connecting to: The Magician

In this series, “Connecting to:”, I am examining each of the major arcana in depth. The major arcana are the most powerful and impactful cards of the tarot deck. Through a rich symbology, these twenty-two cards share with us the mysteries and secrets that are universal to the human experience and to spiritual evolution. Each of these posts are a combination of the basic meanings of each card, as well as insights I’ve gathered from the hermetic text Meditations on the Tarot and guided meditations I’ve done that were provided by Biddy Tarot.

One of the most delightful aspects of tarot is the way you can continue to derive new meaning from the symbols in the cards with each reading you do. I enjoy falling further and further into that never-ending spiral of knowledge and wisdom. On top of that, it becomes easier to recognize why a card has shown up in a reading when you have a personal relationship with its energy. This is the main reason for this series of posts — I am making an effort to develop a relationship to these cards that feels tangible, and I’m inviting you, dear reader, along for the journey.

The basic meaning

At its core, The Magician is the card of manifestation. When it comes up in a reading, I take it as a positive push because it’s a reminder from the universe that you already have everything you need in order to make your dreams come true. If you take a look at the card, The Magician is depicted as having all of the symbols of the minor arcana suits next to her: a pentacle, a wand, a cup, and a sword. Together, they represent each of the elements and imply that she has balanced all of them to her best advantage. This card is a sign that you have the power to create the world you wish to live in, the power to ensure that the mere whisper of a desire that once existed only in your heart is manifested into a tangible creation.

The reading

The author of Meditations on the Tarot begins the journey into the major arcana with The Magician, rather than The Fool. I couldn’t understand this at first, but as I continued to read it began to make sense.

“Hermeticists listen to — and now and then hear — the beating of the heart of the spiritual life of humanity…They live for the mystery of the communal heart which beats within all religions, all philosophies, all arts and sciences — past, present and future.”

Meditations on the Tarot

While the author of Meditations on the Tarot is speaking about hermeticists, he is also speaking to the magician that lives in each of us. It’s a great framework for understanding our role as tarot readers. We are magicians, in that we seek to balance the wisdom gained from different disciplines of material knowledge and find the thread of spiritual truth that connects them all together. The Magician has an understanding that we, as human beings, have been given all the tools necessary in this material realm in order to have an understanding of the spiritual realm. As above, so below.

A big component of this chapter on The Magician revolved around the idea of turning work into play. The author refers to this concept as “concentration without effort”. Concentration without effort is achieved when one manages to slip into a focused state of mind without choking on the effort. Magic (which I use here interchangeably with manifestation), therefore, is not merely the culmination of serious exercises such as meditation, deep contemplation and a constant concentration on all the things we feel we don’t have and wish we had already. It’s about putting the intention out there, trusting it will come and being delighted with what you receive back from the universe as a gift.

Put in a way that I would describe to a friend — it’s about setting an intention, meditating for 20 minutes, and then reading a good book just for pleasure. There’s no need to spend the rest of your day wondering if your intention will manifest or doing repetitive meditations. That’s a little too serious, and it harshes the viiiiibe, man. Think of the archetype of the magician that is shown in books and films: the most powerful wizards out there are also usually fairly playful. Names like Dumbledore, The Wizard of Oz, or Willie Wonka come to mind. They are all powerful and create all sorts of lovely things —— and they also, for the most part, refuse to be understood by the general public and seem to delight in the whimsy side of life.

“Every myth expresses, in a form narrated for a particular case, an eternal idea, which will be intuitively recognised by he who re-experiences the content of the myth.”

Meditations on the Tarot

The meditation

Prior to this meditation, I had this idea that the archetype of The Magician was something separate from me. That it was something I had to work toward, but never actually managed to be. This exercise helped me to understand that the magic I’ve been seeking has always been my own, as cheesy as that may sound. When directed to visualize meeting The Magician, what came to me immediately was an image of myself. Specifically, a selfie I had taken years earlier wearing the same space buns depicted on this deck’s interpretation of The Magician. Ha!

Another moment from this meditation worth mentioning is when I was directed to visualize The Magician presenting me with a gift. The object that came to mind was the alethiometer from His Dark Materials. For those who aren’t familiar, it is a truth-telling object that uses symbols to communicate its message. Sounds pretty similar to a tarot deck, doesn’t it? In addition to that, it’s a child (not an adult) who is able to read the alethiometer most accurately and without effort. This reinforces the point I made earlier about a certain level of playfulness and childlike innocence being necessary to manifestation.

I love that this came up in my meditation, because in His Dark Materials, it’s explained that concentration has to be achieved before the alethiometer can be used properly — regardless of any fear or doubt clouding the reader. I feel like this closely ties to the warning made in Meditations on the Tarot that “anyone who confuses lack of concentration with concentration without effort…will necessarily become a charlatan.” In other words, there is a fine balance between approaching magic with a childlike wonder and throwing all concentration completely out the window.

The takeaway

What I learned through Meditations on the Tarot, as well as the Biddy Tarot meditation and reflection exercise, is that The Magician is a much more playful card than I ever gave it credit for. On a persona level, that meant I had to examine myself and realize that I had been taking an austere approach to manifestation, feeling that I had to be disciplined in order to “make” things happen. While it’s true that consistency is necessary, a certain amount of relaxing into the flow is just as needed. We don’t have to make things happen. Instead, we allow them to take place. This card is an urge to remain childlike in your curiosity about life, the endeavors you pursue, and your faith in the magic that is working to help you along the way. The universe is absolutely conspiring in your favor.