The Magician Upright Meaning

Traditionally, The Magician is one who can demonstrate hands-on magic -- as in

healing, transformative rituals, alchemical transmutations, charging of talismans,
and the like. A modern Magician is any person who completes the circuit
between heaven and Earth; one who seeks to bring forth the divine gold within
her or himself.

At the birth of Tarot, even a gifted healer who was not an ordained clergyman
was considered to be in league with The Devil! For obvious reasons, the line
between fooling the eye with sleight of hand and charging the world with magical
will, was not clearly differentiated in the early Tarot cards.

Waite's image of The Magician as the solitary ritualist communing with the spirits
of the elements -- with its formal arrangement of symbols -- is a token of the
freedom we have in modern times to declare our spiritual politics without fear of
reprisal. The older cards were never so explicit about what The Magician was
doing. It's best to keep your imagination open with this card. Visualize yourself
manifesting something unique, guided by evolutionary forces that emerge
spontaneously from within your soul.

The Magician Reversed Meaning

The Magician card reversed suggests you may be working against your own
creativity. Perhaps you feel that your ideas are too scandalous or too precedent
breaking. Perhaps you feel it should be someone else who communicates these
insights or challenges. Perhaps you are uncomfortable with taking a leadership
position, even a temporary one.

Ask yourself what you have to lose. Have the courage of your convictions and
speak your truth.