Anna
THOTH
Card name ~ The Magus
Keyword ~ none
Element ~ Air
Tree of Life attributions ~ none
Astrological / other attributions ~ Hebrew letter Beth, meaning house. The planet Mercury
First impressions
So if the Fool represents potential, an the raw materials needed to create life, then the Magus must represent what has been “birthed”. Lots of blue and gold – feels very masculine. The Magus looks more like a beautiful golden statue than an actual person. The 4 elements surrounding him are as I would of expected, but who is that weird monkey creature? And why does he look like he’s been impaled on a blue pole?
From the Book of Thoth
The French title of this card is “Le Bateleur”, the bearer of the baton. (I would take issue with this interpretation, as my Marseille studies found that this name cannot be properly interpreted into English, and was the name of a medieval figure, who travelled from village to village performing).
Mercury is the bearer of the wan: Energy sent forth. This card therefore represents Wisdom, the Will, the Word, the Logos by who the worlds were created.
He is the son, the manifestation in act of the idea of the Father.
He is the male correlative of the High Priestess
Mercury represents action in all forms and phases. He is thus continuous creation.
Being the Word, he is the law of reason, or of necessity or chance, which is the secret meaning of the Word. Because he is duality, he represents both truth and falsehood, wisdom and folly.
Being the unexpected, he unsettles the unsettles any established idea and therefore appears tricky.
He has no conscience, being creative. If he cannot achieve his ends by fair means, he does it by foul.
In the traditional card the disguise is that of a Juggler. This representation is one of the crudest and least satisfactory of the medieval pack. He is usually represented with a headdress shaped like the sign of infinity. He bears a wand with a knob at each end, which was probably connected with the dual polarity of electricity, but it is also the hollow wand of Prometheus that brings fire down from heaven. On the table below where he is standing are the 3 other elemental weapons.
Images and Symbolism
The principal characteristic of Tahuti or Thoth, the Egyptian Mercury, is firstly, he has the head of Ibis. The Ibis is the symbol of concentration, because it was supposed that this bird stood continuously on one leg motionless.
The phoenix wand, symbolising resurrection through the generative process.
The style and the papyrus – mercury is the messenger of the Gods, he transmits their will by hieroglyphs and records their acts. But, it was seen from very early times that the use of speech or writing meant the introduction of ambiguity at best, and falsehood at worst
Crowley’s divinatory meaning
The meanings are implied through the chapter: wisdom and the will. Continuous creation.
Truth and falsehood, wisdom and folly
Traditional meanings (Marseille/RWS)
In the Marseille decks, Le Bateleur is the first of the Major Arcana. He is depicted as a young man, standing behind a 3 legged table, performing what appears to be magic tricks, however, if you look closely you can see all of the 4 elements represented on the table. Usually in his left hand, he holds a double ended baton. His hat often appears to represent the mathematical symbol of infinity.
From Tarotpedia: “The following definition is given by the ‘Dictionnaire de L’Académie Française’ (1762):Bateleur, euse. One who does conjuring tricks. "This Bateleur is very skilful, very sharp-witted." People who join the theatre in public places, like charlatans, cord dancers, jokers, are also called that way. "He enjoys watching the Bateleurs." It is said of a man who enjoys doing small flexible movements (tours de souplesse) that "He does the Bateleur".
The Bateleur is not a magician. There is no English equivalent for this word, and these characters are specific to France in the Middle Ages. The Bateleur was a musician, an entertainer, a singer, a dancer, a juggler and and magician (as in pulling rabbits out of hats, NOT doing magic). He travelled all the time, from town to town, and he was someone who brought news about far away places. He knew and learned all of the myths, stories and legends, both old and new, and this is what his songs would have been about. Royalty would invite the Bateleurs to come to entertain them, however, they were not approved of by the Church.
In the RWS, I have come to read this card as willpower and daring. As absolutely setting your mind to something and KNOWING it will come to pass as you want it too.
From Thirteen’s meanings: “the Magician is the male power of creation by willpower and desire. The lemniscate (infinity symbol) over his head indicates the energy of thought. Thus, he draws divine power down from the heavens into his white wand, molds it with that energy of thought, and makes it manifest on Earth (his finger pointing to the ground). This is that most ancient magic to make real whatever he imagines in his head merely by saying it aloud. He's the only card in the major arcana that refers to the minors with the "trumps" displayed upon his table. One way to look at them is as ideas that the Magician is offering you. Thus, the card is about getting an idea and finding a way to verbalize it. This is the first step toward making it a reality. Which is why the Magician can indicate a time when one is eloquent and charismatic, clever, witty, inventive and persuasive. Keep in mind, however, that the Magician could be a trickster.
