Embodying The Chariot (and Substack changes!)
Summer sale! Taking the reins! Big wave surfing metaphors!
Hello you,
There’s a change afoot and there’s some new stuff coming your way! Read on to hear all about new offerings for both free and paid subscribers, AND a summer sale:
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Starting this month, all subscribers are going to receive Embodying the Tarot, where I talk about that month’s card, the challenges and delights of embodying that archetype.
And paid subscribers will also get to join me for a live breathwork session on the last Tuesday of each month (with a replay because time zones). In these sessions we’ll be able to connect, go deeper and breathe with how that card is showing up for you.
I’ve been playing with weaving together breathwork and tarot in my own practice lately and let me tell you, this is some powerful shit. Breathing with tarot archetypes has helped me drop down beneath the thinking mind and really feel them in my bones. It’s meant more clarity, more creativity, and more intuitive lightning bolt moments.
I’m so excited to share this with you and I hope that you’ll join me for this new iteration of Embodying the Tarot. And with that in mind – summer sale!
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I’m offering 30% off all yearly subscriptions until the end of August. That ends up being more than £20 off!
Come September I’ll be raising the price of the Substack subscription by a couple of pounds to account for the new live sessions. If you want to jump in before that happens now’s the time!
Okay, all announcements done and dusted. Let’s talk about harnessing The Chariot’s wild libidinous horses and moving towards our dreams!
7.
The Chariot
The reins strain in your hands, their leather creaking under the strain. The musty sweet smell of your horses fills your nostrils and you can feel their libidinous power pulling you forward. You can feel their urge to bolt, one to the left one to the right. Given the chance they could completely derail your chariot, send you tumbling, but you have the skills to manage it. It’s under control. You’ve got a steady hand and a clear direction that you’re going.
And so you manoeuvre these opposing forces to carry you forward. Sometimes you move with the pull of their muscular bodies, sometime you rein in and redirect, channelling their power to get you where you’re called to go.
The wind swirls in your hair as you pick up speed. The thrum of the wheels reverberates up through your feet. You’re in motion and moving forward, confident and steadfast. You don’t know what the path ahead will bring, but you know where you’re going.
Meet The Chariot
The Chariot is a card of forward motion. It’s a call to grab the reins and confidently go for what you want with clear-eyed drive and determination. Let all the other distractions fall away, including the stories about what you ‘should’ be doing and the urge to control every part of the journey. The Chariot wants you to listen to the wild whisper of your intuition and fucking go for it.
The Chariot gives me big fire energy. I have to put that down to my Aries rising getting all het up and wanting to charge into battle, because despite my misconceptions, The Chariot is actually ruled by the watery, deep feels of Cancer. Which is to say that yes, there’s a lot of forward motion here but it’s less like a battle and more like big wave surfing or kayaking through the rapids.
This is a card of following your purpose. The calling in your gut that feels as wild and deep (and frankly terrifying) as the ocean. Just like riding a wave or dodging rocks as you catapult down a river, you’re making shit happen but you’re being pulled forward by a force way larger than you.
The Chariot is just as much about surrender as it is about control.
Yes, you’re holding the reins, but if you pull too tight you won’t go anywhere. You’ve got to let things move and that requires loosening the grip. You know where you’re going and you can gallop forward confident in that knowledge. You’re not guaranteed a smooth ride, nor can you control what lies ahead on the path, but actually, that’s okay (even if it feels scary).
The Chariot wants you to remember that get to where you deeply long to go you’re going to need to step into the unknown. Like a little squishy hermit crab leaving his too small (but comfortingly familiar) shell so that he can find something bigger to grow into. What got you here won’t get you there.
And so what would it be like to be committed to taking one step at a time? What if you started moving forward, riding that intuitive oceanic pull in your gut and trusting that you have the capacity to meet whatever the journey may bring?
Embodying The Chariot
Learning to ride the waves
You know what’s really damn scary to our nervous systems? Trusting the unknown. Surrendering control. Stepping out of our comfort zone and moving towards something we’ve not done before, or some version of ourselves we’ve not been before.
Our bodies want to keep us safe. Safety, followed closely by pleasure, is basically our body’s favourite thing. And so as we charge forth on The Chariot, let’s think about staying with the discomfort of change (which our body perceives as deeply unsafe) and how to steady yourself, even at a gallop.
Let me start by saying that this is a practice. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is something that you get better at the more you do it. And the way that you can practice is by taking little doses of discomfort then backing off. In the field of Somatic Experiencing this is known as titration.
It’s a practice of expanding to your edges and then contracting back down to remind your body that it’s safe. And slowly, slowly, it helps your window of tolerance grow a little wider so that you learn that discomfort isn’t a life or death situation. It helps you sit with the sensations that arise without a bunch of internal alarm systems blaring.
There are lots of ways to practice this. Honestly I’ve found breathwork to be one of the most effective testing grounds, but if you want to play with it before our live session let me suggest a tiny dance party.
✨ Make yourself a three-song playlist. One to land, one to dance, one to settle back down. Choose the tempos accordingly. With the first song of your tiny dance party feel into your body as it is right now. Take a few slow breaths. Notice the sensations you can feel. What would help you feel grounded and safe? Do that.
Start to move more vigorously with the second song. Jump around, shake, wiggle. Go big! There are no rules for how to dance this tiny dance party. As you get into in, notice how your body responds to this activation. Could you stay present to your experience, even as the dance continues? Pay attention to sensations and emotional responses arising.
When the third song hits, slow back down again. Plant your feet on the ground, bring your hands onto your body, and focus on slowing your breathing back down. If possible, breathe in and out through your nose. You did the expanding to your uncomfortable edge, now soften back and find safety again. What sensations are present now?
An invitation to practice
Want to join me to breathe with The Chariot and work through some of this together? All paid subscribers are welcome and there will, of course, be a replay for those who can’t make it live.
Breathwork with The Chariot – 7pm UK time, Tuesday August 29th