Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Belated solstice greetings and warm summer wishes from Scarlet Woman Oasis.
Now that the sun stands at the zenith of its power, we find ourselves retreating indoors, away from its fiercest rays. How fitting, then, that this hottest season belongs to cardinal water in Cancer — for the gift hidden in Binah is rest: a force strong enough to stop pushing and simply hold still.
For the infinite and unmanifest divine light to crystallize into matter, force must be captured within form and given a vehicle in which to travel as it is transmuted down the Tree of Life into physical manifestation. That vehicle is The Chariot, the card of the path between Binah and Geburah, along which the spiritual light — the “radiant blood” — is drawn down through the Veil of Water and caught in the Holy Grail.
In the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, The Chariot shows a martial figure riding forth with a wand (fire/Will). Two counter-charged sphinxes draw the vehicle forward, representing dual forces held in equilibrium by the fiery power of Will.
But force that must be actively equilibrated is unstable. The force-within-form must find an inner equilibrium instead. If the driver is busy steering forward, he cannot carry the divine essence without spilling it: every active correction that holds the sphinxes in balance disturbs the hidden contents. This is what water represents.
Crowley’s Chariot depicts four self-counter-charged sphinxes and a Charioteer who bears the Grail rather than actively driving. Each sphinx carries one of the four Kerubic (fixed) signs of the zodiac — Bull (Taurus/Earth), Lion (Leo/Fire), Eagle (Scorpio/Water), and Man (Aquarius/Air) — yet each also contains all four within itself.
The Charioteer holds no reins, because the whole progression is self-balancing. Each force cancels the others, freeing him to hold the Grail within this vehicle of reconciled power. He arrives as passenger rather than driver.
When the forces within us are equilibrated, motion becomes effortless and self-propelled. It no longer requires active, fiery force applied from outside.
The water of Cancer is what lets one ride the chariot rather than drive it: as a cardinal sign, it supplies its own forward motion. Because that motion is water rather than fire, it is tidal, indirect, and self-organizing rather than linear and willed.
At the moment of the solstice, maximum apparent power turns into stillness. My wish for all of you is that your individual work reach that same solstice point — where it no longer needs power to sustain it. May you come to the place past power, where the engine has so thoroughly integrated itself that you can release the reins. For those of us who have been driving too hard, may you simply arrive.
Love is the law, love under will.
— Fr. Ishmael
Upcoming Scarlet Woman Events
Sunday, July 12, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter 16 (arts one and two)
Genuine Joe’s Coffee annex to Russell’s Bakery
2525 W. Anderson Ln. #275, Austin, TX 78757
Friday, July 17, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Thelemic Coffee Night — San Marcos
Wake The Dead Coffee
1432 Old Ranch Road 12, San Marcos, TX 78666
Sunday, July 19, 6:00 – 7:00 PM
Thelemic Coffee Night — Austin
Epoch Coffee
2700 W. Anderson Ln., Austin, TX 78757