Atu VII - The Grail Bearer

[Aeon418]

The Book of Thoth, p.85

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He is throned in the chariot rather than conducting it, because the whole system of progression is perfectly balanced. His only function is to bear the Holy Grail.

The vizor of his helmet is lowered, for no man may look upon his face and live. For the same reason, no part of his body is exposed.

 

 

Atu VII - The Chariot is a bit of a paradox. On the one hand this card is associated with ideas of victory, triumph, energetic movement and forward progress. And yet the Charioteer does not conduct the Chariot because his only function is to bear the Holy Grail. To emphasise the theme of impersonality the Charioteer's vizor has been lowered so we cannot see his face. But if we could lift that vizor we might be in for a bit of a shock. While the lights may be on, there ain't nobody home. If we were to lift that vizor we would find nothing but the Universe itself looking back at us. This revelation (shown explicitly in the Tarot of Stars Eternal version of this card and in card XII in the same deck) would destroy all our ideas we may have around the nature of individual existence. "For no man may look upon his face and live."

 

But if the Charioteer is an embodiment of what the Buddhists call Shunyata, the Void or Emptiness, how come this card is symbolically so powerful? How can this seeming negation of the individual self produce so much drive and determination? Paul Foster Case touches on this in his description of card VII.

 

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The more perfectly we understand that the office of human personality is to serve as a vehicle for cosmic forces, the more freely does the Primal Will behind all manifestation find expression through us. To others we may seem to have very strong personal will. We ourselves will learn from our practice that the strength of our volition is measured by the degree of our willingness to let life find unobstructed manifestation through us.

 

This is the great challenge of card VII - The Chariot. When faced with the difficulties and struggles of life our natural tendency is to retreat into our crab-like shells, seeking to shield ourselves from pain and distress. "Oh Lord, let this cup pass from me." But the burdens we bear may secretly be the Holy Grail that may gradually allow us to transcend habitual self-obsessed narcissism for something much greater, provided we can relax enough to let Life be. But the very simplicity of this task is simultaneously the great difficulty of learning how to let go of the reins and realize that something greater than our personal self is the Way. ABRAHADABRA.

 

The Tao Te Ching - Crowley version.

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CHAPTER VII -THE CONCEALMENT OF THE LIGHT.

1. Heaven and Earth are mighty in continuance, because their work is delivered from the lust of result.

2. Thus also the sage, seeking not any goal, attaineth all things; he doth not interfere in the affairs of his body, and so that body acteth without friction. It is because he meddleth not with personal aims that these come to pass with simplicity.

 

[Wyrdkiss]

This gave me a lot to ponder and integrate, thank you for the post.

 

"work delivered from the lust of result" is a favorite quote and concept of mine. To me Crowley is hitting such a strong point of maintaining presence and authentic , in the moment

creativity.   

[Aeon418]

The Charioteer appears to be sitting in a meditation posture that is reminiscent of the classic images of the seated Buddha. The Grail that he bears could be likened to the Cosmic Mudra hand pose, where the left hand is placed on top of the right hand, palms up, with the thumbs creating an empty oval shape.

 

Early on in his spiritual path, Crowley became intensely interested in Buddhism. In 1901/02 he travelled through India and Sri Lanka (named Ceylon at the time) and studied Theravada Buddhism with his one time Golden Dawn mentor, Allen Bennett. (The latter went on to be ordained as Ananda Metteyya and led the first Buddhist mission to the West (England) in 1908.) In 1903 Crowley wrote the essay, Science and Buddhism, where he publicaly "took refuge" in the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. But even though the influence of Buddhism never completely left Crowley, he became increasingly disillusioned and disenchanted with it.

 

Part of the problem seems to have been the form of Buddhism that Crowley was exposed to. Theravada, sometimes referred to by the pejorative name Hinayana - the small or lesser vehicle, is generally thought to be the form of Buddhism that most closely resembles the original teachings of Gautama Buddha. The spiritual ideal of this path is called the Arhat. The Arhat attains Nirvana or enlightenment for themselves alone so that they can escape from suffering and the Wheel of Rebirth.

