The figure on the card is handsomely attired, shaded by a glowing canopy, and the horses are two sphinxes, one black and one white, perhaps similar to the Chinese Yin and Yang in intent. The chariot has no reins, and the sphinxes are very firmly sat down, unlikely to go anywhere. This does not appear to disturb the charioteer. It is easy to see that the fool who began the journey, now a charioteer, having escaped the austerity of the intellect, needs to relax for a time in the gentle glow of feelings, discovering new delights in appreciating the environment in terms of intuition in contrast to the mental gymnastics which are encouraged by intellectual pursuits.
We may tend, at this stage, to use our "canopy" a little too much to shield us from some of the unpleasant aspects of reality, looking at the world to some extent through rose-coloured spectacles.
To begin with, in stage seven, this is quite natural, and also quite necessary, for it takes a little time to assimilate new experiences of feeling-based events in life. Not that we did not experience such things before, but now they become more conscious.
Throughout the first three Steps, in fact, there is nothing new in our lives other than that we begin to experience more of the events of life consciously, with the difference in attitude that accompanies such activity. Indeed, it is our very awareness that is being developed, to the point where the seat of consciousness is transferred, in Step four, from the personality, or little ego, to Self.
After a greater or lesser degree of relaxation in stage seven, we begin to realise that we are in the position of being "all dressed up with nowhere to go." We soon find that we can apply this awareness for the benefit of those following behind us on the Way much as we did in stage five. This we begin to do in stage eight.
On the scale of the Ladder, stage seven is related to Path 23, "The Stable Intelligence."
