Touchstone Tarot~ The Magician

morticia monroe said:

I'm not sure it's a globe he's holding. Because the smells and odors during those times could be rather *ahem* INTENSE, people wore pomanders of gold and silver that hung by a chain or cord around the waist.

Click to expand...

To be honest, not really sure what it is he is holding. The world was just a thought, (OK a wild stab in the dark then!)

It could well be a pomander or tea strainer (mum used to have one like that)
Or a mini smoke bomb....like that one best lol!

Horrible incense is usually pungent enough to annihilate even the Tudor’s nasty niffs!

We could really do with Kat’s input here.

My two cents from a sleep-starved brain...
This guy reeks of logic, intelligence, knowledge - symbolized by the books, the owl, and the feathered? turban-looking hat.
He appears to be holding a small globe similar to the Emperor's in many decks; perhaps just as an emperor rules a kingdom, the Magician rules his thoughts: "As I think, so shall it be."
I am intrigued by two tiny details: the bird on his chest and the symbol on his turban. The bird reminds of the white swan symbol in alchemy; people thought it fed its young with its own blood (though it was actually just regurgitating food). I'm guessing the white bird connects the Magician to alchemy in some way.
The symbol on the turban reminds me of two crossed swords (what are the curved ones called? scimitars or something similar?), almost as if he is protecting his thoughts from outside influences.

Hi Bodhran

I like what you say here, 'the crossed swords protecting his thoughts from outside influences.'

And yes, now that I can look at this again in daylight, the bird does look like a swan, I can see now that it has a long neck!

Hi guys

I think it's the Pelican that is symbolized as feeding its young with blood from its breast, think the pelican is also a codified symbol of Jesus as well.
My limited experience of white birds and alchemy is the swan, which I believe, has a correspondance to the pineal gland and cadeceus staff/kundalini.
Grail and Swan Maidens (believed to have worn cloaks of swan feathers) of medieval literature, were frequently connected with Swans, particulary Wolfram Von Eschenbach's Parzifal and its legends of Lohengrin, also referenced in Richard Wagner's ring cycle's.

There is apparently an arcane language known as the language of the birds.

This is rather interesting from Adam McLean's alchemy website, as far as the association of the Magician and white swan:
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/alcbirds.html

My mistake Templar Girl; the pelican was the bird associated with feeding its young from its own breast (see 17th paragraph):
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/animal.html

Wow, how do you all know these things? That's fascinating.
I too thought the symbols on his "hat" were swords, but I had no idea that the bird was anything more than a bird!
Thanks for posting those links Bodhran!

Touchstone Tarot- The Unmistakable Magician

I am not going to add anything insightful to this posting. But just comment about the 78 friend connotation.

I LOVE this deck, for some reason it readily speaks to me and I am not going to question it but relish in it.

The Magician is one of my favorite cards because (I do apologize for this statement in advance, but I am not trying to hurt or injury any subgroup of the population) he reminds me of your flamboyantly gay friend. I think Liberache when I see that card and to me it makes sense...

1) Someone who is comfortable being who he is
2) Someone who possesses a lot of virtuosic talent, just like Liberace and his piano
3) Someone who possesses an insightful intelligence that is just different from the rest of the world (Liberace's persona was definitely different for his time, but it worked out to his benefit and people loved his end product- the entertainment)

Hey the magician is even in a yellow outfit quite similar to what Liberace has worn (http://www.google.com/images?q=tbn:...people/776/000027695/liberace-LotImg15176.jpg)

http://78friends.com/cache/23/4b8976efed687d2e3251175841ca7c83/01magician.jpg

Touchstone Magician

I think this Magician is great in the role.
An intelligent face - he observes everything, and he's so worldly - this man really knows how many beans make five! I do believe the owl is more than a symbol, it is his familiar and friend.
He has all that learning from reading the books in his bookcase behind him.
I feel sure the new Forum member, my Buddy infinity, would label this man a true prestidigitateur.
The LWB that comes with the Touchstone deck describes the item in his right hand as 'a small gold orb on a chain' and that looks exactly right to me.
His middle finger is through the ring at the end of the orb chain.
And don't you just love his thumb ring!

He looks to me, a bit...condescending. As if he is about to open up his mouth and say something scathing yet true to the person in front of him.

He doesn't (exactly) mean for it to be so biting, but it doesn't really bother him if it does.

He knows what he thinks, and is not afraid to say it.

He believes the world such as it is, is basically beneath him. He has a wry sense of humour, biting and quick. He has learned not to trust easily, and has set his mind on his books rather than people, who can change in a heartbeat.

The bird on his chest looked to me like a flamingo. I looked up symbolism of flamingos and found that flamingos can be white or pink depending on what they eat, and that that gives them the illusion of magical properties or shape shifting. In other words they can appear to be what they are not.

Maybe that is why his smile appears so...guarded. Perhaps he "shifts" from one life to another. Or perhaps he just has an issue with trust.