THE CHARIOT / CANCER / LITHA

Willpower of the Champion.

• This is victory on a primary level; the ordering of personal will towards a specific goal.

• Ckhet is the last of the first seven, culminating the powers or potencies.

• "Ckhet" means "fence," as in an enclosure for cultivation, protection, or defense. This is also like the shell of the crab.

• The Charioteer has "led captivity captive," according to Waite.

• This is the rib-cage and stomach.

• Speech is attributed to Key 7, in the sense that words "enclose" concepts. This refers to the right use of speech, as well as thought/words.

• The fence also contains the personality, differentiating it from the infinite Reality of Brahman, or Keter.

• The walled city is another fence; dwellings are similar to the house in Key 1. The balanced, contained self leaves behind the seductions and confusion of the city.

• The river and trees in the background show a mix of The High Priestess Key 2, and the Empress, Key 3, watery fecundity, contained in a canal.

• The chariot is a moveable fence. Its cube shape is connected to The Emperor, Key 4. The starry canopy refers to the influence of celestial bodies, and the astral plane.

• The driver's belt bears glyphs for the first five signs of the zodiac; the spring signs. These are the "elementary" signs, occurring during the burst of spring's robust growth. Aries, Taurus, and Gemini are mixed in Cancer, and incubated. Leo is the flowering, Cancer is the bud.

• The spring signs are more childlike, with direct, basic demands. With Virgo, things begin to get more complicated.

• His gauntlets are like shellfish or crab, with lunar crescents and profiles, showing the moon's rulership of Cancer.

• The charioteer holds a wand. Rods (or wands) appear in Key 0, Key 1, Key 7, Key 9, and Key 21.

• His crown bears an eight pointed star, related to the eight spokes in Key 10, and the eight pointed star in Key 17. Crowns appear inKey 2, Key 3, Key 4, Key 5, Key 7, Key 11, Key 14, Key 16, Keter, and Malchut.

• The winged globe is Tipharet, borne aloft on the Egyptian wings of aspiration.
  
  The Yoni/Lingam is the Hindu logo for male penetration of the female, a primal symbol with myriad meanings. The union of opposites, procreation, and Kundalini/Tantra are some of the associations. Shivite sects of Hinduism enshrine stone lingams in temples, annoiting them with milk, honey, and flowers.

• The white square on his breastplate signifies order and purity. The alchemical, talismanic symbols on his robe show dominion over terrestrial forces.

• The sphinxes are the colors of the Supernal Triad, Keter, Kochma, and Binah. They represent the triumph of intelligence having risen from the ashes.

• The wheels are related to the wheel in Key 10. Jupiter rules Key 10, The Wheel of Fortune, and is exalted in Cancer. Here the wheels suggest volition, or "movement with will." This is implied in the idea that "will" comes from the contained-within.

• This is the bodily vehicle - guided by Divine Will. This image shows the receptive aspect of will; the kind of willing that requires listening, and absorption of ideas.

• These wheels suggest repeating cycles, but with movement. Repeated patterns in our lives can be changed by making "course corrections," by doing good deeds, being grateful, and healing the world. The patterns and situations in our lives repeat, but when we develop ourselves spiritually, they begin to change slightly, and move our Chariot a little closer to the light. For more about repeating life patterns, see "Samskaras."

• This is personal conquest of bad habits, and finding the "vehicle" for one's personal expression. This is goal oriented progress.

• LITHA - June 21 - Summer Solstice - This is the longest day of the year. Litha is of Roman origin, and celebrates the powers of the sun at his greatest. The Goddess is also at the height of her powers at this point in the year. Some believe this is the best day for working magick.

CANCER

June 22nd to July 22nd.

Ruled by the Moon.

I feel.

Carer or cowerer.

Cardinal Water. Emotion, sensation, power, communication, ideas, depth, all concerns of water, begin in Cancer, in a swirl of activity, with everything in a state of potential. The garden bubbles in preparation for Leo. Cancer influences in the chart (Fourth house, or planets in Cancer) create an emphasis on personal subconscious. This can manifest as a deep, satisfying internal life, a sheltered, cohesive family, a firm grip on the food.

