In the major arcana journey, our Fool has now fully stepped onto the transformative path. They have willingly (or perhaps unwillingly) leapt off the cliff into the wild unknown. At this moment on the journey, we often encounter a clear sign of our inner power, our gifts that we came to earth to share. This sign is the Magician card. When the young and unlikely hero of Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, first heeds the call to leave his home, he meets Ben Kenobi, or Obi Wan Kenobi. Similarly, in the movie Black Panther, T’Challa must begin his journey as king the moment his father dies. He ingests the magical heart-shaped herb and travels to the realm of the ancestors to meet his recently deceased father. Both of these figures meet a symbolic Magician. In our lives, this is a person or event which reminds us all that our power and abilities lie within us. We have everything we need! This seems impossible at times, for we look to the outer world to meet our basic needs, find love, and experience pleasure and happiness.
When we view the Magician from the cycle of seven in the major arcana journey, the Magician is the very beginning of the cycle of consciousness. In this view, the Fool is on the journey and the first set of seven cards is their movement into the outer world, the conscious step onto an external manifestation of the soul’s journey. The Magician is the moment we separate from the womb all primordial potential into our own singular being. This is the spark of life, conception, the “a-ha” idea, the start of something new.
The Magician is the number one, the seed. Within the seed is the entire oak tree, a little and wonderful dream. Hold a seed in your hand and think about the magic of that! One tiny seed can become a huge tree that will produce hundreds of seeds that could potentially grow thousands of trees and so on. That one seed holds infinity. Cards number 10 (Wheel of Fortune) through 19 (The Sun) all contain the power and energy of the Magician’s intention. When we look back (or forward) at the journey, we can see how the power of intention, the seed, has a dramatic effect on later aspects of our path.
The Magician is very creative, takes initiative, and cultivates the skill of clear speech and precise communication. He may seem unemotional at times and can appear fast, clever, curious, slippery, and slick. Magicians use their efforts and skills to their advantage. In an ultimate sense, there is no morality, no wrong or right, no good or bad, only energy. Yet in the human realm, we operate within agreed upon moral rules and karmic consequences that affect each decision we make. However, when we use the energy of the Magician, we are able to slip past the ordinary and access the clear magical energy that transcends time and space.
The Magician is beautiful, illusory, solitary, and charismatic. He has everything he needs and is in contact with raw power and energy that allow him to draw what he needs directly to himself. The Magician is connected to enchantments and magic. The power of magic is rooted in both our intention and careful craft of the words. The word “enchantment” is derived from the Latin incantare, the root of which is of cantare, “to sing.” The Magician is the essence or seed reminder of our own personal soul song. To sing or call out through chanting is as old as human history itself and many of us have forgotten the power of sound moving through us.
The Magician reminds us to be clear in our words and intentions. What are we crafting with our words? What are we committing to out loud? Track your words and take note of when you are speaking well or ill of others, when you are putting yourself down or blocking your way forward with your own statements, or when you are putting out something positive and powerful through word or sound.
In the Waite-Smith deck, the Magician stands behind an altar of magic. On it are four symbols that correspond to the four suits, or minor arcana of the tarot deck. We see carefully laid out: the pentacle, the cup, the sword, and the wand. Each represents four aspects of the human expression: body, emotion, mind, and spirit; and each is associated with the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. One of the Magician’s hands is lifted high into the air, holding the wand, receiving the power; the other is pointed down to the earth, grounding it in. The wand is a magical tool used for divination, manifestation, destruction, and directing one’s will. Above his head is the infinity symbol, reminding us of our limitless potential.
In the Crowley deck, the Magician appears to be rising up into the air, transcending form and working directly with the energies that surround him. He is nude, showing his effortless power, and is surrounded by the tools of the minor arcana, able to access them as needed. Even his wand floats above him signifying his masterful skill that is well grounded in non-attachment or clinging. Above his head are two entwined serpents, symbolic of eternity, potential, and creative transformation.
