The Chariot - Seven

The Pythagoreans considered the number seven "worthy of veneration". It was associated with the seven celestial spheres of Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. There are four cardinal directions, plus an up and a down, which equal six directions. The seventh direction is inward. Eastern philosophers teach that the body has seven chakras, also known as "wheels". The spectrum of visible light is typically divided into seven colours. There are seven notes in a musical scale. There are seven days in a week. Seven represents the outside influences in our lives, such as the planets, chakras, colours, and sounds. To me, the Chariot card represents the driving forces which influence us in our decision making. The charioteer is the Will, pulling on the reigns of life in order to travel in the direction which we feel drawn to. It represents the drive to find one's purpose in life. This card is about seeking guidance, as well as feeling guided or pulled toward one's destiny.

We like to believe that we are able to steer the course of our lives, and that the reigns are in our hands to choose which actions to take. In reality, the little ego is not so much the driver as the driven. We are driven by our passions and desires. We feel pulled toward choosing one action over another. When we have a hard decision to make, we listen to our "gut" or instincts to pull us in the right direction. We like to think that we are "free" to choose from a myriad of paths. But the horses of desire will always pull us toward the inevitable path of fate. The driving force of fate is always in motion, propelled by the events of the past. This is the natural course of cause and consequence.

Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning "action" or "deed". It refers to the process of cause and consequence, in which the actions of the past affect the actions of the present, and the actions of the present affect the actions of the future. To have "good karma" is to have "good actions" and to have "bad karma" is to have "bad actions". Of course, what one person considered "good" or "bad" is relative to the desired outcome. If we hope to be rich, but our actions cause us poverty, then this is bad karma. If we hope to be free from material posessions, then poverty is good karma! Karma isn't really good or bad, it is what it is.

In the thirteenth book of the Mahabharata, also called the Teaching Book, the sixth chapter opens with Yudhisthira asking Bhisma: "Is the course of a person's life already destined, or can human effort shape one's life?" The future, replies Bhisma, is both a function of current human effort and past human actions that set the circumstances. The Mahabharata emphasises the key postulates of karma theory, that is: our present intentions have consequences; every action has consequences for the future; and all experiences in life require past efforts. Different schools of Hinduism interpret the importance of karma in different ways. In the Yoga school, the actions of our "past lives" are not as important as the actions of the present. In the Vedanta school, the actions of "past lives" are irrelevant, and it's the actions of your present that are most important in affecting your future.

Beside our personal actions, other forms of karma include the actions of Nature, the traits we have inherited from our family, and the thoughts which arise in our mind. You are never free from these influences. And so there is no such thing as a "free will". The deeds you commit now are never independent from the past. You are always "under the influence" of karma. This is what the Chariot card represents to me.