THE MAGICIAN

"1"

THE MAGICIAN--RULED BY MERCURY

KEYWORDS: Work, communications, medicine.

Spiritual Meaning: You are the master of your own universe and you bring into your universe that which your subconscious has shown you is needed.

The meaning of The Magician comes fron the Hermetic axiom, "As Above, So Below". This is portrayed by his action of pointing to the heavens with one hand and the earth with the other. He represents the alchemist. The true meaning of alchemy is not, as is commonly believed, to trun base metals into gold, but to turn the base personality into the golden, or Christ-like personification.

The Magician is pointing upwards, towards the heavens. This means that he takes his thoughts from the cosmic consciousness and brings them into his mind. He then weeds out what is not necessary, and manifests into his world that which he desires. To achieve his goals, The Magician uses the tools which he has placed on the altar before him. Because he utilizes the tools to which he has access to manipulate and to manifest into his world that which he desires, one of the meanings of this card is "work" and, also, "creative work".

The Number One, the number of The Magician, represents the ego, or the individual. The Magician works on his own, he stands alone in all that he does, self-confident that he will succeed in his endeavors.

He is ruled by the planet Mercury, the planet which rules the mind and communications. In this case the communication is The Magicians own thought process, with the communication going from the subconscious mind to the conscious, thinking mind.

Above the head of The Magician is the sign of infinity (resembling the figure 8 lying on its side). Whenever you see this sign in any of the Tarot Cards, it indicates "medicine". This can be a doctor, nurse, or someone else connected with the medical field.

(Updated 2006, All rights reserved.)