Abram’s Chariot Ride From Ur

By James Donahue

The Crowley Thoth tarot deck is filled with meaningful esoteric art work by Lady Frieda Harris, all done under Crowley’s careful direction. Among the works is the Chariot card, depicting an armored charioteer riding a two-wheeled vehicle drawn by four beasts. In his arms, the charioteer holds a burning red oval object encased in blue and covered with iron.

We have read many different interpretations of this card, most of them based on old tarot readings by various practitioners. Interpretations of the familiar Ryder-Waite deck conclude that the charioteer is a figure who appears to teach the Fool how to use personal will and natural powers of the universe to win his daily battles against forces that would block his spiritual path through life.

One radical but interesting interpretation of the Crowley Chariot Card suggests that the armored rider is a depiction of Abram of the Old Testament making his flight from the ancient City of Ur. Abram later changed his name to Abraham, the man said to have been the father of both the Hebrew and Arab people.

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran and dwelt there. (Gen. 11:31)

If Abraham was a real character the Bible story says he first lived in Ur, located in the region now known as Iraq. He and his family were driven from Ur and the entire region by overpopulation and an erosion of natural resources. It is an old story that occurred over and over again as early civilizations rose, prospered, overpopulated, and then fell apart for lack of food, clean water and other natural resources to provide for large clusters of people.

And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. Gen. 12:9-10)

Thus Abraham left Ur in search of a new place to settle and raise his family.

But the Crowley Troth card depicts the rider dressed in armor and carrying a strange oval object  with a bright red center during his flight from Ur. What is this?

Remember that the story of Abraham later involved yet another flight by Abraham’s son, Lot, and his wife to escape the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. What occurred there was a super explosion that might well be described as blasts from nuclear bombs. Lot’s wife failed to get away and it was said she was turned into a pillar of salt. Perhaps she was, instead, turned to ashes where she stood.

We suspect that the people of that time enjoyed advanced technology and there is strong evidence around the world that they knew and used atomic power.

Suppose that the object in Abram’s hands as he symbolically rides the chariot is the force that later was hidden within the Ark of the Covenant. This Ark was a container holding what was described by the high Hebrew priests as God. Could it have been processed plutonium so radioactive that the container is encased in lead and iron? Is this why the charioteer wears a protective suit? Must he be shielded against radioactive poisoning?

This could well have been the secret force carried within the Ark of the Covenant spoken of throughout the Old Testament. It is the force kept hidden within the inner walls of the Temple later erected by King Solomon. It is the thing that was so deadly it killed priests who entered without disposing of every sin in their hearts (or perhaps wearing the proper lead shielding in their garments?). The Old Testament stories said the priests always entered the Inner Sanctum of the Temple, where the Ark stood, with a rope tied around their leg so that if struck dead, their bodies could be safely pulled back out.

The Chariot Card image in the Crowley deck then appears to be a dire warning. Even though the message is simple, we fail to grasp its significance because most people ignore it. They do this because it has Crowley’s name stamped on it. The Christian Church saw to it that Crowley was demonized and turned into a historical figure of satanic works. Consequently his work, although carrying an importantly prophetic warning for the present day, has been taken seriously by only a few who study and appreciate the esoteric works of men like Crowley. 

The human race has always had this warning hanging over its head. The message is that we would again advance in technology until we reached the atomic age, as it was in ancient times when Ur was in existence. That would be the end of history unless two important things were learned before we reached that point.

The first thing, we were to be advanced and spiritually balanced, living in harmony with the planet. We were expected to know by now that we are to be good stewards of the Mother Earth, and not polluting and ravaging our environment. The balance would make it possible for mankind to live in peace without war.

The second important thing we were expected to understand is that we were not to breed carelessly and overpopulate. The old story of famine in Ur was a warning of our fate, but on a global scale. Once we did this we would have no place left to run.

Now we have, indeed, reached the atomic age. We have reached the height of technology. But we have not learned the important lessons that were meant to come first. We are not spiritually prepared to deal with the power in our grasp.

Thus is exposed the great danger. There is an understanding of the warning on that Chariot Card. if we, in this overpopulated world where resources are in short supply, turn on one another in warfare over control of those last remaining resources, we will go extinct. In desperation, if we use nuclear bombs against one another, we will destroy ourselves at the push of a few buttons.

Once we unleash the power of these bombs, there will be no turning back. It is the end of the road. We will have failed to heed the warning. This is why the world must listen to United States President Barack Obama who is calling for a dismantling of all nuclear weapons by all world nations, and an agreement by all world leaders not to ever seek this kind of raw power again.

To make matters even more desperate, many religious fanatics around the world believe that a final global conflict must be launched before the mythical god-man Jesus will return and magically set things right. This belief is shared by both hard-line Christians and Muslims. It is not occurring to them that the story might be a fabrication. If they launch such a war they will, instead, unlock the door to hell from which there will be no escape.