Cancer, when active in the chart, is loving, caring, building for security, latent, indirect, reserved, sensitive, perceptive, kind, forgiving, humane, psychic, imaginative, economizing, artistic, grateful, deals well with emotional problems, elegant, turns negatives to positives, open emotionally, cultured, capable of great love, comfortable, devoted, soft yet strong, spiritual, humorous, prudent, steady, and consistent.

Unfavorable Cancer can be manipulative, passive-aggressive, petulant, timid, helpless, easily tired or dominated, brooding, moody, erratic, too attached, smothering, impressionable, gullible, anxious, impatient, open to flattery, too emotional, unreliable, fickle, too optimistic, lazy, too sensitive, given to idle chatter, overly generous, an emotional black hole, undernurtured and undernurturing, closed to advice or self examination, or unclear about goals.

Domains of Cancer are home, the kitchen, childhood, protected environments, a place for nurturing, a temenos, or sacred space; management in general, from the small to the gigantic. Cancer encloses things, and provides an incubator.

Jupiter, exalted in Cancer, rules Saggitarius, Key 14, the home of Samech, another temenos. Here, Samech resembles the gestating womb. The temenos is also associated with Key 9, and Key 11.

Cancer, when active in the chart, can bring compulsive behavior, and a drive to control people and situations. Taurus, Capricorn, and Scorpio share these traits. Cancer's control is often subliminal, taken for granted, or unnoticed, but it is vital. Cancer's manipulation is "behind the scenes," and sometimes can be sneaky, mean, or destructive. These traits could arise from a Mars/Cancer combination in the birthchart, for example.

Cancer, by simply occupying the right place, and providing stable, consistent support, manages to dominate. Cancer is the passive aspect of the manifestion process; it is the strategy of 'placing oneself in the path' of what is needed, much like coral who feed on nutrient rich currents in which they situate themselves.

Pronounced Cancer influences in the birthchart suggest personalities who can set their biorhythms to the Moon. Vitality, enthusiasm, and creativity all ebb and flow with the tides. This can seem chaotic if the influences are not harmonized with the rest of the chart.

Cancer, the 4th house, is said to be the mothering, or nurturing parent, and Capricorn is the fathering, or structuring parent.

The glyph of Cancer is like two eggs in a nest, or like a whirlpool, or a bubbling spring.

The interlocked 'sixes' also look like a coiled spring: contained, latent force. The crab, another symbol of Cancer, carries its home with it - a hard shell covering soft flesh.

Cancer is often the "inner circle," "backstage," and "on the list." This results from being "Consort of Capricorn."

Scorpio, Cancer and Pisces influences, negatively aspected, can bring problems with addiction, psychological imbalance, and isolation. Retrograde planets, detriments, and squares are warnings.

Lessons for Cancer include being open and communicative, generous, assertiveness, honor, bravery, sincerity.

Cancer rules the breast, stomach, and solar plexus.

For Cancer, the Shadow takes the form of Other's being coldly realistic or unfeeling. You fear your own Reaction though, more than those who are objective or businesslike, because of your subjective nature. Work with your shadow, and the people you project it onto, by adopting their sense of objectivity, seriousness, and sober sense of purpose, characteristics you need to develop, to feel more secure in the world. The more you deny your Shadow, the more it will manifest itself and attract what you will interpret as disruption or pain.

Cancer is the 'Fourth House,' the base of operations, the home, the inner world, childhood and old age, real estate, the least prominent parent.

The Cancer cusp, June 22, is the first day of Summer, the Summer Solstice, when the days and nights are of equal length. It is a time of bustling activity, nature 'getting ready' for the big burst of Leo/Summer. In the circular chart, it is where the soul has reached the 'Nadir,' or the depths, and now climbs up into the higher realms.

The Fourth house has the character of Cancer: planets in this house are concerned with Home, and all of the administrative perseverance that entails. Planetary scenarios in the 4th house will act out at home, or in early childhood. This is the "final gestation" of the Self Development trend in the first four signs.

The water triplicity is Cancer (cardinal), followed by Scorpio (fixed), and then Pisces (mutable) .

In the natural order of the signs, Cancer is water, preceded by Gemini (air), and followed by Leo (fire).

The opposite axis, or antidote to Cancer, is Capricorn.