The Magician usually depicts a male figure who is completely in control of the basic building blocks of life. He is often surrounded by symbols of the four elements—air, fire, earth, and water—to indicate his mastery over them. Another typical feature of this card is a nod to the famous mystical quote, “as above, so below”. The idea is that as we change and gain mastery over ourselves, we have the potential to change the world.
The Magician is someone filled with raw talent and he knows it. This card is about making the most of the materials you have at hand and creating something wonderful and new from it. The Magician is adept at taking ideas and turning them into something real, something big. The original Renaissance man, Leonardo DaVinci, had plenty of this sort of energy with his great aptitude for both science and art. Seeing this card in a reading could indicate an untapped gift that you can use for or simply mean that you have all that you need to turn something into a success.
The Magician Upright Key Words: Mastery, skillful, multi-talented, knowledgeable, capable, gift of gab
Charm is often one of the Magician’s many gifts, but when you see it reversed be careful. That charm could be a cover for something deceptive going on. This is the kind of energy that might look good on the surface but has nothing of substance behind it. A good example of the Magician reversed is Harold Hill, the main character from the musical, The Music Man or Gilderoy Lockheart from the Harry Potter series. When this card comes up in a reading it can be a warning to take a deeper look at something that seems too good to be true. It also could mean that someone is squandering their gifts on efforts that will not serve them in the end.
The Magician Reversed Key Words: Deception, cockiness, all flash but no substance, trickster, wasted potential
For more information about the Magician, see our Tarot on a Tangent podcast - Making Miracles with the Magician.