 

In Atu VII - The Chariot, Crowley moved away from this notion of individual enlightenment, to one that more closely resembles the Bodhisattva path of Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana is a later development of Buddhism that took root in China, Tibet, Korea and Japan. In this teaching the Bodhisattva defers their final Nirvana so that they may stay engaged in the world for the sake of all beings. One translation of Bodhisattva is Enlightenment Warrior. Crowley, who knew practically nothing about Mahayana teachings, independently developed the idea of the Master of the Temple who crosses the Abyss to transpersonal Cosmic Consciousness, but who then re-enters the world bearing the Grail of Understanding that is freely offered to all who wish to drink (TRINC) from it. But there is no personal motivation, as we ordinarily understand it, behind this act. Behind that lowered vizor the Charioteer understands that the Perceiver and the Universe around them are ultimately one and the same. What looks like selfless service on behalf of the universe is simultaneously the most authentic expression of True Self that is possible.

 

When this card come up in a reading I'm mindful that petty and ego driven motivations may get in the way of authenticity and threaten to derail my efforts or pull me in the wrong direction.  

[Aeon418]

Quote

The Book of Thoth, p.85.

"The canopy of the Chariot is the night-sky-blue of Binah. The pillars are the four pillars of the Universe, the regimen of Tetragrammaton."

 

The night-sky-blue of Binah? According to the colour scales the four colours of Binah are Crimson, Black, Dark Brown, and Grey flecked Pink. (BoT, p.281, line 3) I suspect Crowley is referring to the elemental attribution of Water = blue and the elemental Cup. The Water in this card is balanced against the celestial Fire from Heaven, drawn down by the Hierophant in card V.

 

Water is the symbol of consciousness. In this instance it is Cosmic Consciousness, inscribed with the word ABRAHADABRA. Or at least that is what Harris was supposed to paint on the card. Without getting to too technical, ABRAHADABRA is symbolic of the Great Work of the union of the microcosm and the macrocosm. The 5 letter A's, joined with the 6 diverse letters, are said to represent the union of the Pentagram and the Hexagram or 5 + 6. The perfect union of the individual and the universal.

 

ABRAHADABRA = 418. This number has a whole host of associations linked with it, but one simple link is made by reducing the numbers of 418 to 13.

 

4 + 1 + 8 = 13. As early as page 4 in the Book of Thoth, Crowley points out that 13 is the number of Unity and Love (in Hebrew). He then goes on to show how the doubling of 13 is 26, which is IHVH or FIre, Water, Air and Earth. This is the "regimen of Tetragrammaton" mentioned above, and a symbol of how the Cosmic Unity manifests in duality via the 4 Pillars of the Chariot.

 

The lowered vizor of the Charioteer gives us the impression that there is an individual person sitting in the Chariot. His armour is familiar to all of as personal consciousness. But behind the vizor is the "night-sky-blue" of the canopy, symbolising unity and love. The Chariot is the perfect vehicle whereby the Universal Unity can experience itself through the appearance of Individual existence. 

 

Being the final card that crosses the Abyss between the Ideal and the Actual, the Chariot is said to reflect the Fool. He is is the Fool surging into manifestation, symbolised by the energetic red wheels of the Chariot. But it also signifies the eventual impulse to return to the Source. His armour perfected through the rigours of spiritual discipline and gilded with the starry emblems of the realized manifestation of his inherent cosmic potential, he prepares to return across the Abyss as a triumphant Warrior of Life, ready to surrender the prize of individuality back into the loving embrace of the Universal Life. Before re-emerging once more to play the game again. Armed not with a lance, spear, or sword. But with a Cup.

 

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Liber LVX. V:61 "And the Lord Adonai delighteth in me, and I bear the Cup of His gladness unto the weary ones of the old grey land."

 

[smw]

1 hour ago, Aeon418 said:

Being the final card that crosses the Abyss between the Ideal and the Actual, the Chariot is said to reflect the Fool. He is is the Fool surging into manifestation, symbolised by the energetic red wheels of the Chariot. But it also signifies the eventual impulse to return to the Source. His armour perfected through the rigours of spiritual discipline and gilded with the starry emblems of the realized manifestation of his inherent cosmic potential, he prepares to return across the Abyss as a triumphant Warrior of Life, ready to surrender the prize of individuality back into the loving embrace of the Universal Life. Before re-emerging once more to play the game again. Armed not with a lance, spear, or sword. But with a Cup.

