Leisa
"Mercury is mentioned everywhere, in every alchemical work, and is supposed to perform everything... Mercury is the subject and matter of the stone."
--A Lexicon of Alchemy (pg. 229)
The Magician represents no alchemical process because he is the matter of the Great Work itself. He is the Anima Mundi, as is the end result, seen in the World card. He is the tail swallowed by the ouroboros. He is argent vive, living silver, the basis of all metals. He is the prima materia, the subject and first matter of the philosopher's stone, the seminal ingredient in all things. With the prima materia, we begin our alchemical transmutation.
The Magician is a cosmic principle personified by the god Hermes (Mercury). The mysteries of Hermes are complex and deep.
Hermes is the classical god of universal wisdom, magic and skill, especially skill with words. He is the initiator, the god of beginnings, the god of travel, commerce and sales. He is messenger to the gods in heaven and psychopomp of the souls of the dead to the underworld. His swift-footededness makes him the god of speed and running, and of athletics. He carries a magical wand, the caduceus entwined by two snakes, which symbolizes the reconciliation of opposites. He is clever, crafty and sly--the trickster who deceives with eloquent words. He is a consort of Aphrodite, goddess of love, with whom he unites to form the hermaphrodite of alchemy.
Hermes, along with his Egyptian counterpart, Thoth, also forms a composite: the legendary Hermes Trismegistus, reputed to be the author of the Hermetical texts that form the foundation of alchemy and the Western mystical tradition. The Hermetic writings, actually written by a number of anonymous authors, contain the axiom, "As above, so below," which the Magician embodies.
Hermes, as the Magician, is the interface between heaven and earth. What is above in the heavens he manifests below on earth. Thus, he commands and unifies the four elements, and is the power that unifies opposites. He is: matter and spirit, cold and heat, poison and healing, metal and liquid, and masculine and feminine. His signatory colors are the red and white of alchemy, which represent, respectively, the male and female polarities which must be united in perfect harmony to achieve the Great Work.
The card, inspired by images in the Mutus Liber, shows Hermes the Magician as the unifying force in the center of his universe. He stands on a fertile patch of earth (the body), from which grow blooming flowers of red and white. Fire (the energy of the soul) springs from the rocks. Behind him is the cool, healing aqua of the sea (water, the unconscious, the substance of the soul). The blue sky (air) represents intellect, or spirit.
The Magician wears his magical helmet, the gold and wings of which symbolize the ultimate enlightenment of the Great Work. His right hand holds up to the macrocosm his magical staff, the caduceus, which in mythology has the power to cure any illness, and to change what it touches into gold. BEcause of these powers, the alchemists found it a convenient symbol for the philosopher's stone. In this first card, the caduceus is green, the color of beginnings, and it is entwined by red and white serpents, which are masculine/feminine opposites united in the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. His left hand points down to the earth, making him a living conduit for cosmic forces to manifest in the earth.
Tarot wisdom: The Magician is a reminder that whatever we see in the manifest world contains a hidden divine essence; therefore, we are not to be taken in by shallow appearances, but must strive for deeper perception. For with The Magician, we have advanced from the naivete of The Fool to the awareness of the initiate.
The Magician also represents skill, both physical and verbal. Physical skill relates to athletic prowess, or trade and craft skills. These the Magician plies with confidence and ease. Verbal skills are the gifts of eloquence and entertainment; however, these skills also are the dark gifts of the trickster, who fools and lies with words. For even the most accurate words lie, in the sense that they are only a map that points to reality and are not that reality itself. If this card relates to something you've been told by others, beware--do not be taken in by eloquence. Stay grounded. Examine and analyze.
The Magician also points to our inner self. In this context, positive qualities, self-worth and self-confidence, are emphasized. Other people are attracted to the engaging, entertaining Magician within you; they admire your skills.
If there are any negative signs in the reading, they may point to a tendency to be too intellectual, to rely too much on left-brain, rational thought. The Magician ideally is balance of opposites, the left brain in harmony with the right; matter in harmony with spirit; the microcosm in harmony with the macrocosm.
The Magician's place in the Major Arcana as Number One is the position of beginnings. This parallels mythology, for Hermes is the god of initiation and of beginnings. In a reading, these beginnings might be a journey, a new spiritual awareness, a new job or a new skill, a new relationship, a new phase of life. Hermes takes you to the threshold of change but does not lead you across it. That is the next phase of the journey.
