Canopy of Stars

BodhiSeed

I've been trying to find out what the canopy of stars represents on the RWS Chariot. I've found many suggestions, but could find not find the reasoning behind them (how it relates to the idea behind the Chariot):

1. It represents guidance (as the sailors used the stars for navigation).
2. It represents the ceilings in Masonic lodges.
3. It represents the veil of the High Priestess.
4. It represents the "Queen of Heaven" (Isis? Mary?)

Does anyone have any ideas?

Bodhran
 

Abrac

In A Dictionary of Freemasonry, Robert Macoy writes, "Stars are also employed principally as symbols of great intellectuality, and this symbol has been perpetuated from the most remote antiquity."

In Pictorial Key To The Tarot, Waite says of the the Charioteer, "he represents conquest on all planes."

The Charioteer's crown has a large star on top. It appears in the midst of the other stars on the canopy and is larger than all the others. This might indicate that he has succeeded in reaching a certain level of initiation or attainment on the mental plane.
 

BodhiSeed

Thank you Abrac for this information! I appreciate you also letting me know about the star on his crown too. :)
Bodhran
 

Robin Fariel

Abrac said:
The Charioteer's crown has a large star on top. It appears in the midst of the other stars on the canopy and is larger than all the others. This might indicate that he has succeeded in reaching a certain level of initiation or attainment on the mental plane.

He has taken the inverted Pentagram in key 15 The Devil and turned it right side up.
 

Rainbow Aurora

happy thoughts

Being a Gemini, I see The Chariot as "my card" because as Card 7 it is Letter 7 which is Zayin, and thus Gemini. The North Lunar Node is exalted in Gemini which seems to suggest we might have reference also to an eclipse. For the canopy of stars then, I see a total solar eclipse, turning day to night, with the stars coming out at noon.
 

Rosanne

Bodran, I am loving the way you are exploring the RWS! To me the canopy on the Chariot is the heavens. The square Body of the Chariot is the Earth, The four poles that hold the vault of the Heavens, are the seasons and what we must accomplish in the four worlds, the elements etc. So man moves in the midst of this- His home above and his home below where the work is done. ~Rosannne
 

BodhiSeed

Rosanne said:
Bodran, I am loving the way you are exploring the RWS!

Thanks for the encouragement, Rosanne, and thanks for all the wonderful insights and ideas you've shared! I've become addicted to ferreting out the symbols of each card in the RWS. I'm making my own book with the symbols and their meanings (the ones that make sense to me) so I can read the cards of this deck with more understanding.

Take care,
Bodhran
 

Patrick Williams

Well ... here are some ideas to toss around:

The Charioteer is a conqueror, leaving his conquest behind without a thought and moving on to his next one. But what develops in conquered cities if you don't leave enough infrastructure behind to keep the populace in line? You see, he isn't a victor or a master ... he's a conqueror. On all planes, perhaps, as Waite suggests, but because he's in spot VII, the end of the first septad, he's only the 'master' of the material world. Not of the psychological world (the 2nd septad) or the spiritual world (the 3rd).

This is neatly alluded to by the starry canopy. Were you to ask the Charioteer about the heavens (about spirituality) he could only point to a painted representation of it - an artistic rendering, not the real thing. He cannot get guidance from the stars because of his own self-conceived vision of what they look like (and, of course, because he's not looking at the stars, just a painted canopy representing them). It's the concept of heaven for those who cannot see it. He's not ready to see it, so a picture must suffice.

Another interesting point about the Chariot is that while the conqueror thinks he's off to his next conquest, he can't possibly be. His engines (the black & white sphinxes of duality) are lying down on the job. Without mastery of the other septads, the material world is all the conqueror can have.

The Charioteer thinks he's running the show, but he never looks back, he really can't look up and doesn't notice that he's not moving forward.

Sorry to run on so, off-topic and all, but the starry canopy has (IMO) to be seen in the context of the whole card.
 

BodhiSeed

Patrick Williams said:
It's the concept of heaven for those who cannot see it. He's not ready to see it, so a picture must suffice.

Thank you, Patrick. I've not thought of it in this way before!

Bodhran