The Magician Tarot Card Meanings
The Magician’s Upright & Reversed Meanings
Ideas: Diffidence, self-doubt, shortcuts
Traits: Adaptable, flexible, hesitant, indecisive, lazy, leisurely, patient
Emotions: Embarrassment, frustration, insecurity, nervousness
- Actions:
- Building your self-confidence
- Changing your plan or direction
- Delaying an activity
- Gathering the right set of tools
- Giving an idea some time to develop
- Making an effort with limited tools
Ideas: Activity, capability, empowerment, utilization
Traits: Active, charismatic, confident, creative, determined, focused, practical, resourceful
Emotions: Eagerness, enjoyment, enthusiasm, optimism
- Actions:
- Becoming a channel of divine will
- Being yourself in every way
- Expressing masculine energy in constructive ways
- Investing the time and effort needed to master your craft
- Receiving guidance from a higher power
- Taking appropriate action
- Turning an idea into a product with all resources
Ideas: Illusions, imposition, misuse
Traits: Aggressive, arrogant, conceited, egocentric, opinionated, pompous, pushy
Emotions: Annoyance, envy, irritation, jealousy, pride
- Actions:
- Abusing talents
- Boasting your abilities or accomplishments
- Imposing thoughts on others
- Inflating your own ego
- Manipulating or deceiving others
- Misusing power for own benefit
- Using cheap illusions to dazzle others
The Magician’s Advice
Personal Growth
Asserting yourself can be an important step towards wholeness. When your work or life experience has given you special insights or talents, shrug off self-doubt and apply them fearlessly. Act confidently, and feelings of confidence will follow.
Relationship
A relationship should empower you. Does yours generate positive change in your life? Do you feel happier and more fulfilled? A relationship that supports your goals is to be valued; a relationship that doesn’t must be changed or cast aside.
Career
Exercise whatever authority you have. With the right resources, you’ll succeed. But not everyone who appears empowered really is. With an eye towards growth, seek allies who focus on steak, not sizzle. Be a mentor … or find one. Deploy tools and resources against well-defined goals.
Spirituality
If others were to see you and your life as an expression of the Divine, what would their impression of the Divine be? How can you improve that perception? How can you better dedicate yourself to being a channel for positive energy in the world?
The Magician’s Symbols & Insights
Lemniscate
Symbolic of infinity and spiritual mastery, the lemniscate floats above the Magician’s head; some also see it reflected in the oddly shaped brim of the Marseilles’ Juggler’s hat. How would access to infinite power change your situation? What would you do?
The Magician’s Tools
Very early decks depict the juggler with a wand, cups, and balls, and a knife—tools of a common conjurer. Some later decks change these to a cup, a blade, a pentacle, and a wand, suggesting mastery over the four dimensions of life. Contemporary decks may use other symbols to suggest similar themes and additional alternatives for action. Which tool do you need today?
Upraised Wand
The Magician often holds aloft a wand or caduceus (the snake-entwined symbol associated with the god Hermes and the medical profession). He channels the power of heaven to bring about change on earth: “As above, so below!” What might heaven channel through you?
The Magician’s Clothing
The Magician’s robe suggests masculine empowerment. He might also wear a belt fashioned like an ouroboros (a snake swallowing its own tail, suggesting constant reinvention). How might direct action or reinvention aid you?
Roses and Lilies
The flowers at the foot of the Rider–Waite–Smith Magician suggest the unification of the masculine and feminine, associated with the alchemist’s goal of spiritual refinement and perfection. Which approach takes best advantage of both your masculine and feminine perspectives?
More About The Magician Tarot Card
- Predictions
- A powerful man may play a role in your day.
- Your current situation must be seen as one element of a much larger plan.
- Timing
- Within three months
- Affirmation
- “I am empowered to manifest my desires into reality.”
- Archetype
- The ego/self
- Hebrew Alphabet
- Beth/House/2
- Numerology Number
- 1
(the origin: the starting point, the seed, opportunity) - Astrology Element
- Air
- Astrology Planet
- Mercury
- Myths/Spirits
- Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, known to the Greeks as Hermes and to the Romans as Mercury
- Christ working miracles
- Brahma, the Creator
- Storyline
- Consciously or unconsciously, the main character receives or controls a resource that holds the key to the story’s primary challenge.
- Questions to Ask
- What are you empowered to do?
- How might your abilities come into play?
- To what extent are you making the most of your talents?
- Related Pages
- Tarot Card Meanings Guide
- Tarot Birth Card Meanings
- Exploring Today’s Tarot
- Consulting the Tarot
- Traditional Tarot Card Meanings
- Thirteen Fun Things to Do with Tarot Cards
- Where to Go to Learn More
