#TOTD June 20 2018 - Day 2
The Raven’s Prophecy Deck - The Magician
I have begun the creation of an 89 day tarot course in a group I am a member of on Facebook ('A Kaleidoscope of Magical Perceptions' is the name of the group, please feel free to request membership - it is full of fun people and really great posts about all manner of topics) and I thought I would cross post the information here to this blog as well. Once the initial 89 days of the course have passed, it will start over using a different tarot deck. The text of the second session follows.
Hello everyone! As I mentioned yesterday, TOTD will cover the entire 78 card Raven’s Prophecy Deck alongside the Rider-Waite deck for comparison. In order to not completely burn out, this course of lessons will be extended from 78 days to 89 days, so that every Saturday I can break the lessons up by doing a practicum lesson. Practicum lessons will take the form of a layout or spread that will walk through the steps of interpretation for. After the firs 89 day session ends, we will start over with a one day break for a poll to be done to see what deck everyone wants to see next round.
Now, on to today’s lesson! Today we are discussing the Magician. Although it is numbered 1, it is the second card in the traditional tarot deck, as the fool is numbered 0. In the Rider-Waite booklet, the Fool is listed AFTER the World card, but still numbered 0. As you explore the tarot, you will come across a few instances of difference in ordering the Major Arcana. Most decks place the Fool first in the deck and their booklets because the Majors are also often referred to as ‘The Fool’s Journey’, referencing his path from his tabula rasa state of innocence, to the The World card and reaching enlightenment. This also references the path of Kabbalah - but that is an entirely different lesson for much later on down the road for us.
Back to the Magician. As you can see in the photo below, the traditional imagery for the card depicts the mage at work, his wand in his hand, raised up to draw down power, the first finger of his other hand pointing down to direct the power. On the altar before himare the symbols of the four Houses of the Minor Arcana: Wand, Cup, Sword, and Coin (or Pentacle) - all representative of the elements (Wands = Fire, Cups = Water, Swords = Air, and Coins/Pentacles = Earth) and all also easily recognisable as the tools of the occult (Wand, Cup = cauldron, Sword = athame, Pentacle.) he is surrounded by roses and lilies, and above his head the infinity symbol floats to mark the infinite potential.
In the Rider-Waite booklet, the keywords listed for the magician are (upright) skill, diplomacy, address, sickness, pain, loss, disaster, self confidence, will, and (reversed) physician, magus, mental illness, disgrace, disquiet.
Although not listed in the booklet, this card is most commonly interpreted to indicate assertion, communication, focus, and strength of will.
Maggie Stiefvater’s illustration of the Magician distills the entire scene down to depict a right hand with the symbols of the Minor Arcana and the infinity symbol either carved or tattooed into it.. To me, I see the hand as the greatest tool given to humanity,other than the brain, and we use it to direct the flow of energy around us. By carving the symbols into the hand, it becomes the tools represented, cementing its infinite potential.
Maggie writes in Illuminating the Prophecy: “The Magician is no illusionist - he’s the real deal. I have always loved the magician card, as he is sort of an unsinkable ship; you can’t keep someone down if they are always capable of building themselves back up again. The art on the card depicts a hand tattooed with all of the symbols of the tarot deck, and this is because the magician has skill in all of the suits. The infinity symbol illustrates how his command over all of these suits comes from something outside him…”
Maggie’s keywords for the Magician are ability, versatility, control, and connections.She does not offer reverse meanings, writing, "Some tarot readers read cards with slightly different meanings (often negative) if they appear upside down when laid out in a reading. I'm not going to go over reversed card meanings in this book; I find the cards carry all the nuance they need without complicating it even more with additional definitions to memorize."
The Magician card is often representative of a male figure in your life, depending on where it appears in a layout, and more often than not seems to pop as the card representing the querent in a reading. When I see it outside of the signifier roles, it often is a reference for a need for communication or assertiveness in a situation - but of course every card must be read within the context of the layout, and in elation the cards that come before and after it.
TOMORROW: The High Priestess
I LOVE audience/student/ peer reader participation! Please feel free to follow along, comment with your perspectives and questions!