My take on the card
In my old notes, I’ve written that Le Bateleur is taking a huge risk: that by starting out on his journey through the arcana, he has everything to loose. I used to have a poster on my wall that read “What if your fears and dreams existed in the same place. What if to get to Heaven, you had to brave hell? What if everything you ever wanted cost you everything you’ve ever achieved? Would you still go there?” That’s how this card makes me feel. It’s making the first mark on a piece of white paper. What if you do it wrong? Once you start, there’s no going back.
The work of the Bateleur and the work of the Magician is dangerous. That’s what they have in common. It was dangerous to travel medieval France alone, outside from society, visiting everywhere but never really belonging anywhere. It’s also dangerous to magically bring new ideas into being. That also places you outside from society. I think that these opposing images of this arcana are more similar than I’d thought. They are almost two different representations of the same thing. They can be read at one level as representing taboo, doing the opposite of what is socially required. To do this is to take the first steps down the Left Hand Path which ultimately leads to the full liberation of The Devil… or perhaps the World.
The Magician is masculine, and active, and so he represents the Male way. The Male way is active. It is to rush in and do, no to stand back and think. It is to apply strength, not cunning. Wisdom and knowledge, not intuition and instinct.
There is an arrogance about this card that I do not like. This beautiful golden statue is almost too perfect, too beautiful. It reminds me of a beautiful looking young man, who underneath has a heart that is cold and even cruel. It’s all surface level, there is no substance. And I think this relates to the fact that Magician is the new. He is the idea just born, without experience, without learning… just the sheer arrogance and naivety of youth. The energy has been sent forth, but it has not learned anything. It has not grown, adapted or changed. So, I would read an element of folly into this card. And also of a need to looking beneath the surface to find if there is any real depth there, or if it is just a beautiful illusion. Conversely, I might read it as a need for boldness, of making your mark, taking action, and taking on some of that arrogance; knowing what you want to do, and then doing it without deliberating and worrying about it.
Card name ~ The Magus
Keyword ~ none
Element ~ Air
Tree of Life attributions ~ none
Astrological / other attributions ~ Hebrew letter Beth, meaning house. The planet Mercury
First impressions
So if the Fool represents potential, an the raw materials needed to create life, then the Magus must represent what has been “birthed”. Lots of blue and gold – feels very masculine. The Magus looks more like a beautiful golden statue than an actual person. The 4 elements surrounding him are as I would of expected, but who is that weird monkey creature? And why does he look like he’s been impaled on a blue pole?
From the Book of Thoth
The French title of this card is “Le Bateleur”, the bearer of the baton. (I would take issue with this interpretation, as my Marseille studies found that this name cannot be properly interpreted into English, and was the name of a medieval figure, who travelled from village to village performing).
Mercury is the bearer of the wan: Energy sent forth. This card therefore represents Wisdom, the Will, the Word, the Logos by who the worlds were created.
He is the son, the manifestation in act of the idea of the Father.
He is the male correlative of the High Priestess
Mercury represents action in all forms and phases. He is thus continuous creation.
Being the Word, he is the law of reason, or of necessity or chance, which is the secret meaning of the Word. Because he is duality, he represents both truth and falsehood, wisdom and folly.
Being the unexpected, he unsettles the unsettles any established idea and therefore appears tricky.
He has no conscience, being creative. If he cannot achieve his ends by fair means, he does it by foul.
In the traditional card the disguise is that of a Juggler. This representation is one of the crudest and least satisfactory of the medieval pack. He is usually represented with a headdress shaped like the sign of infinity. He bears a wand with a knob at each end, which was probably connected with the dual polarity of electricity, but it is also the hollow wand of Prometheus that brings fire down from heaven. On the table below where he is standing are the 3 other elemental weapons.
Images and Symbolism
The principal characteristic of Tahuti or Thoth, the Egyptian Mercury, is firstly, he has the head of Ibis. The Ibis is the symbol of concentration, because it was supposed that this bird stood continuously on one leg motionless.
The phoenix wand, symbolising resurrection through the generative process.
