In 2022 I took on embodying this archetype and became more tuned in with my purpose, direction, ethics, presence, and refining a spiritual mission to be on.
The artwork captures how I feel about my life purpose at this time in my life. It's broken into 3 layers. The bottom layer addresses the present moment. The Middle Layer is general purpose. The top layer is a more specific purpose.
For the bottom layer It shows a character riding a lizard spirit animal. This is symbolic of living in harmony with my animistic self, and be-friending a spirit animal that once was menacing, in particular in my first art piece on this art and spiritual path: The Fool.
The middle layer is full of boxes that are actually websites, projects, art pieces, and videos I've made over the year that are connected to my life's purpose. Green digital streams are raining down from it, connecting these projects to the world. In the middle is a vesica piscis. This symbolizes balance, creation, and my dedication to my romantic partner. Being with and supporting her is part of my life's purpose.
At the top of the middle layer is an owl spirit guardian, lifting the digital products up. This symbolizes my spiritual life being in harmony and amplifying my projects. This is the same bird spirit guardian that appears in all the previous archetype drawings, starting with The Fool. Now the bird is an ally, contributing and being in harmony.
The top level is the new Behold Arcana logo. Green digital code streams down to the layer below, connecting it with websites and videos I will be making. This logo on this top layer represents the current expression of my life's purpose.
The previous archetype is "The Lovers". This is a wonderful place to come from, as well as a solid foundation to build upon. How you do anything is how you do everything, so it starts with the present moment. Your presence conveys a lot about how you're feeling and doing. From that powerful energy of love and acceptance, it's time to add meaning and use that energy to create something or work towards something bigger than myself.
When I am at a social gatherings for networking or with friends and family, I will stand in my values. What I talk about and do are directly influenced by these values. They are an authentic aspect of myself. People will be able to connect with me more deeply socially and spiritually. Values are valuable when defined.
The chariot archetype could also be seen as a Crusader. A Crusader is defined as:
"a person who campaigns vigorously for political, social, or religious change; a campaigner."
Definitions from Oxford Languages
Why are you here? What are you doing? What is the motivation behind doing what you want to do?
This is an ideal archetype to make a mission statement or spiritual purpose statement. It will most likely be vague, but can then be used to take specific action. At time when it's not clear what action should be taken, coming back to review this statement will help give motivation and direction. If it does not help, then it needs to be contemplated and re-written.
My mission is to encourage and nurture awareness of myself and others then co-create uplifting encounters with curiosity and humor. From this place I will lead and collaborate on multi-media projects that are informative, inspiring and raise the awareness of those who participate.
This involves first by learning how to connect inwardly to create clear priorities. If I don't know what that is, then I need time by myself to let my thoughts settle and find that answer. After I have my priorities lined up, then through my presence and participation I will encourage and tap into higher awareness. I will pay attention to what people say and do by listening fully, being curious, and making mental notes I can bring up with them the next opportunity. I will ask questions, share myself authentically and offer what is available to me to facilitate more meaningful interactions.
Doors of opportunity open briefly every day to take action on my mission statement. I will have to keep setting intention and be prepared to connect by occasionally being assertive as well as easy going.
By this time on the spiritual path, 6 of the 7 chakras have had attention on them through studying and embodying the previous archetypes. The Chariot is the 7th and activates the 5th Chakra in the Throat. This is the time to speak up in the world by declaring life purpose and influencing the world from a place of spiritual alignment.
I spent time contemplating how the 7 Chakras line up with the first 8 archetypes, and found that they do quite well, if you start on the 3rd eye with the Magician.
The fool isn't any particular chakra, as it's the conscious awareness which is the energy that travels through the chakras. The High priestess archetype has responsibility over 2 chakras as that archetype is connected with the heavens and is rooted in the Earth.
I like that the high priestess has special responsibility of uniting the crown chakra with the root while the Emperor and the Empress equally share the Sacral Chakra. It shows the Divine masculine and feminine as equally responsible of the same kind of energy. 1 is Yin and the other is Yang and exist together in a unique way. Alternatively, the Empress could be fully responsible for the root chakra, as show here:
Only after all 7 chakras have been attended to sufficiently be in a holistic alignment with oneself is a person ready to focus on their life purpose. This is the ideal time to further define Dharma and take a bold move in an empowered direction. It is time to act righteously like a modern crusader.
When someone invites me to a social engagement or requests my help with something, I often feel a strong "Yes" right away. Only after evaluating it further do I realize what that "Yes" entails and the Opportunity Cost. Every activity and task I agree to is something I have to do instead of what I would have done if I didn't have to do it.
This phrase echoed throughout the time I was embodying The Chariot Archetype. Anytime I went for the easy way out, or indulge in an escapism instead of doing the task ahead of me, I'd remind myself it's not just this one time. If I choose to take the easy way out in this moment, I choose to take the easy way out in my life.
Likewise, when I do what is right and accomplish good quality results and interactions, it becomes my reputation and what my life is about. By being consistent in my behavior and regularly reflecting on my habits and behaviors, I stay aligned with my values and goals. This saying encourages me to be present in each moment to what I'm choosing, which helps me cultivate a greater sense of awareness and intentionality in all areas of my life.
Behold Arcana is the name of the particular spiritual path that I'm on. It is the structure of how to embody each card in the major arcana of the Tarot, and why they are in that particular order. It is also a system that facilitates a mentor apprentice relationships for aspects of life.
Through embodiment and creative self expression of each archetype, person insights are revealed from universal human experiences. Each archetype meets you where you are at, with lessons and insight as unique as the person who is studies and embodies it. As you move through each archetype in order, the lessons are progressively more complex requiring a higher level of awareness to reach the depth required to move forward. This provides a path for students to follow while on their own personal journey towards the highest version of themselves. Here is the official Behold Arcana site to learn more: BeholdArcana.com
While studying this archetype I was strongly drawn to Behold Arcana as my greats contribution to society and my life's purpose. I have spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas, working out business models, and refining aspect of the course system. I did not finish setting up the site during my time studying this archetype, but I did take some massive steps forward. Such as doing logo design work and establishing the first version of the Behold Arcana Logo
