The
VisionA youthful figure in the robe of a
magician, having the countenance of divine Apollo, with smile of
confidence and shining eyes. Above his head is the mysterious sign of
the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like an endless cord, forming the
figure 8 in a horizontal position. About his waist is a
serpent-cincture, the serpent appearing to devour its own tail. This
is familiar to most as a conventional symbol of eternity, but here it
indicates more especially the eternity of attainment in the spirit.
In the Magician's right hand is a wand raised towards heaven, while
the left hand is pointing to the earth. This dual sign is known in
very high grades of the Instituted Mysteries; it shews the descent of
grace, virtue and light, drawn from things above and derived to
things below. The suggestion throughout is therefore the possession
and communication of three Powers and Gifts of the Spirit. On the
table in from t of the Magician are the symbols of the four Tarot
suits, signifying the elements of natural life, which lie like
counters before the adept, and he adapts them as he wills. Beneath
are roses and lilies, the flos campi and lilium convallium, changed
into garden flowers, to shew the culture of aspiration. This card
signifies the divine motive in man, reflecting God, the will in the
liberation of its union with that which is above. It is also the
unity of individual being on all planes, and in a very high sense it
is thought, in the fixation thereof. With further reference to what I
have called the sign of life and its connexion with the number 8, it
may be remembered that Christian Gnosticism speaks of rebirth in
Christ as a change "unto the Ogdoad." The mystic number is termed
Jerusalem above, the Land flowing with Milk and Honey, the Holy
Spirit and the Land of the Lord. According to Martinism, 8 is the
number of Christ.--A.E.
Waite
The Magician is the archetype of the
active, masculine principle - the ultimate achiever. He symbolizes
the power to tap universal forces and use them for creative purposes.
...As long as he remembers the Divine source of his power, the
Magician remains the perfect conduit for miracles. In a reading, the
Magician implies that the primal forces of creativity are yours if
you can claim your power and act with awareness and concentration.
This card is a signal to act and act now, provided you understand
exactly what you want and are committed to getting it. ...The
Magician...represents the active,
masculine power of creative impulse. He is also our
conscious
awareness. The Magician is the
force that allows us to impact the world through a
concentration
of individual will and power.--Joan Bunning
The Magician is the Will personified. He is the dwelling place for the Spirit in man. He is the ego and will, trained to manipulate his environment to attain his own ends. He is active and sexually potent. The ouroboros snake devours its own tail around his waist to symbolize continuity. The cosmic lemniscate above his head means harmony, eternal life, and dominion. He has keen concentration and powers of transformation which can make things happen or appear to happen.
The alchemists used the symbol of the
metal mercury for the dwelling place of the Divine. In oriental
philosophy, he represents the masculine, creative principle of the
Godhead known as yang.--Susan
Hansson
The uroboric zero out of which the One proceeds from the No-thing, Manifest from Unmanifest, is depicted in Key One by the uroboros encircling the magician's waist. The upraised wand and the encircling serpent recall symbolically the serpent-staff or caduceus of Mercury. . . . [The] lemniscate [is] another, more simplified version of the serpent uroboros. In mathematics this symbol stands for infinity. In metaphysics we speak of eternity, death and life reconciled, underworld and heaven, the serpens mercurialis mediating between the two. . . . The Magician embodies the magic of self-transformation which is the secret essence of alchemy.
The accent is naturally on the union of
conscious and unconscious, and on the personal journey, but not to be
overlooked is the larger "Great Myth," of god's descent to man and
the ascent of the god/soul within man back to god. Key 1 presents
this god in a manifest form, "pointing the way" of ascent and
descent, the way above and below; and it is by uniting the powers of
the two that eternity is assured. . . . In Key 1, Hermes demonstrates
by this gesture that the path aloft must encompass below, else
wholeness cannot be attained.--Richard Roberts
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