Success is a container we build out of beliefs and priorities we receive from outside sources and the approval we seek outside ourselves. We work so hard to check off all the boxes for a "successful" life: home, job, money, partner, degree, possessions. But once we have this container of success, built on outside approval, and achievement, we realize it is empty. A perfect-on-paper life, lived without awareness of our soul, leaves us deeply unhappy. And our unhappiness is what often sparks our desire to search for truth and meaning. It's the feeling of, "I have all of this stuff, but I'm still not satisfied. There must be something more to life."
This is the call of The Chariot, to step away from the societal ideas of success, and connect with our soul. Today we're asked to tune into our soul's purpose: what do you truly desire to bring into the world? Let that desire lead you. The Chariot can be a vehicle for our soul's purpose rather than the ego's desire to find outer success. The invitation here is to harness our ambition and drive so it can be in service of our soul's work. In the Motherpeace image of the Chariot, the Amazon warrior on her soul's quest, is rewarded with an apple from the Goddess. When you are working from your soul, you can feel it. You may receive tokens that confirm you are on the right path. Reflect on ways that you've gotten confirmations that you're where you need to be. When have you put your drive behind your soul work, and things have just fallen into place, or you've found just the right person or idea at the right time? You're being asked to move forward based on your own internal guidance, and trust that you already have all you need to start doing your soul's work now.
It's not lost on me that this incredibly powerful card came up on the 4th of July! We are taught so well in this country to seek guidelines and approval outside of ourselves, and to practice "American" beliefs and behaviors. How often do we do things because we're told to, or we think other people expect it, or because that's how it's always been done? True independence is listening to your own soul, not just being able to do or buy whatever you want. I have a lot of complicated feelings about the United States, I'm sure we all do. We can't celebrate freedom and idealism without facing the fact that real people are suffering and dying in this country and abroad -- all to keep the white supremacist cis-het vaguely-christian misogynist state in power. These people are just as real and alive as you are, and are just as worthy of living.
Today, remember that patriotism is another way of creating an arbitrary "us vs them," and that dichotomy is one of the threads holding the idea of this country together. We can honor our history, and take action to change the present. As we tap into our personal soul work today, let us all remember that we are all humans, all connected, no matter where we live. Each of us is here at this time to dissolve separation, and serve the collective. We are independent and intertwined.
If you can today, please donate to the ACLU, PP, SPLC, or any local organizations doing good work. May all people everywhere be happy and free.