Comments on: An Interpretation: The Meaning of The Magician Tarot Card

By: aurarcana

aurarcana — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:27:30 +0000

Hi AJ, Sharyn from Quirkeries further clarified the meaning of the ouroboros in the comment she left--fascinating, right? - Nicole

By: AJ

AJ — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:23:20 +0000

I never noticed that belt. Thanks for noting the ouroboros… it’s very interesting. This one is the snake that shows in the World…. (well at least in some other decks).

By: aurarcana

aurarcana — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:27:52 +0000

Hi Sharyn/AJ,

I looked them up:

The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (See Phoenix). It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related to something existing in or persisting from the beginning with such force or qualities it cannot be extinguished. The ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations, where it symbolizes the circular nature of the alchemist’s opus. It is also often associated with Gnosticism, and Hermeticism.

via Wikipedia

Thank you for sharing the correct name. I signed up for your RSS feed.

And, I too, am finding this experience rewarding. It’s a time for self reflection and I am enjoying it.

- Nicole

By: Sharyn/AJ

Sharyn/AJ — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:45:46 +0000

His belt is an ouroboros and they can be seen through the original RW deck. They are cool, do a google image search and some great ones come up. Enjoy your journey! Sharyn/AJ

By: tarotnicole

tarotnicole — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:20:24 +0000

I agree with you spm: not everything is at peace with The Magician card. I wrote this post last night and left off at “The Magician is staring directly at us, a gaze that looks convincing” and didn’t point out the most obvious word convincing.

As I interpret these cards, I am discovering how I am coming up with meanings for what may be reversals.

- Nicole

By: spm

spm — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:19:45 +0000

I’m having a bit of trouble with this card. Like you, I think there are lots of (or “endless”, as in the eternity symbol) possibilities. The tools are available, they are on the table, ready to be used.
The magician can, depending on his place in the draw, either be a helpful person (someone else – maybe you, the reader) or a force inside the querent that’s ready to use the tools and get to work on achieving something new (since it’s early in the journey).

But where do the tools come from? I’ve read the interpretation that they come out of the bag the Fool carries. Or did the Magician create them?
If you see popular “magic tricks”, they are about deceiving the audience with pretty words and “make believe” so that the audience will fall for his trick.
So in this (modern?) interpretation, this warns the seeker: if the Magician stands for another person, the seeker will want to reassure that the Magician has the best interest of the querent at heart. The Magician could also be a car salesman, telling you how nice, pretty, fast and in good condition a car is, making you enthousiastic about it so that you will buy it, even though the car is not all that great. Or, in a more traditional way, looking at the RW tarot – he spreads his arms to look impressing and says: “Look what I can do with all these tools on my table”, while he could have easily hidden something under his robe/shawl that he can use to trick the audience into believing his actions.

There are usually two sides to a card, so I’m not sure if it’s all nice and balanced with the Magician…