 

 

The connection to the Fool is interesting. And at last a place to shoehorn this in 😏 

 

"Sh is then the forcible subtle creative Spirit of Life, fiery and triplex, continuous, Silence of pure Breath modified into sound by two and thirty obstacles, as the Zero of Empty Space, though it contain all Life, only takes form according (as the Qabalists say) to the two and thirty “Paths” of Number and Letter which obstruct it"

 

Not that I quite understand, however, it seems to suggest to me the movement from silence to sound, vibration... manifestation. A fiery snake on it's way winding through the obstacles of the 22 paths which create it's form. In a strange way not entirely unlike the saying that  obstacles on the path are the path. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by smw

[smw]

2 hours ago, Aeon418 said:

 

The night-sky-blue of Binah? According to the colour scales the four colours of Binah are Crimson, Black, Dark Brown, and Grey flecked Pink. (BoT, p.281, line 3) I suspect Crowley is referring to the elemental attribution of Water = blue and the elemental Cup. The Water in this card is balanced against the celestial Fire from Heaven, drawn down by the Hierophant in card V.

 

 

 

In the  Wakeworld  the Charioteers canopy is described as ' bright blue with stars'  as for Nuit instead of black for Binah too.

 

"Now I shall tell you about the chariot race in the first passage. The chariot is all carved out of pure, clear amber, so that electric sparks fly about as the furs rub it. The whole cushions and rugs are all beautiful soft ermine fur. There is a canopy of bright blue with stars (like the sky in the dream world), and the chariot is drawn by two sphinxes, one black and one white. The charioteer is a most curious person; he is a great big crab in the most glittering armour, and he can just drive! His name is the mysterious name I told you about with the eleven letters, but we call him Jehu for short, because he's only nineteen years old."

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by smw

[Aeon418]

18 hours ago, smw said:

In the  Wakeworld  the Charioteers canopy is described as ' bright blue with stars'  as for Nuit instead of black for Binah too.

 

Thanks for quoting the Wake World @smw. I had forgotten all about about the connection between amber (Latin: electrum) and electricity, even though it is the Charioteer who is amber on the Thoth card. Although I suspect that might have been done to link him to the magic bell, which is made of electrum magicum. In the vision of the 12th Aethyr it is the Charioteer who speaks with the voice of a bell, while revealing the mystery of the Cup of Babalon.

 

In conjunction with the canopy and its link to cosmic consciousness, I'm reminded of some comments made by Paul Foster Case that seem to be aimed directly at Atu VII.

 

[my emphasis added]

".... but superconsciousness gives a man something more. It makes him a very dynamo of power, a radiant center of energy whose very presence is a blessing, whose touch heals, whose glance carries with it an electric flash of understanding which illuminates the minds of those who receive it. Even a flash of superconsciousness changes one forever; and when this experience is attained as a result of study and practice, so that it may be repeated several times in a single life, it makes one positively electric."

 

"Such a man cannot help lighting the world around him. .... Wherever he goes, men and women will feel the power of his presence, and will either be violently attracted by him, or else repelled by the force of the emanation of his personal atmosphere."

 

"This is why many superconscious man and women have suffered martyrdom. They radiate a high-tension current which inspires fear in grosser minds. They are great centers of force, and people who do not understand them mistrust this power they cannot comprehend."

 

"People who have developed the higher order of knowing by conscious practice have more control over the current of light which flows through them, and are able to be less disturbing to their unripened neighbors."

 

Case's final remark makes me think of the Charioteer's vizor. "For no man (i.e. NEMO) may look upon his face and live."

Edited August 25, 2023 by Aeon418
Typo

[smw]

1 hour ago, Aeon418 said:

 

Thanks for quoting the Wake World @smw. I had forgotten all about about the connection between amber (Latin: electrum) and electricity, even though it is the Charioteer who is amber on the Thoth card. Although I suspect that might have been done to link him to the magic bell, which is made of electrum magicum. In the vision of the 12th Aethyr it is the Charioteer who speaks with the voice of a bell, while revealing the mystery of the Cup of Babalon.

 

I'll admit way back on AT, I was sure I heard a kind of metallic ringing sound that I couldn't quite place. I imagined it to be the wheels of your Capricorn avatar breaking through....Now I know! 😄

 

I wonder why the Charioteer is described as 19 years old. It seems rather precise to have no significance. The only thing I can think of is that 19 is before 20, 2=0. 

Duality back to the infinite zero.

 

Just thinking of the connection of the round grail with the Wheel, Fortune. And the 'word' 210. I recall you mentioning the move from duality,

2 -1-0.

2 to 0 is rather quick though.

