The Magician card shows a practitioner of stage magic, or a sleight of hand artist. The twisted brim of his hat was later re-worked into an infinity symbol, which represents the power of thought. He is a man who gets by using his willpower and skills. The card symbolises the male power of creation.
Appearance and Symbolism
In the Rider Waite tarot card deck the card shows a man on a stage, holding a baton and standing before a table on which icons to represent the four suits of the Tarot are arranged. In the original Marseilles deck The Magician had a twisted hat brim – the hat was later removed for the Rider-Waite deck, and replaced with a lemniscates (infinity symbol).
The implication of this, and the fact that the magician’s one finger is pointing to the ground, is that he is a man who takes pure thought or willpower, and turns it into earthly accomplishments. The flowers, primarily roses, symbolise new growth and beginnings.
The Magician is the first character that The Fool encounters on his journey according to the tarot card interpretation of the cards. It is him who teaches him wisdom, or gives him a new purpose.
Mythopoetic Approach
The Magician card is often associated with Hermes, a figure linked to both Greek and Egyptian mythology, who guides Persephone out of the cave of darkness every year for Spring. He is associated by cross sums with The Wheel of Fortune (indicating that chance has an impact on things to come) or to The Sun, bringing us back to enlightenment through Apollo.
Interpretation
When this card appears in a spread it usually refers to the querant’s untapped abilities or potential, with emphasis on taking this potential and making it into reality through the hard work that is sure to follow. This can often manifest when there is a need to change or transform an aspect of one’s life.
A Tarot reader could interpret this card as an indication that the querant will be given a vision, divine inspiration, or spiritual guidance in the tasks that lie ahead.
The card could also represent some magnetic or influential person in the querant’s life – often a doctor or another learned person, who may or may not be all that they claim to be…
Inverted Meaning
When inverted this card takes on a uniquely different meaning. The Magician symbolises someone who takes willpower and turns it into action, but it could also symbolise someone who uses their own personal gravity and intellectual edge to take advantage of or cheat those who have more scruples.
If this card appears inverted, or if it seems to relate to some influential person in the querant’s life, the advice is usually to examine that person’s motives very carefully, and to make sure in some way that they are in fact a real ‘doctor’ and not somebody who is simply trying to sell you snake oil.
This card can be a warning to identify such a person, take the good that they do have to offer, but remove them from your life before they can lead you astray.