This is an article in a series in blog posts…. the “The Major Arcana In-Depth” series! Every few weeks I will be featuring one card of the Major Arcana, from the Fool to the World. Come take a tarot journey with me!
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To learn about the Major Arcana overall and the first card in the Major Arcana, The Fool, go here.
The Magical Magician
The Magician is numbered One, making him the very first stop on the Fool’s journey through the Major Arcana. When I say Magician, I’m not talking about “hocus pocus” and “abracadabra”… I’m talking an alchemical worker. The Magician is often depicted with one arm pointing toward the ground and the other arm pointing to the sky, evoking the axiom “As above, so below”. In front of him is a table with representations of the four elements on it. Often he has the infinity symbol over his head.
The Magician is all about will and the nature of change.
When I see the Magician, I am often struck by the feeling that the client has all the tools they need (whether they know it or not). The question becomes “which is more important: the tools you have set before you or the will to change?”
Keywords: will, energy, magic, teacher or mentor
Applicable Quotes: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”—Buddhist proverb
Traditional Meanings
The meeting of a new teacher or mentor. The Fool is at his first stop in the Major Arcana, and his first “life experience”. The Magician is the very first person that The Fool looks up to and trusts. When upright, the trust is genuine and well-placed… reversed and the faith in your teachers may be misplaced or strongly tested.
Personal Meanings
What I think of when I see the Magician: This depends on the client, the reading, and the other cards in the reading. But overall, I tell the client to be on the lookout for a new teacher or mentor. Sometimes that teacher isn’t even a physical person but a life experience or even the client themselves. The Magician can also be a reminder that we have all the tools at our disposal AND the will to make things happen.
When the Magician is reversed (upside down) in a reading, I warn clients that trickery is afoot. Someone is portraying themselves as wiser than they actually are. Keep in mind however that tricksters often have their own way of teaching lessons.
When The Magician Shows Up in a Reading
Upright: a new teacher or mentor, the willpower and know-how to make things happen
Reversed: trickery is afoot, slight-of-hand, misrepresentation
Ultimately, if/when you read for yourself, please keep the things I listed above in mind… and if you disagree, PLEASE use your own meanings for this card. Your thoughts on each individual card are invaluable, and lead you to a multi-layered understanding of the tarot that no one individual book/Little White Book/teacher can give you. Your experience with the cards counts, too!
Tarot class dismissed!
~*~Hilary~*~
www.tarotbyhilary.com
Image courtesy of nirots / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
How do you relate to The Magician? Did you meet a new teacher? Share your experiences in the Comments section below.
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Blessings,
~*~Hilary~*~
www.tarotbyhilary.com
hilary@tarotbyhilary.com
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HILARY PARRY HAGGERTY is a tarot reader, witch, mentor, editor, and teacher. She has been reading tarot for over 21 years (13 years professionally). She was the winner of Theresa Reed’s (The Tarot Lady) Tarot Apprentice contest in 2011, and has taught classes on tarot and spell-work at The Tarot School’s annual tarot conference Readers Studio and at Brid’s Closet Beltane Festival. She writes a weekly blog on tarot at her website www.tarotbyhilary.com and has been featured in Maxim Magazine and BuzzFeed.
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© Hilary Parry Haggerty | Tarot by Hilary
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