1 – Individuality
Keywords: Force, Power, Potential, Action
The Magician looks upon his table and sees all the tools that are at his disposal: a wand, a cup, a sword, and a pentacle. These tools represent the human body (pentacles), mind (swords), emotions (cups), and free will (wands). In his right hand the Magician points his magic wand towards the sky. In his left hand he points his fingers towards the ground.The Magician has the symbol of infinity above his head and appears to be charged with light and energy.
The symbolism of this card suggests that the Magician’s power derives from a source more powerful than himself. He is just a vehicle for the expression of various forces.
In a tarot spread the Magician represents experiences in your life that make you feel powerful and capable of exerting your will upon the world. However, it can also represent a period of time where you feel impotent and have fantasies of being powerful.
5 Comments
What about him having a snake for a belt? Does that mean anything?
Good catch Jeff, I’ve never noticed the snake before.
The snake eating itself is Ouroboros, and it is a symbol of eternity that dates back to the Egyptians. In this card, the snake belt imagery suggests that the Magician’s power transcends time. In other words his power is truly unlimited, since time is the ultimate limitation.
The circular shape of the snake, and the eternity it represents, also harks back to The Fool: Zero “0″, which is the foundation of the whole Tarot deck.
Andrew, looking at the card I noticed all four suits (wands, swords, cups, and disks) of the minor arcana are on the wooden table. Is this meant to suggest that The Magician has mastery over all four elements?
Yup.
The 4 elements: fire (wands), water (cups), air (swords) and earth (pentacles) represent the different aspects that constitute human experience. Since we are always the main character in each tarot card, this card is specifically communicating that we are the Magician and that we have absolute control over our four main instruments:
1) Body/Earth (Pentacles)
2) Emotions/Water (Cups)
3) Mind/Air (Swords)
4) Will/Fire (Wands)