(1) THE MAGICIAN

The card of the Magician..The Juggler..Le Bateleur..Il Mago..Mercury..Beth
The messenger of God - Creative Force in Action.
A strong card in the Tarot Major Arcana..It represents..A knowing on a deep level maybe not conciously..almost like a sixth sense..The word of creation whose speech is silence..It stands for Skills, wisdom, Potentials available, Intuition, Power and Opportunities unfolding...Inner guidance prompts Development and Fulfillment to one's true potential. It is Action in all forms and stages.
The Magician is the fluid basis of all transmission of activity, he is that electric charge which is the first manifestation (Number 1).
He juggles with the Four Symbols of the elements..He controls them..the Four elements of the Tarot..The Wands..The Cups..The Swords and the Discs.
The GNOSTICS would have related him to the first electric charge, the first manifestation of the ring of the ten indefinable ideas, a "Chain of Ten Aeons".
He is THOTH in the EGYPTIAN Tradition - Ibis - Concentration.
He is in a position of enlightenment, the great circle of the self..His energy passes down to earth from a higher level.
He is Mercury and in GREEK Mythology the parallel of Mercury was HERMES,the agent of Divine Will..
The Magician has vision.His influence is felt when we feel that all life is interconnected and existence is holistically linked.
SHAMEN call this the WEB OF POWER which touches all aspects of our lives but we are really not aware of it.
The Magician appearing in a reading should make us aware of our Communication, Skills and Creative Imagination.
(Card Illustration by Frieda Harris for Aleister Crowley's Thoth Deck).