Researching The Magician I learned a wonderful new word: prestidigitator from the French prestidigitateur – conjurer. This is one of the keywords used by Alejandro Jodorowsky to describe the Magician in his book The Way of Tarot.
Prestidigitation (from the Free Dictionary)
- Performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands; sleight of hand.
- A show of skill or deceitful cleverness.
The Magician archetype contains the full spectrum of meaning – from skillfulness to sleight of hand. He is indeed the ultimate prestidigitator. Corresponding to the planet Mercury, his cunning is cleverly expressed in speech and writing. Let it not be said that selling snow to eskimos would be a job too challenging for him!
“With the Wand createth He. With the Cup preserveth He. With the Dagger destroyeth He. With the Coin redeemeth He.” – Aleister Crowley
The Magician’s spiritual gift is the ability to co-create. Emotionally, he grants us adaptability. Agility is the physical gift he bestows on us and the ability to detach is his intellectual endowment.
On the soul level, he is the animus. Without a full integration of this masculine energy in conscious awareness, people suffer from lack of expression of their true will. To fully integrate something in conscious awareness means to allow for that which has been suppressed to surface and then to cut away any destructive thought patterns. Doing this is actually an expression of the Magician who is the ‘divine messenger’ (Mercury/Hermes) and so in doing the ‘great work’ we integrate the archetype that we express.
The highest expression of the Magician is that of the ego personality aligned with Source, so that little will and Higher Will are aligned. This is the Magician in service to humanity – the full expression of the Divine Messenger. But first he has to become aware of himself and his place in the bigger picture. This can be done through another Mercurial pursuit – study. Observing himself and his place in the greater scheme of things, the Magician allows for individual expression and personality even after aligning with Higher Will. There is no mortification of the personality because there is an innate understanding of the need for unique expression. Existence would be pointless without it. And the point is 1, the number of the Magician.
When the Magician serves the ego, we have a destructive power at hand. Effort is focused to achieve selfish goals – at any cost. Empathy is non-existent. People and resources are used and abused. The personality supersedes the soul. This is the Black Magician. His sympathies often change in accordance with who can offer him the best deal. Would he lie to you? You betcha!
When the Magician is unaware or repressed, physical symptoms may occur. Psychologically, shyness, conformity, inability to act or focus and lack of personality/creativity are all symptoms of a weak Magician archetype. There is a strong need to heal the inability to express one’s will. There is no ‘one size fits all’ formula for this. It is your unique expression that is being healed, remember? Methods for healing could include counselling, soul retrieval, self-help, flower remedies, crystal therapy…
Correspondences
Element: Air
Planet: Mercury
Archangel: Raphael and Raziel
Chakra: Throat, Solar plexus
Colour: Azure blue, yellow
Crystal: Aquamarine, citrine
Body: Shoulders, arms, hands, nails, lungs, bronchial tract, nervous system, brain, tongue, thyroid, bowels, spleen, intestines
Exercise: Gymnastics, aerobics, running, stretching
Stance: “As above, so below” (see pic of Magician above!)
Magickal Tool: Wand
Associated Major Arcana Cards (through numerology): The Wheel of Fortune, The Sun
Associated Minor Arcana Cards: All card associated with the planet Mercury (these are the minors to use in the Healing Key Spread).
- 8 of Wands (Mercury in Sagittarius). Healing through slowing down.
- 3 of Cups (Mercury in Cancer) Healing through making sure that the heart and mind are aligned.
- 6 of Swords (Mercury in Aquarius) Healing through detachment and moving on.
- 5 of Disks (Mercury in Taurus) Healing through taking action and possibly seeking help, change of diet.
- 10 of Disks (Mercury in Virgo) Healing through focusing on how to provide a firm foundation for future generations.
The Magician Through The Elements
Corresponding to Air, The Magician archetype energies flow more freely through Air and Fire. His quick wit really shines here. Too much Air might cause anxiety and too much Fire might cause delusions of grandeur.
A Water-logged Magician might become manipulative and full of deceit. He might seek power over others. On the other hand, as seen in the 3 of Cups, a harmonious alignment in Water might cause joyful communication and communion with others.
An Earth-bound Magician might suffer from nagging worries about health and finances. Harmonious alignment in Earth, as seen in the 10 of Pentacles, sees him taking action and providing an abundance for others as well as himself.
Remedies to increase the Magician energy in your life:
- You can make a tarot essence to increase The Magician energy, using the Magician card of your choice, and a clear quartz crystal, a citrine or an aquamarine. The citrine is especially good if the Magician energy is suppressed, as it strengthens your solar plexus chakra (will centre). The aquamarine is one of the best crystals to aid communication and it also helps you detach.
- Gentle stretching increases agility of both body and mind.
- Place the Magician card directly on your throat or solar plexus to strengthen these chakras.
- Wear blue to aid communication if you have an important meeting.
- Light a yellow candle while studying for intellectual stimulation. Wearing yellow can be overpowering – yellow on the body works better as accessories.
- Create a tarot essence of one of the associated Major Arcana cards to transmute repressed energy: The Sun for confidence to speak your truth and The Wheel of Fortune to have the courage to set creative plans in motion.
- Create a tarot essence of one of the Aces. The Ace of Wands brings in vitality and creativity, the Ace of Cups conjures a new relationship or greater compassion for self and others. The Ace of Swords gifts you with brilliant ideas and problem solving ability. The Ace of Pentacles provides physical health or potential for abundance through work. The Magician is an initiator and the Aces are numerologically linked to him, as are all new beginnings.
Affirmation: “I enjoy my unique expression.”
Grounding/Balancing/Banishing
- Going for a run or other vigorous aerobic exercise grounds the energy and quietens the chatter of the ‘monkey brain.’
- Balance an overabundance of Air by eating home cooked, nutritious food at least twice a day. A person who is extremely mercurial sometimes even forgets to eat at all!
- Standing in front of the mirror and saying ‘me, me, me!’ until you crack yourself up transmutes any delusions of grandeur.
- Bury the Magician card to banish the workings of a liar or black magician. (Don’t use the deck you dedicated for healing work to do this. Do read up on psychic protection.)
LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS
In a love reading for a single woman, The Magician often represents her soul mate or ideal partner. If she has just started dating and her new squeeze is represented by The Magician, there is great promise that this might be ‘The One.’
As signifying the quality of a relationship, The Magician is symbolic of a great mental connection and sparkling communication. This is the card you want to show up in a reading if you ask specifically about intellectual compatibility as the corresponding planet for The Magician is Mercury, the planet of communication.
If you are in a relationship and this card comes up as relationship advice, it usually means one of two things: A) It’s a good idea to spend some time developing your own skills and interests or B) You could benefit from relationship counselling to improve your communication skills.
If you are in a relationship and this card shows up reversed or ill dignified, it could mean that your partner is less than truthful with you. The Magician is known as ‘the trickster’ and one of the archetypes linked with him is Loke, the Norse God of Mischief.
However, at its best the presence of the Mercurial Magician in a relationship could definitely mean the start of either a new and absolutely wonderful relationship or starting over again, with a new and better way of relating/communicating.
On an intimate level, talking dirty and/or giving each other verbal instructions could be fun to try suggests The Magician. Also, he has the best chat-up lines!
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