--A Lexicon of Alchemy (pg. 229)
The Magician represents no alchemical process because he is the matter of the Great Work itself. He is the Anima Mundi, as is the end result, seen in the World card. He is the tail swallowed by the ouroboros. He is argent vive, living silver, the basis of all metals. He is the prima materia, the subject and first matter of the philosopher's stone, the seminal ingredient in all things. With the prima materia, we begin our alchemical transmutation.
The Magician is a cosmic principle personified by the god Hermes (Mercury). The mysteries of Hermes are complex and deep.
Hermes is the classical god of universal wisdom, magic and skill, especially skill with words. He is the initiator, the god of beginnings, the god of travel, commerce and sales. He is messenger to the gods in heaven and psychopomp of the souls of the dead to the underworld. His swift-footededness makes him the god of speed and running, and of athletics. He carries a magical wand, the caduceus entwined by two snakes, which symbolizes the reconciliation of opposites. He is clever, crafty and sly--the trickster who deceives with eloquent words. He is a consort of Aphrodite, goddess of love, with whom he unites to form the hermaphrodite of alchemy.
Hermes, along with his Egyptian counterpart, Thoth, also forms a composite: the legendary Hermes Trismegistus, reputed to be the author of the Hermetical texts that form the foundation of alchemy and the Western mystical tradition. The Hermetic writings, actually written by a number of anonymous authors, contain the axiom, "As above, so below," which the Magician embodies.
Hermes, as the Magician, is the interface between heaven and earth. What is above in the heavens he manifests below on earth. Thus, he commands and unifies the four elements, and is the power that unifies opposites. He is: matter and spirit, cold and heat, poison and healing, metal and liquid, and masculine and feminine. His signatory colors are the red and white of alchemy, which represent, respectively, the male and female polarities which must be united in perfect harmony to achieve the Great Work.
The card, inspired by images in the Mutus Liber, shows Hermes the Magician as the unifying force in the center of his universe. He stands on a fertile patch of earth (the body), from which grow blooming flowers of red and white. Fire (the energy of the soul) springs from the rocks. Behind him is the cool, healing aqua of the sea (water, the unconscious, the substance of the soul). The blue sky (air) represents intellect, or spirit.
The Magician wears his magical helmet, the gold and wings of which symbolize the ultimate enlightenment of the Great Work. His right hand holds up to the macrocosm his magical staff, the caduceus, which in mythology has the power to cure any illness, and to change what it touches into gold. BEcause of these powers, the alchemists found it a convenient symbol for the philosopher's stone. In this first card, the caduceus is green, the color of beginnings, and it is entwined by red and white serpents, which are masculine/feminine opposites united in the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. His left hand points down to the earth, making him a living conduit for cosmic forces to manifest in the earth.
Tarot wisdom: The Magician is a reminder that whatever we see in the manifest world contains a hidden divine essence; therefore, we are not to be taken in by shallow appearances, but must strive for deeper perception. For with The Magician, we have advanced from the naivete of The Fool to the awareness of the initiate.
The Magician also represents skill, both physical and verbal. Physical skill relates to athletic prowess, or trade and craft skills. These the Magician plies with confidence and ease. Verbal skills are the gifts of eloquence and entertainment; however, these skills also are the dark gifts of the trickster, who fools and lies with words. For even the most accurate words lie, in the sense that they are only a map that points to reality and are not that reality itself. If this card relates to something you've been told by others, beware--do not be taken in by eloquence. Stay grounded. Examine and analyze.
The Magician also points to our inner self. In this context, positive qualities, self-worth and self-confidence, are emphasized. Other people are attracted to the engaging, entertaining Magician within you; they admire your skills.
If there are any negative signs in the reading, they may point to a tendency to be too intellectual, to rely too much on left-brain, rational thought. The Magician ideally is balance of opposites, the left brain in harmony with the right; matter in harmony with spirit; the microcosm in harmony with the macrocosm.
The Magician's place in the Major Arcana as Number One is the position of beginnings. This parallels mythology, for Hermes is the god of initiation and of beginnings. In a reading, these beginnings might be a journey, a new spiritual awareness, a new job or a new skill, a new relationship, a new phase of life. Hermes takes you to the threshold of change but does not lead you across it. That is the next phase of the journey.