The Raven’s Prophecy Deck - The Magician
I have begun the creation of an 89 day tarot course in a group I am a member of on Facebook ('A Kaleidoscope of Magical Perceptions' is the name of the group, please feel free to request membership - it is full of fun people and really great posts about all manner of topics) and I thought I would cross post the information here to this blog as well. Once the initial 89 days of the course have passed, it will start over using a different tarot deck. The text of the second session follows.
Hello everyone! As I mentioned yesterday, TOTD will cover the entire 78 card Raven’s Prophecy Deck alongside the Rider-Waite deck for comparison. In order to not completely burn out, this course of lessons will be extended from 78 days to 89 days, so that every Saturday I can break the lessons up by doing a practicum lesson. Practicum lessons will take the form of a layout or spread that will walk through the steps of interpretation for. After the firs 89 day session ends, we will start over with a one day break for a poll to be done to see what deck everyone wants to see next round.
Now, on to today’s lesson! Today we are discussing the Magician. Although it is numbered 1, it is the second card in the traditional tarot deck, as the fool is numbered 0. In the Rider-Waite booklet, the Fool is listed AFTER the World card, but still numbered 0. As you explore the tarot, you will come across a few instances of difference in ordering the Major Arcana. Most decks place the Fool first in the deck and their booklets because the Majors are also often referred to as ‘The Fool’s Journey’, referencing his path from his tabula rasa state of innocence, to the The World card and reaching enlightenment. This also references the path of Kabbalah - but that is an entirely different lesson for much later on down the road for us.
Back to the Magician. As you can see in the photo below, the traditional imagery for the card depicts the mage at work, his wand in his hand, raised up to draw down power, the first finger of his other hand pointing down to direct the power. On the altar before himare the symbols of the four Houses of the Minor Arcana: Wand, Cup, Sword, and Coin (or Pentacle) - all representative of the elements (Wands = Fire, Cups = Water, Swords = Air, and Coins/Pentacles = Earth) and all also easily recognisable as the tools of the occult (Wand, Cup = cauldron, Sword = athame, Pentacle.) he is surrounded by roses and lilies, and above his head the infinity symbol floats to mark the infinite potential.
In the Rider-Waite booklet, the keywords listed for the magician are (upright) skill, diplomacy, address, sickness, pain, loss, disaster, self confidence, will, and (reversed) physician, magus, mental illness, disgrace, disquiet.
Although not listed in the booklet, this card is most commonly interpreted to indicate assertion, communication, focus, and strength of will.
Maggie Stiefvater’s illustration of the Magician distills the entire scene down to depict a right hand with the symbols of the Minor Arcana and the infinity symbol either carved or tattooed into it.. To me, I see the hand as the greatest tool given to humanity,other than the brain, and we use it to direct the flow of energy around us. By carving the symbols into the hand, it becomes the tools represented, cementing its infinite potential.
Maggie writes in Illuminating the Prophecy: “The Magician is no illusionist - he’s the real deal. I have always loved the magician card, as he is sort of an unsinkable ship; you can’t keep someone down if they are always capable of building themselves back up again. The art on the card depicts a hand tattooed with all of the symbols of the tarot deck, and this is because the magician has skill in all of the suits. The infinity symbol illustrates how his command over all of these suits comes from something outside him…”
Maggie’s keywords for the Magician are ability, versatility, control, and connections.She does not offer reverse meanings, writing, "Some tarot readers read cards with slightly different meanings (often negative) if they appear upside down when laid out in a reading. I'm not going to go over reversed card meanings in this book; I find the cards carry all the nuance they need without complicating it even more with additional definitions to memorize."
The Magician card is often representative of a male figure in your life, depending on where it appears in a layout, and more often than not seems to pop as the card representing the querent in a reading. When I see it outside of the signifier roles, it often is a reference for a need for communication or assertiveness in a situation - but of course every card must be read within the context of the layout, and in elation the cards that come before and after it.
TOMORROW: The High Priestess
I LOVE audience/student/ peer reader participation! Please feel free to follow along, comment with your perspectives and questions!
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