The style and the papyrus – mercury is the messenger of the Gods, he transmits their will by hieroglyphs and records their acts. But, it was seen from very early times that the use of speech or writing meant the introduction of ambiguity at best, and falsehood at worst
Crowley’s divinatory meaning
The meanings are implied through the chapter: wisdom and the will. Continuous creation.
Truth and falsehood, wisdom and folly
Traditional meanings (Marseille/RWS)
In the Marseille decks, Le Bateleur is the first of the Major Arcana. He is depicted as a young man, standing behind a 3 legged table, performing what appears to be magic tricks, however, if you look closely you can see all of the 4 elements represented on the table. Usually in his left hand, he holds a double ended baton. His hat often appears to represent the mathematical symbol of infinity.
From Tarotpedia: “The following definition is given by the ‘Dictionnaire de L’Académie Française’ (1762):Bateleur, euse. One who does conjuring tricks. "This Bateleur is very skilful, very sharp-witted." People who join the theatre in public places, like charlatans, cord dancers, jokers, are also called that way. "He enjoys watching the Bateleurs." It is said of a man who enjoys doing small flexible movements (tours de souplesse) that "He does the Bateleur".
The Bateleur is not a magician. There is no English equivalent for this word, and these characters are specific to France in the Middle Ages. The Bateleur was a musician, an entertainer, a singer, a dancer, a juggler and and magician (as in pulling rabbits out of hats, NOT doing magic). He travelled all the time, from town to town, and he was someone who brought news about far away places. He knew and learned all of the myths, stories and legends, both old and new, and this is what his songs would have been about. Royalty would invite the Bateleurs to come to entertain them, however, they were not approved of by the Church.
In the RWS, I have come to read this card as willpower and daring. As absolutely setting your mind to something and KNOWING it will come to pass as you want it too.
From Thirteen’s meanings: “the Magician is the male power of creation by willpower and desire. The lemniscate (infinity symbol) over his head indicates the energy of thought. Thus, he draws divine power down from the heavens into his white wand, molds it with that energy of thought, and makes it manifest on Earth (his finger pointing to the ground). This is that most ancient magic to make real whatever he imagines in his head merely by saying it aloud. He's the only card in the major arcana that refers to the minors with the "trumps" displayed upon his table. One way to look at them is as ideas that the Magician is offering you. Thus, the card is about getting an idea and finding a way to verbalize it. This is the first step toward making it a reality. Which is why the Magician can indicate a time when one is eloquent and charismatic, clever, witty, inventive and persuasive. Keep in mind, however, that the Magician could be a trickster.
My take on the card
In my old notes, I’ve written that Le Bateleur is taking a huge risk: that by starting out on his journey through the arcana, he has everything to loose. I used to have a poster on my wall that read “What if your fears and dreams existed in the same place. What if to get to Heaven, you had to brave hell? What if everything you ever wanted cost you everything you’ve ever achieved? Would you still go there?” That’s how this card makes me feel. It’s making the first mark on a piece of white paper. What if you do it wrong? Once you start, there’s no going back.
The work of the Bateleur and the work of the Magician is dangerous. That’s what they have in common. It was dangerous to travel medieval France alone, outside from society, visiting everywhere but never really belonging anywhere. It’s also dangerous to magically bring new ideas into being. That also places you outside from society. I think that these opposing images of this arcana are more similar than I’d thought. They are almost two different representations of the same thing. They can be read at one level as representing taboo, doing the opposite of what is socially required. To do this is to take the first steps down the Left Hand Path which ultimately leads to the full liberation of The Devil… or perhaps the World.
The Magician is masculine, and active, and so he represents the Male way. The Male way is active. It is to rush in and do, no to stand back and think. It is to apply strength, not cunning. Wisdom and knowledge, not intuition and instinct.
There is an arrogance about this card that I do not like. This beautiful golden statue is almost too perfect, too beautiful. It reminds me of a beautiful looking young man, who underneath has a heart that is cold and even cruel. It’s all surface level, there is no substance. And I think this relates to the fact that Magician is the new. He is the idea just born, without experience, without learning… just the sheer arrogance and naivety of youth. The energy has been sent forth, but it has not learned anything. It has not grown, adapted or changed. So, I would read an element of folly into this card. And also of a need to looking beneath the surface to find if there is any real depth there, or if it is just a beautiful illusion. Conversely, I might read it as a need for boldness, of making your mark, taking action, and taking on some of that arrogance; knowing what you want to do, and then doing it without deliberating and worrying about it.