability to listen to others and to speaking one’s own truth. Communication is a key to self-expression, joy, a sense of humour and ‘good timing’. In the reversed picture, blue is ill-defined suggesting feelings of dishonesty, failure, a misunderstanding, self-rejection or depression. The charioteer appears unsure and his/her intentions maybe doubtful. The upside-down blue horse signifies an imbalance of power and looks weary; even sly or shifty. The charioteer’s ill-defined blue chest-plate suggests that his/her heart may not be ‘in-it’; perhaps an element of self-delusion. Gold or golden-yellow is the colour of the sun, the victor, success and wealth. It symbolises having a strong sense of right and wrong, of tradition, warmth and generosity. The gold personality is that of the insightful advocate or supporter; one who shares his/her abundance with others. Gold is the colour of the Soul or Ninth Chakra, is symbolic of a person’s higher purpose and representative of synchronistic patterns that play an important role in shaping one’s destiny. Being reversed may suggest that the Soul has temporarily ‘lost its way’.
When ill-defined, gold loses its sunny, optimistic and charitable qualities and its focus on higher principles. Reversed-gold personalities are pretentious, self-important and crafty; the ‘control freak’ who works long hours because they are obsessive and judgemental of the efforts of others. Two-way communication goes out-the-door when we reverse the positive attributes of the colour gold. The golden-yellow colour is applied throughout the The Chariot VII. The ill-defined solid golden ground effectively closes off the sky eliminating the image’s sense of openness and freedom. So much negatively aspected gold at the top of the card suggests that money or wealth has become the primary or driving objective; or the big problem. Whichever way, this oppressive layer of rock, like the lid on a coffin, sets the tone of the card. The chariot’s golden crossbar appears to slice the card into two equal, almost completely separate and distinct images. The two upside-down horses sitting in the top half of the picture gives a sense of weight bearing down upon the driver. Beneath the horses and under the crossbar, the dangling charioteer is separated from his will, power and drive. The charioteer critically divided on an issue or some aspect of his/her situation and his/her thoughts may will be at odds with her/his emotions and physical needs or abilities. The ill-defined gold surrounds the charioteer’s face and head. At the bottom of the image charioteer is looking directly at his sceptre; which looks like a swinging pendulum. The charioteer appears almost in a state of hypnosis! Has the charioteer been ‘hypnotised’ by thoughts of wealth and glory? The golden crown is a symbol of legitimacy, honour, glory and righteousness, but it is upside-down and fallen to the lower regions of the picture. Perhaps the charioteer is not in his/her ‘right-mind’; her/his thoughts may be of glory but, in reverse, the symbols of crown and sceptre suggests a lack of honour and honesty. The peach/beige, the colour of chariot’s carriage, wheels and canopy is a colour representing the Soul-Spirit. The carriage, symbolising the physical body, harnesses the power of the horses (the emotions and intentions) to move the wheels that support it forwards and towards a goal or purpose. It holds it the canopy for protection. Upright, colour peach/beige, symbolises courage, charm and genuine caring both for others and the self; and represents the importance of being true to ourselves. When ill-defined, peach-beige signifies charioteer’s aims at manipulating others to get his/her own needs met; and, in doing so, the kind, true self is lost. Enjoy your tarot. Martha Adams © 2017 Part 3/3 Numerology of The Chariot VII The Chariot VII Reversed : The Tarot of Marseilles : Part 1 An Interpretive Approach to reading tarot. Part 1. Symbols, colours, numbers in reverse, taken both independently and collectively can often imply existing, potential or arising difficulties. My experience of reading tarot, is that a reverse card offers considerable value to the seeker by pointing out what is missing or incomplete, delayed or misunderstood or even important to beware of, about a situation, relationship or desire. Reversed cards simply offer warnings like a give-way or stop sign. It suggests that one looks before they leap; to double-check that one’s assumptions about are valid and authentic. The Chariot VII of The Tarot of Marseilles, considered when upside-down or in-reverse provides clues to potential or underlying difficulties – for example – to successfully achieving their desired goal or making that big move forward