From Prairie:
Remember the Fool's wallet? Well, in this card, he opens the bag, removes the tools and begins to learn to use them. He now becomes the Magician.
The tools are spread out on the table in front of him. Each tool represents an element and an attribute he can use to begin to shape his personality. The sword represents air, the intellectual aspects of his personality. The wand is fire, the spiritual aspects of his life. The cup is water, the emotional part of his makeup. The pentacle is earth, his body and the practical aspects of his life. Notice he has all the tools on the table, but the table itself only has three legs. The fourth side is being supported by the Magician, himself. We have all the tools we need to create our own reality, but we still have to support that reality with the essence of our own being.
He still has on that white undergarment for purity, but now it's covered with a red cloak symbolizing material desires beginning to take prominence. The snake around his waist encircles the undergarment (purity) only. The snake is the symbol of infinity, emphasizing the need to keep your purity close to your soul for eternity, while letting the red cloak of materialism go.
His right hand is upraised, taking power from the Universe & directing it through his left hand to this plane, manifesting his desires. As above, so below. For the purposes of this lesson, we assume the right hand is the strongest. He uses his strength to manipulate the Universe, then channels the energy through his left hand into the material world. He is the bridge between Spirit and the physical world.
The headband is a sign of well-ordered thoughts. The Magician is learning to use logic and organized thought to manifest his desires and shape his life. He hasn't quite learned to master his intuitive side, yet. At this point he is using his intellect and his will only. The number 1 represents a strong, independent leader. He uses his will and intellect to inspire others to do his will.
Meditating on this card could prove interesting, because all the symbols in this card point to how to do effective magick of your own.
EXERCISE:
Take out the Magician from your favorite deck and study the symbols on it. Be aware of where and when you encounter these symbols in your daily life. Keep track of how you were feeling when you come across these symbols.
Let us know what deck you were using, what the symbols were, and tell us about how you were feeling when you saw them.
Also, I want you to be aware of the elements, and where and how you encountered them and how this relates to the Magician (For this lesson, swords represent air, the intellect, your mind. ... Wands represent fire, your spirit. ... Cups represent water, your emotions. ... Pentacles represent earth, the physical world, your body)
Most things incorporate more than one element. For instance, let's say you got caught in a summer thunderstorm. The lightning represents fire (wands), the rain represents water (cups), the wind represents air (swords), and the ground that soaks up the water represents earth (pentacles). Pay attention to how the elements interact with each other. Now think about the Magician blending the energies of all these elements in the thunderstorm to produce a feeling of exhilaration (or annoyance, as the case may be).
Another example might be getting caught in traffic with an irate driver honking his horn. The air carries the sound, the fire of the sun contributes to his temper, the water of his emotions is causing him to honk the horn, and earth is the physical reality of being stuck in traffic. The Magician blends all these energies to produce a learning situation. Maybe you are being taught a lesson in patience.
So, I want to hear about the symbols on the card, and how and when you encountered them, and I also want to hear about your experiences with the elements.
Have fun! Post your experiences anytime between now and next Friday.
Prairie
I've had a few encounters with the Magician this week. It's the little things that impress me the most, like a parking spot right up front when I'm in a hurry!
As for the elements, I went to a motorcycle rally this weekend. Came back with a pretty bad sunburn (fire), compounded by a windburn (air). Thank God/dess I didn't encounter water in the form of rain or earth in the form of hard pavement!! I did run across water in the form of emotions. Get 2000 bikers together, add alcohol, and emotions are sure to be pretty high! LOL!! And, I had a hard lesson from earth about managing my finances a bit better! (But, I just HAD to have the new goggles, and that leather mini-skirt looks great on me!! ROFL!!!!)
How is everyone else doing on the Magician exercise?
From Armande:
I must say that at the moment I cannot recall any real Magician-incidents. I did have some magical things happening (very mundane, but still): quite a few longstanding problems solved themselves this week: missing files turned up out of nowhere, our taxes have been reduced to nill and my husband and I have no idea how come, we will get the loan we had applied for. All nice surprises!
