78 Miles of Mystery; Mile 1
It’s mile 1 of 78 Miles of Mystery, and hopping on board is The Magician, Key 1 of the Tarot, and the second of the Major Arcana. The Magician brings more confidence to our adventuring, telling us we’ve got what we need, and know what to do with it.
Creating with The Magician
The Card:
The Magician stands firmly rooted in his power, one hand holding his staff to the sky, the other pointed at the earth. A canopy of roses hangs above. He channels the power of the Universe through his being, directing it down to the earthly, or physical plane. The symbol for eternity sits above his head, while around his waist, he is belted by a snake biting its own tail. On his table, all four suits of Tarot are represented. These also mirror the elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Scattered at his feet are white lilies and red roses.
What The Magician Portrays:
The Magician appears when creative plans are brewing, instinct is strong, and we feel empowered. The message is ‘you’ve got this!’ He’s not announcing the Universe is about to magically throw what you desire into your lap, but that you already have everything required to manifest your dreams with your skill, talents, tools and resources, so get busy and make it happen; the creative juices and energies needed are present and waiting.
The Magician marches with purpose and intent. Because he follows his inspiration, and heeds guidance from the Divine, he knows what he wants and how to do it in order to manifest. It’s a confident card for such an early stage of The Fool’s journey, but only because it’s a reminder that we hold the power to succeed in our own hands, enough to take us through all 78 miles of mystery.
Sometimes, The Magician can represent trickery. If this card appears in a spread, take a look at the surrounding cards, as they may indicate skulduggery is present. It could be someone is taking a short cut or stealing an unfair advantage. It can also indicate the mischief stems from the seeker themselves.
Potential, creativity, and resourcefulness are all themes of this card. It brings a positive omen for anyone making a transformation or taking on a new project. They must be clear on what they want, and be honest about their underlying motives, as sleight of hand is a Magician’s skill, so it’s important to act responsibly, consciously, and with focus.
With The Fool at The Magician’s rear, there may be lack of confidence or experience causing concern, but The Magician is very much a ‘can-do’ energy. You could say it’s a ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ vibe.
Morpheus from the Matrix, Professor X from X-Men, and the brothers Fred & George Weasley from Harry Potter are great examples of Magician energy. By using their creativity and intelligence, they craft their vision into reality. They’re also highly resourceful!
A Closer Look:
The Magician is surrounded by an abundance of flowers; red roses, and white lilies. They represent growth, divinity, passion, and the purity of intent. His robes mirror theses colours too. Although he is passionate to succeed, the intent behind it comes from a pure place; the want to do better, be better, give more.
The Magician strikes a balanced, rooted pose as he stands with his double-tipped wand to the heavens, and one hand pointing to the earth. ‘As above, so below’ is indicated here, the ability to connect to Divine, and through its guidance and inspiration, manifest on the physical plane.
Note the table; a solid, wooden construction indicating a stable foundation, holding a symbol of each tarot suit; cup, pentacle, sword, and wand. These also represent the four elements; water, earth, air, and fire.
Air represents the idea, how the vision forms in our minds, and how we use our logical minds to plan. Fire is the passion, the drive to create and the motivation to take action. Water is the emotion behind our action, how we strive to birth our idea into reality, and finally, Earth, the practical, hands-on doing, the tools we use, and the manifestation of the idea into the physical. Without these ingredients, can we manifest?
Take a moment to reflect on how you channel these elements with your own creative processes. If you lack Fire, does the project take off at all? If there’s an abundance of Air, is it all thinking and planning, but no actual doing?
The Magician in Motion:
Think of when you last set a goal for yourself and followed it through to completion. No matter how big or small the task, reflect on how you used your experience, resourcefulness, and skills to get it done. If you didn’t have the ‘normal’ tools to hand, did you use logic to find an appropriate substitute? When you met with an obstacle, how did you bust through it?
If you can’t recall an example, set yourself a task and stay mindful of Magician energy as you work. It could be anything; an indoor task, such as cleaning out cupboards, a shed, or garage, or maybe tackling something outside; painting, repairs, tidying the garden. Whatever you choose, take note of how you approach the task, how you plan, begin, and even deal with challenges. Did you work with mind, heart, body, and soul? Where did you have to get resourceful?
As you’re working, why not listen to some Magician inspired music? Here are a few suggestions:
One dream, one soul, one prize, one goal, one golden glance of what should be. It’s a kind of magic. This flame that burns inside of me, I’m hearing secret harmonies. It’s a kind of magic.
Into the streets, we’re coming down, we never sleep, never get tired, through urban fields, and suburban life. Who’s gonna save the world tonight, who’s gonna bring you back to life? We’re gonna make it, you and I, we’re gonna save the world tonight.
This time, this is my fight song, take back my life song, prove I’m alright song, my power’s turned on, starting now I’ll be strong.
The Magician in Creativity:
The Magician’s power lies in taking the intangible; thoughts, ideas, visions, and turning them into the tangible; a finished piece of work. This is the card of physically doing, of gathering together tools, equipment, supplies and using them to manifest your vision. While the end product might not be fully formed in your mind’s eye, you have the confidence to know you’ll get there. Take for example, designing a dress. The vision is formed, the sketch made, and the pattern prepared. Fabrics, scissors, pins, chalk are gathered. The designer cuts and pins, piece by piece, and even as the garment comes together, they tweak and adjust. Perhaps once the garment is on the model, the designer discovers a flaw, or has a eureka moment where adding in or taking away takes the design to the next level. Throughout the process, the designer works with Magician energy, using all their skill, tools, and experience to manifest their idea into a tangible garment.
