This is the fifth and last installment in this Weekly Tarot Card series. The next series will begin on Monday. However, if you’d like to get caught up on the rest of the week, you can use the following links:
- Monday Description and Observation
- Tuesday Meditation
- Wednesday Suit/Element and Number
- Thursday Symbolism
Table of Contents
So far this week we have spent time observing the Magician, meditating with the Magician, and looking at the individual components. This of course is by no means the entirety of the card, for your experience is the bulk of the contribution to the meaning of it.
However, by using what we’ve already explored, we can put together a definition from here.
Defining the Magician
The Magician is generally ruled over or a depiction of the Roman God Mercury, who was the messenger god. Thus, the magician is that of higher messages. But that is not all that the Magician is.
This is the first card in line for creation. It is the representation of the through from which manifestation occurs. It is the masculine, active component and partner to the High Priestess. The Magician has the tools of the universe before him.
He has spent time understanding, learning, and developing his use of the Sword, of communication and intellect. He has dipped into the pools of the water which the Cup holds, and examined his emotions and intuition. He has harnessed his creativity and passion, and with what he has harnessed, he wields his own wand. Finally, he has grounded himself and his understandings in the earth, the form of the pentacle. With the combination of the energies, he is able to call forth that which resides in the mind, and make manifest.
With the element of 1, of firstness, the Magician calls on us to reflect on our inner energies, and find balance within them so that we too can ready ourselves to bring to fruition our inner wants and needs. This is the card of creation, but creation can only happen if all the ingredients are in proper measure.
Divinatory Meaning
The Magician is making manifest. He has before him the tools that the universe provides, and he has mastered them all. With these tools he can claim, ‘As above, so below,’ reflecting his knowledge of the way of the universe, and the infinite possibilities open as a result of this knowledge.
You have a set of skills, and now is the time to use them. You can get yourself where you need to be.
Keywords: Manifest, connecting will to the mental world, growth, budding.
Reflect
What does the Magician inspire in you to do? Where is the growth waiting to blossom? Share your experiences with the Magician through this week in the comments.
Next week begins the 2’s, starting first with he 2 of Wands.
The Decks Used
The Aquarian Tarot in a Tin by Italian-born, American-raised David Palladini, was published originally in 1970 by U.S. Games Systems Inc, and then republished again in 2016 in a smaller size. Named after the Age of Aquarius, the Aquarian Tarot is a midieval depiction of the Rider-Waite Tarot system. The images are closer, and thus might give the impression of being more character-based rather than relying on symbolism. This intimate deck provides a stark reflection of the human condition in it’s journey through the tarot.
Faerie Tarot by Nathalie Hertz, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc, 2008. Hertz is a French artist, and the creator of several other beautiful tarot decks. The Faerie Tarot was ‘inspired by the flora and fauna of the French countryside,’ and ‘invites you to see the world in a delightful new way…blending fantasy, whimsy, and nature.’
Impressionist Tarot by Arturo Picca (artist) and Corrine Kenner (author), published by Lo Scarabeo in 2015. This deck takes works of classic impressionist paintings and recreates them to fit the meanings of the tarot. It pulls from works of Edonard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gough, and Paul Gauguin. A truly beautiful deck, especially for those who have interest in the art world.
Prisma Visions Tarot by James R. Eads, 3rd ed., published in 2016. The deck itself is beautiful, though perhaps not for the beginning tarot reader. The suits all fit together to create a master picture displaying the energy and progression of the suits. The figures and images flow from one card to the next, showing movement within the stationary cards.
Rider-Waite by A. E. Waite. The deck used in these photos is currently out of print. I won’t say much about this deck, as it is fairly standard and probably one of the most produced decks. It serves as a standard for many tarot readers and artists, depicting classic images relating in part to the original playing cards that tarot developed from.
The Spiral Tarot by Kay Steventon. With turn-of-the-20th-century style art, this deck takes from the classic Rider-Waite deck and brings it up to the late 1800-early 1900’s, a time of industry and contemplation for the western world as it moved forward into a more technological era. I am a little biased toward this deck as it’s been my main deck for 15 years. The cards are thick with additional symbolism that can be tricky to pick out of the traditional Rider-Waite, and adds layers of Greek myth throughout the Major Arcana.
Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley (designer and author) and Lady Frieda Harris (artist), published by U. S. Games Systems, Inc., in 1978. This deck takes from most esoteric imagery, and requires the reader of the deck to have deep, initiate knowledge of the symbolism used. There is nothing within the cards that is without meaning. However, on a more surface level, the deck draws from Egyptian symbolism and from the style of the Marseille Tarot (mostly seen within the Minor Arcana). For those looking for deeper understandings of the universe, I recommend this deck. I would caution that this deck is highly advanced, and might be avoided for the budding reader.
Vampire Tarot – by Nathalie Hertz, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. in 2000. As mentioned above in reference to the Faerie Tarot, Hertze is a French artist who gained her notability through the publication of her tarot decks. The Vampire Tarot was a bestselling deck upon its release, and plays on more gothic symbolism, providing more jarring interpretations to allow for the accepting of negative forces within the world to compliment the positive forces. The deck brings together myths and legends in the form of vampires, which ‘gives tarot readers a macabre passport’ into the world of divination.