in their plans. As we will look at later, the vibration of the Major Arcana Seven is primarily a spiritual one. Our endeavours in life are founded to how we employ our spirit; the physical or worldly progress we make is unavoidably tied to our spiritual journey and soul purpose. My understanding of The Chariot VII is the need to have the courage to face difficulties and challenges in order to achieve personal objectives and goals; but to do so with our honour and dignity intact. Upright, The Chariot VII gives a sense of the reflective, anticipatory and stationary. There is wonderful tension in this image as the charioteer, in full regalia, awaits the start of the race, the battle or the challenge. The preparation involved to meet his/her quest, is clear and evident. The charioteer has positioned her/himself for a most important personal crusade. The charioteer presents as a princely (crown) and military (armour) figure standing proudly in a glorious chariot; which symbolises the physical body. The the charioteer’s upper body represents human intelligence, thought, strategy, self-knowledge and self-direction. In front of the chariot stand two horses – red and blue – that paw the ground with their hooves to indicate their vitality, power and enthusiasm. The horses are not controlled by any harness or reins, for this the charioteer uses his mind. S/he is undivided in his/her purpose even though the circumstances difficult. The horses symbolise the power of emotion and intention; the combination of which underlies physical organisation and stamina. The darker of the two horses, (the blue horse) represents the mysterious, magnetic and feminine aspect of the charioteer’s nature. While the brighter coloured red horse shows the dynamic, masculine and known nature.
When we look at the upright image of The Chariot VII: Marseilles we get a real sense of balance, control and organisation. But viewed upside-down, what do we see? How do the obvious changes in the placement and relationship of objects and symbols affect the card’s overall symmetry? What extra or different information do we glean from the now ill-defined colours and from the shadow-side of its numerological associations? What important information and insights does this reversed image now convey? In The Chariot VII: Marseilles, the chariot is upside-down; no if’s or but’s. If the chariot represents the vital and purposeful body and the vehicle for progress and victory, the structure being relied on to achieve success is clearly not in a position to do so. The up-turned chariot has its wheels in the air and its canopy dragging on the ground. In this position, the vehicle is not going to take you anywhere; and may imply organisation that remains inadequate or vague or impractical. The inference is that, if you persist, you may well be setting yourself up for failure or injury. If we are looking at the overall image of The Chariot VII reversed, the ground is now at the ‘top’ of the card; and at the ‘bottom’ of the card the is canopy. Both of these things appear as barricades that impose significant limitations on the charioteer. My immediate and overall impression of the charioteer is he is currently positioned “between a rock and a hard place.” When reversed, the charioteer’s whole torso is beneath the horses with his/her head and crown appearing at the very bottom of card; This upside-down charioteer at once suggests a couple of things – that the charioteer may be undermining his/her own success by not using his/her fine intellect to make decisions and choices. Rather, the charioteer’s emotions are uncontrolled and unbalanced; and his/her intention, the driving force in this situation, is now divided. The horse is the symbol of a balance of wisdom and power. It represents personal drive, passion and an appetite for freedom. Thus horses, when reversed, offer a warning to control physical passions, vanity and ruthlessness which may jeopardise plans or pre-empt defeat, in a battle or in competition. Not only do the horses appear upside-down but they have changed their relative positions; the feminine and masculine are now switched around suggesting there is confusion between wants, needs and desires. Additionally, the charioteer’s facial expression has changed; showing perhaps some uncertainty or slyness. There is almost a hypnotic look in the face of the charioteer. The golden sceptre dangles loosely from the charioteer’s hand and, with the ‘power-ball’ pointing towards the ground, the sceptre appears as a large swinging pendulum. The pendulum is also used to help us make ‘yes-no-maybe’ decisions. Warm wishes, Martha Adams © 2017 Part 2/2 next posting; see you then! |
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