The Magician is a great card to call upon if suffering from creative block. It reminds us to return to basics (the building blocks of the four elements), and acknowledge the skills, talents, and tools we possess (the act of laying them out on the table). From there, The Magician encourages us to connect to the spiritual realm through meditation (hand to the sky) with a mind to how we can manifest on the physical plane again (hand to earth which indicates ‘as above, so below’). He reminds us that our connection to the Divine is eternal (the lemniscate and ouroboros) and how resourcefulness is one of our greatest tools.
Symbolism for The Magician:
The number 1: New beginnings, potential, inspiration and empowerment.
Canopy of roses: An outpouring of Divine love. Purity, promise, and beauty are ready to unfold.
One hand to the sky, the other to the earth: Represents ‘as above, so below’ in reference to reaching for the spiritual plane in order to manifest on the physical.
Double-tipped white wand: His power works both ways; he reaches for the Divine, but is also a conduit to this source.
Lemniscate: The eternity symbol indicates an endless capacity for creativity. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it simply carries on, forever in motion.
Ouroboros belt: The snake eating its own tail is another symbol for eternity, but also represents reinvention and divine wisdom.
White robe: Purity of intent, but can also represent inexperience. The Fool wears a white shirt under his colourful tunic, so the sense of innocence is still in play, yet The Magician forges ahead with confidence.
Red mantle: Willpower, passion, and creativity, but can also represent ego and rage.
Red roses and white lilies: Passion and psychic integrity blended together for the greater good.
Table: A statement of intent, like laying out ones cards to disclose thought and intent. Also represents a solid foundation already in place.
Tarot suit symbols: Air represented by the Sword, Fire by the Wand, Water by the Cup, and Earth by the Pentacle. Air is the thought, the initial idea, Fire the drive to manifest it, Water the emotion, Earth the manifestation.
Astrological Correspondences:
The Magician is associated with Mercury, the planet of communication. Logic, intelligence, and clever thinking are all possessed by the Magician. So too is the ‘I think’ vibe of Gemini and ‘I analyse’ mindset of Virgo. The god Mercury travelled between realms with speed and ease. With The Magician wielding his double-tipped white wand, he’s connected to both the spiritual and physical realms as he works to manifest his ideas into reality.
Creating with The Magician, a tarot spread.
Grab your deck, and using The Magician as a focal point, shuffle and draw while thinking about the below questions. Journal your thoughts, or take a photo so you can refer back to the reading at a later date. Consider how it reads beside the spread for The Fool? Are there similarities or striking differences?
Journal Prompts:
Where does my power lie?
Do I use my power for good, or against others?
How can I bring ‘As Above, So Below’ into my creative processes?
Do I acknowledge and respect my potential?
How can I connect to my Higher Power?
Where does the advancement from The Fool to The Magician reflect in my life?
The Magician Reversed:
When The Magician appears reversed, it indicates a lack of talent, tools, or resources. It also suggests motivation and purpose are absent. This is the person who wants the prize, but is not willing to work for it. Instead, they’re hoping it’ll just fall into their lap with the minimum of effort. It can also indicate someone abusing power, taking an unfair advantage through bullying or sneaky tactics. When manipulation is afoot, that’s the energy of the reversed Magician.
Reversed, the items on the table fall. The Magician has turned his back on pure intent, and abuses his power. The flowers take on a more creeping effect, suggesting the tangle and choke of scheming.
Overconfidence can be implied by The Magician in reverse, too, someone who thinks they know it all, have it all, and can do anything. This person usually gets a rude landing, (not that they’d even admit it) but unfortunately, abuse others along the way.
Take note of surrounding cards if The Magician pops up reversed. They can indicate much about the situation, and can often pinpoint who is working the skulduggery.
For a reversed Magician, consider the following as journal prompts, or a spread.
Where is manipulation taking place?
How can balance be restored?
What is the root cause of this reversal?
How can misplaced power be counteracted?
Road-tripping with The Magician:
Hang out with The Magician for a few days. Seek him out in music, lyrics, poetry, books, art. TV/Movie characters or well known people. What about those around you? Who amongst your friends/family/colleagues embodies Magician energy? Where would Magician energy benefit your life—and what might change with it?
If you journal, write about your experience. Discovering your own personal associations is a fantastic way to connect with the themes of any card, so if a connection clicks, keep note of it. Associating a card with a person, song, or character forges a solid understanding that has personal meaning, and works way better than simply rote learning the meanings. The main thing is to enjoy the process.
Consider too how The Magician has taken the next step in The Fool’s journey. Remember the knapsack The Fool held? Are these the four items now appearing on the table? Where might the dog be? The Magician doesn’t wear The Fool’s colourful tunic, but he continues to wear the white under-shirt. What does this represent to you? Perhaps he’s still wearing the yellow boots, or could he be barefoot to connect wholly with the element of earth? Place The Fool and The Magician side by side and see how they interact. If they were chatting, what might they say?
Further Resources
If you’re looking for guidance on journaling you can check out the post here. Likewise, for recommended books on tarot, hop to the Resources section where all the books are linked for easy access to Amazon. Please note, that as an Amazon Associate I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon. Some of the links you click are affiliate links, meaning I get commissions for purchases made through this link, but at no extra cost to you whatsoever.
Decks used in this post:
We’ll pick up The High Priestess for the next mile of our adventure. Until then, enjoy creating with The Magician. Let me know how you bonded! I’d love to hear associations you make, especially when they’re pop culture based. You can reach me at julie@creativesoultarot.com
Would you like tarot goodness every Monday? My weekly newsletter contains a Tarot for Creatives reading, along with crystal recommendations and an oracle card for the week ahead. You can sign up by visiting Creative Soul Tarot.
コメント