When the Magician appears in a reading, it symbolizes a new beginning, setting intentions, and becoming disciplined in our work using our tools. Potentials come into focus and there is a clear crystallization of the vision and what is to be done. The Magician card appears as a bid for power in our lives. This may be a job offer, new relationship, creative vision, or a new concept. It is up to us to grasp this wand and begin to use it to increase our own potential and power and wield the magic, or not. We always have a choice.
The Magician may also indicate the arrival of a mercurial kind of person or energy in our lives, someone or something distinctly connected to communication, magic, creation, and potential. We may feel a strong attraction or pull toward this person and can recognize it as the start of a brilliant new energetic stream within our soul’s evolution. The Fool then carries the brilliant seed of the Magician, planting it into the dark and mysterious soils of the High Priestess. There the seed is nourished by the mystery of intuition and dreaming, preparing the magical soul seed for growth and spiritual evolution.
Essential Qualities: magic, intention, incantation, spell, tools, value, seed, one, elemental, intuition, beginning, spark
Suggestions: Plant a seed or contemplate a seed. Write down an intention for the new year. Meditate on your intentions for the next several days. Connect to the elements of earth, water, air, and fire. Create an altar! Place symbols of the elements there along with images or symbols of what you are calling into your life. Cook something up from scratch! Find magic in the everyday beauty of the world.
Ceremony: Establishing the Five Directions
This ceremony is a beautiful way to create a center for yourself wherever you go in the world. Most earth-based cultures have certain associations and spiritual connections to the four directions that often relate to seasons, elements, animals, spirit guides, geographical features, and so on. This way of relating to the earth and oneself is central to cosmology and orients them to the earth in profound ways. Many of us have lost this connection and can reclaim it in a simple way by connecting with our sense of the four directions.
This practice is done outside on a lawn, meadow, or field where you can walk ten steps in each direction. For this practice, disregard other associations you already have with the four directions and ask the land of the place you are in to show you what your personal connection to each direction looks like. Bring a small bundle of offerings to leave in each of the directions such as grains, flowers, or water. Find a stone to place at the center of your circle and figure out where the four cardinal directions are: east, south, west, and north. Starting with the east, stand at the center of the circle and walk ten steps in that direction. Place your offering and then open yourself up to sensing the east. You may wish to breathe intentionally for a moment to bring your awareness more fully to the present moment.
Use all of your senses to carefully observe your environment. Notice the sky, the wind, the trees, and plants growing here, the feel of the earth. Be open to seeing any signs, animals, or hearing sounds or an inner spirit song in that direction. After a few moments or several minutes (as long as you feel), return to the center and repeat the exercise in the remaining directions.
Take a moment at the center to thank the directions and put into your memory any information you received. This can be done on different lands where you live or visit as a way to connect to place, honor the land and spirits of that place, and receive information and guidance about the creatures, plants, rocks, and water there.
Exercise: Creating an Altar
Using what you have learned in the five directions practice, you can embody the work in a foundational way by creating an altar. This is a powerful step in setting the intention to begin soul working. When you set aside a space in your room, or home, or on your land to honor your journey on earth, you open up the conversation between soul and body which helps to connect to your higher self, intuition, and wise guidance.
To create an altar, first find a place in your home or yard where you will be able to place items or images that you connect with and that inspire you. This can be a small shelf, table, an entire room, or a part of your yard or the land outside. This is a sacred space that you will cultivate over a period of time, so choose an area that won’t be disturbed by pets, children, or others.
Spend time choosing images that inspire you such as particular deities, pictures, your teachers, and things from nature. If you are new to creating altars, I encourage experimenting on your own, simply placing whatever feels right, and not thinking about it too much. As time goes on, you may wish to create your altar as a reflection of the immediate seasons and earth changes as well, adding and taking away as these change, reminding you to connect in with the earth.
Inspired by the Magician card, choose four items that represent the elements and suits of the tarot: a stone or a coin for earth or pentacles; a feather for air or swords; a stick or candle for fire or wands; a cup or bowl of water for water or cups. You may also take time to choose a card each morning at your altar space, opening up to guidance and receiving clarity on the intention you are putting into your day. You may wish to add other magical items for specific intentions around clearing, manifestation, or calling in a guide. The possibilities are endless and the space is a creative portal for you to work with your own soul manifest as a human creator.