AWARENESS/THE CHARIOT

From the Osho Zen Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

Awareness is the chariot we drive through our Consciousness Journey. We are the single navigator of this process; no one else moves us along. It is our choice which direction we move, all of them eventually leading to wisdom and higher knowing.  

Traditionally, this card depicts a charioteer holding the reins of two horses, one black and one white, which indicate the duality of our world. The charioteer must learn, through her own will and strength, to to direct the steeds to hold them to the course she chooses. The road opens ahead as the journey progresses. The choice to go forward, take a side road or stop and turn around is always an option. Perils and possibilities are always a present issue. An inattentive charioteer risks danger to herself, the vehicle,  as well as the horses. 

The above image is powerful in reminding us that the charioteer’s journey is also an internal one. The shadow figure, who seems to be in distress, is enveloped in a deep fog. Fogs are made of water. Here the challenge of awareness is to navigate through the fog, recognizing that each droplet is a hologram of the whole. To focus on each individual drop skews our vision toward duality while embracing the wholeness moves us through the fog to higher possibilities. The fiery presence of self awareness we see in the image then serenely emerges as layers of the old form are burned away. 

Basic motoring skills tell us that when driving in a fog we dim the lights. When I was learning to drive this seemed counterintuitive to me until I actually experienced it and found the advice to be absolutely true. The high beams cannot effectively penetrate the fog as well as the low beams which give a wider and deeper vision by which to navigate. When we only  focus on the road right in front of us we can miss important information about the rest of the environment behind and to the sides and even above us. I am reminded of a magical full moon night in Wyoming driving on an open, empty road and turning off the lights to allow my moon vision to guide me. It provided a completely different perception of that part of the journey. I truly felt a part of the whole landscape and not just an observer passing through.

Awareness is not reached on auto pilot. We must remember that as we keep our hands on the wheel of our chariot we cannot control the outside environment but we can learn to master our navigation of it. The same is true for the inner landscape. As we experience change and transition in our lives old versions and forms must fall away. Layers of fog burn off in the emerging light. We are basically creating a new road map of our journey even as we travel on it. We can feel lost even as we are aligning to our new course. Our awareness is what guides us through such challenging passages.

In these days we are navigating unknown territory. The planets are aligning in powerful ways that mark 2020 as a year of challenges never seen in our lifetimes. It is a time when both the physical threats of a virus and fear are pandemic. There are as many versions of truth as there are people. No one seems to be in charge. The fog is dense and people seem to be barreling down the road with their high beams on crashing all around us. We have been told to stay home keep our distance from one another. It seems a perfect time to put the car in the garage, hitch up the Awareness Chariot and go for a cosmic ride in the moonlight.

May your journey be magical and may you emerge in beauty.

....Kathryn Ravenwood  July 4, 2020