 

"And I said: By the word of power, double in the voice of the Master; by the word that is seven, and one in seven; and by the great word 210, I beseech thee, O my Lord, to grant me the vision of thy Glory"

 

1 hour ago, Aeon418 said:

 

In conjunction with the canopy and its link to cosmic consciousness, I'm reminded of some comments made by Paul Foster Case that seem to be aimed directly at Atu VII.

 

[my emphasis added]

".... but superconsciousness gives a man something more. It makes him a very dynamo of power, a radiant center of energy whose very presence is a blessing, whose touch heals, whose glance carries with it an electric flash of understanding which illuminates the minds of those who receive it. Even a flash of superconsciousness changes one forever; and when this experience is attained as a result of study and practice, so that it may be repeated several times in a single life, it makes one positively electric."

 

"Such a man cannot help lighting the world around him. .... Wherever he goes, men and women will feel the power of his presence, and will either be violently attracted by him, or else repelled by the force of the emanation of his personal atmosphere."

 

"This is why many superconscious man and women have suffered martyrdom. They radiate a high-tension current which inspires fear in grosser minds. They are great centers of force, and people who do not understand them mistrust this power they cannot comprehend."

 

"People who have developed the higher order of knowing by conscious practice have more control over the current of light which flows through them, and are able to be less disturbing to their unripened neighbors."

 

Case's final remark makes me think of the Charioteer's vizor. "For no man (i.e. NEMO) may look upon his face and live."

 

That is an awesome description. I wonder if Case experienced anything like that himself or was just talking of others. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by smw

[Aeon418]

2 hours ago, smw said:

I'll admit way back on AT, I was sure I heard a kind of metallic ringing sound that I couldn't quite place. I imagined it to be the wheels of your Capricorn avatar breaking through....Now I know! 😄

 

I wonder why the Charioteer is described as 19 years old. It seems rather precise to have no significance. The only thing I can think of is that 19 is before 20, 2=0. 

Duality back to the infinite zero.

 

It's nothing to do with me. I've only got 418 in the name. 😄 But there is a curious aspect to the initial spiritual experience or opening of the path of Cheth and Atu VII. Long before any realization of Cosmic Consciousness, the starry canopy is experienced as a kind of waiting or brooding presence that is kind of like a subconscious feeling of being watched or observed. It reminds me of the the line in the Liber Pyramidos initiation ritual were the candidate faces the Tarot inspired 22 accusations of unfitness. After each accusation the response is; "I am under the Shadow of the Wings." It makes me think of (ABRA)-HAD-(ABRA).

 

The age of 19 thing is a bit obscure. But I think it is related to 19 x 22 = 418.

 

By Aiq Beker, also called the Qabalah of Nine Chambers, the word Abrahadabra can be reduced to 22, thereby linking it to the Tarot Trumps and the Paths. The "young king" follows this path of manifestation (CVH = 19) and returns triumphant as the Warrior 418.

 

Another possible link is that the 19th and 22nd paths are cards XI and VIII. 11 and 8 are linked.

 

8 = Cheth = 418 = ABRAHADABRA, the 11 lettered Word of the Aeon.   

Edited August 25, 2023 by Aeon418
Typo

[Aeon418]

On 8/25/2023 at 4:00 PM, smw said:

I wonder why the Charioteer is described as 19 years old. It seems rather precise to have no significance. The only thing I can think of is that 19 is before 20, 2=0. 

Duality back to the infinite zero.

 

The text says his name is Jehu for short. That would be IHV, a short form of the usual IHVH.

 

Jehu - IHV is 21, which links to AHIH - Eheieh, the godname of Kether. Note that the Chariot is parked on a road of 21 paving stones or bricks. Maybe this points to the road he must travel to become a fully grown Tetragrammaton, IHVH, in which the Great Work of the union of macro and microcosm can be accomplished. 

 

He is born or incarnated out of Binah at age 19, which is ChVH (Eve), to follow the 22 fold Path of the Great Work. 19 x 22 = 418, which is his mysterious name of eleven letters, ABRAHADABRA.

 

The Chariot is Deity seeking incarnation to gain experience of itself from a unique point of view within the Fence(Cheth) of individuality and separate existence. Once the Work is complete it returns back to the source with the Holy Grail full of the life blood of hard won individual experiences. This individuality must be poured into the Universal Life for Deity to realise its original true nature once more.