Gaian Tarot Artist's Journal

The Chariot/Canoe in process: Stay focused on your path! Go!

While I was sorting through the Chariot cards from all my various decks I realized that, even though the Chariot is my soul card, there is not one Chariot card in all the decks I own that I really, really, really like. My favorites are 2 entirely different ones — the contemplative Buddha of the Light & Shadow deck, and Arnell's new Chariot collage from her 2004 Tarot Calendar. All that energy and movement, yeah! Oh and I am fond of Ellen's Witch-on-a-Broomstick Chariot from the Tarot of the Crone.

It’s really interesting how the cards take on a life of their own, even as I begin to create them. Some of the cards I’ve finished are chock full of symbols (like the Gardener/Empress or the Moon) and others are very, very simple, like the Star. The Canoe/Chariot is turning out to be one of the simple ones. I didn't even realize all the symbolism that is already there, in the unvarnished photos themselves, until I started sorting through my favorites to choose the one with the best composition.

Discovering the art of Stephen Lyman in Coeur d'Alene and thinking about the Temperance card

Craig and I spent a couple of days at Lake Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho after visiting with the Olson clan in Pullman (home of WSU). East of the mountains, it’s a whole different world — warmer and dryer. Quite flat in most places, then the sensuous rolling hills of the Palouse and, later, the high mountains. I always know I’m not home anymore when I see the first Ponderosa pines and the feisty black and white magpies — they don’t live on our side of the mountains, and I love them!

We hiked for about three and a half miles up and down a hill next to the lake, where I met lots of friends from home — oceanspray (aka ironwood), Oregon grape, bigleaf maple and even the dried-out seed pods of chocolate lilies! Spent a lot of time watching the reflections of dawn, sunset and storm clouds in the still waters of the lake.

After the hike, we wandered into some of the shops and galleries in town. In a gallery devoted to “western” art (think wildlife, mountain men and stereotyped Indians) I spied an oversized art book titled Into the Wilderness, featuring the art of Stephen Lyman. I’m surprised that I never came across his work before, as he seems to be quite well known. At first glance, I thought “another Bateman, lovely” then searched his images for traces of the saccharine Kinkade (gag) or Bev Doolittle (way too clever at times).

Photo Shoot, the Canoe (the Chariot)

The Chariot is my Soul Card so I have a special affinity for it. The key energy I associate with this card is this: Stay Focused on Your Path! You know where you’re headed, you intend to meet your goal, don’t look to the right or left, just keep on truckin’.

For the image in my deck, I had been thinking for a long time about replacing the Chariot with a kayak or canoe. My own experience with kayaking, even though I’m still a beginner (advanced beginner maybe), has taught me about all the different ways to be in a human-powered watercraft. There's the times when you get to float and drift with the current, rocked in Mama’s arms. Then there’s the times when you’re fighting for your life, it seems, against a sudden wind that has come up and whipped the waves into a giant sea monster. And there's also the times when you just want to test yourself and see how far you can go, how fast.

All those qualities seem appropriate to the Chariot to me — will, strength, determination, victory and testing oneself out in the world. And, of course, leaving home and going on a Journey.