But I'm not sure this is what you mean...
Armande
(Prairie) Yeah! That's the Magician at work! Thanks for the input. The Magician has the ability to make things happen. He takes energy from the Universe and manifests it on the material plane. When the Magician shows up on the scene, anything can happen! People have a tendency to associate him with major manifestations, but he's also there for the little things... like yesterday. I was supposed to meet my mother at the Shilo Inn in Portland. I got lost, asked the Magician for a little assistance, and a shuttle bus from Shilo just 'happened' to pull in front of me and I followed him all the way to the hotel!
PS I just realized, we might have a few bumpy rides ahead when following the entire path of the major arcana! Interesting!!
Let me come back to this...
I just got a phone call telling me that I'd won free planetickets to Ireland (for 2)!! I had entered this competition a few weeks ago and now it turned out I won! So hubbie and me will get to go to Ireland at the end of August or so! I am such a lucky gal!
Armande
From Lynell:
This is probably late, but I decided to go ahead and share it. I've had the usual Magician-type manifestations this past week, but I felt like I was supposed to be learning something beyond all the whirling air and electric energy. (Two light bulbs out, a power surge, a bird flying into my window
... )
Anyway, the point I wanted to make aside from this was that I caught myself in an interesting attitude last week. I had spent a lot of time at the computer doing various things and then one night went out to dinner with some friends. I found myself getting very impatient with people, their lack of awareness and movement. When I saw this, I thought, "Hmm, am I expecting people to react to me the same way I expect the computer to? What kind of control over life do I think I have, or should have?"
I started thinking about the Magician and his ability to make things happen, and wondered if one of the lessons the Magician should be learning is when is it appropriate to take charge of life and when should he step back and realize his knowledge is less than perfect and that his is not the only "wand" in the world. I'm wondering if this is where the Priestess steps in, to add greater depth and understanding of the worlds and to teach the Magician that Will needs to be tempered with Wisdom.
Lynell
From Therese:
Hi all!
I have been reading the homework assignments that Prairie has been posting and I am going to combine them all with what has been going on in my life.
My ex-husband commonly known as "The evil entity" by those of us who know him, has been (for the past 4 years) been making my life a living hell. So, like the fool, I have been letting him get away with it just so that i don't have to deal with it. I did a reversal about 3 years ago and it worked for awhile. Lately his evilness has gotten out of hand and the things he is saying about me and to me are beginning to affect my son, Jon-Jon. I did a couple tarot spreads and it keeps telling me the same thing: Stop being afraid to do what i know needs to be done. It will work out for the best. I keep seeing a little white dog everywhere i go. So, I reached into my bag of knowledge and magick and became the Magician and after very careful preperations, I did a binding on my ex-husband. On my way to the site i had chosen, i saw a hawk fly over me, then when I was almost there i saw a blk cat (I love cats). As i was calling the quarters I turned to call the South and as I looked up i saw a shooting star. I knew my desires would be met. I completed the ritual and closed things up and some friends of mine from the college came over to see if it was me and we talked awhile. The atmosphere was so peaceful and serene. I felt as tho a heavy load had been lifted from me. The next day at school the guys who had wondered over commented on how the place where i had done ritual was so peaceful and that they had never noticed that before. and how did i keep the candles lit???!!! There was a breeze and the main candle should have blow out, but it didn't. I just smiled and told them, "Magick." It has been 3 days and I still feel strong and at peace.
Love to all
Therese
From Armande:
First of all, I'm sorry to hear you're having such a rough time with your ex.
I don't think you were being "foolish" when you chose to ignore him, that might have been the best policy. Just in your case it didn't work out.
You sure worked some magick there!! Really becoming the magician!! I am pleased that the peace of mind and tranquility worked out so well. Maybe that is what you need most in order to be able to stand up to your ex.
BB,
Armande
