your thoughts on the magician

got the magician in a reading recently about why i was so drawn to a certain person/ type of relationship. i don't know what to make of it. for me the magician is all about communication and making things happen. all the standard meanings don't really make any sense to me in this context.

in one of my decks the magician is isis, mother of horus - the sun child. i only know the well-known story about isis and osiris, and that doesn't seem to fit.

in another deck the magician has the key to the gate of a secret garden, or the kingdom of heaven on earth, as it says in the lwb. this makes most sense so far but isn't really a meaning i usually associate with the magician.

any more ideas?

The magician is also a performer and may be a trickster. The Tarot of the New Vision shows him performing before an audience. At the very least he's a conjurer, and in some decks he presides over a shell game. Think: appearance vs. reality. He may manifest the invisible, and transform reality, but he may also confuse and bedazzle us with stage tricks.

Just something else to think about.....

Magician is also about power and charisma. It is about magic, too. This person has quick mind and is very skillful with his/her tongue, he/she might say things that they almost enchant you or even if he/she doesn't talk much maybe just his/hers look or a few words are enough, because they just simply have the energy.

I don't see Magician as trickster really, more like a charismatic person who knows what she wants and is ready to make it happen. Energy and power is what comes to my mind when we mention Magician and let's not forget that, at least in most decks, he is reaching with one hand towars the sky and with the other towards the earth - so he can bring the energies from the above to the earth, in a more mundane sense, he can make his ideas, wishes come true because he knwo how and because he simply can.

So, I am not at all suprised if someone is attracted to this kind of person His/hers energy, power and charisma attracted you.

This are just my toughts.

The Magician is all about energy and charisma. He's one of those people that can smile and make your heart melt, that can sell you on any idea and get you motivated.

Some thoughts

The Magician is an archetype so he's many things and different things at different times.

He's the active male principle so he's conscious thought and he turns that thought into action.

He's also a magician so he's got some magic in there; he's got a direct link to the divine so he can make things happen even if they seem improbable.

He's got the tools of the 4 suits at his disposal, the elements... He holds all the aces.

He's also related to Mercury or Hermes, the messenger of the Gods and so one of his main attributes is his ability to communicate well and this is where his trickster element comes in I think.
In the Tarot de Marseilles he's known as Le Bateleur and he's a street performer.
He's performing his magic tricks with his pea and his cups for the entertainment of the watching crowd, he's also trying to use his skill, his slight of hand to trick them out of some of their hard earned cash.
To do this he has to be able to work the crowd, he has to be a good speaker, he has to have 'the gift of the gab' or his magic trick won't work.. They have to believe him and he has to be confident that he can do it, otherwise he won't be able to.....

edited to add:
Maybe you're drawn to this type of person or this type of relationship because this person or relationship has the qualities of the Magician.
Does this person seem the type to take control, to get things done and to communicate well?
Maybe you just prefer relationships or people who are very active, who take charge and are good at making decisions?

OR

Maybe this person or this type of relationship brings out the qualities of the Magician in you?
Does this person make you feel confident and like you can do anything you want if you just try?
Is this an empowering relationship for you?

I sometimes see the Magician as a very powerful person, one who seems to have all the answers and who has enough charisma to have people depend on him. He seems to hold everything together--and maybe he does. That's if I'm doing a more mundane reading where I think he functions as a person.

thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts.

wind said:

Magician is also about power and charisma. It is about magic, too. This person has quick mind and is very skillful with his/her tongue, he/she might say things that they almost enchant you or even if he/she doesn't talk much maybe just his/hers look or a few words are enough, because they just simply have the energy.

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Miren said:

I sometimes see the Magician as a very powerful person, one who seems to have all the answers and who has enough charisma to have people depend on him. He seems to hold everything together--and maybe he does. That's if I'm doing a more mundane reading where I think he functions as a person.

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i think these two readings come very close to what i was feeling. especially the thing about having all the answers and holding everything together.

isis/ the magician came up in connection with the princess of swords, which is all about having a quick tongue, and the 3 of cups, which in the goddess deck shows the goddess in her triple aspect of virgin, mother, crone. the triple goddess seems to be about wholeness, so i think the idea of holding everything together fits quite well. and then there is of course this person's charisma and 'gift of the gab', which draws me like a moth to a candle flame.

Isis as Magician

BrightEye said:

in one of my decks the magician is isis, mother of horus - the sun child. i only know the well-known story about isis and osiris, and that doesn't seem to fit.

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It's one of those things that usually doesn't get discussed in an overview of Egyptian mythology, but Isis was known as nebet heka, the Lady of Magic, the "One Whose Words Come to Pass Without Fail." Which makes her perfect for the Magician, a card about creating magic with words--making people believe and see what isn't there by weaving words.

Magic, to the Egyptians, was the esssental energy underlying all things, which, again, makes Isis perfect as she is the all-mother goddess, giving life to all, and, therefore, the embodiment of magic.

One myth of Isis, most apt for her as Magician card, is where we are told that she was "more clever than a million men, and wiser than a million gods." She creates a serpent that bites Ra--the creator god--and tells him she will heal him if he tells her his name. Which he does (and she does heal him). Knowing the name of the creator, she now has power over just about everything, most essentially, over living things.

It's very close to the idea that if you know the true name of God, you can bring things to life. That light, life, etc. was created with a word and that word is an all-powerful name. Isis is the one Goddess who knows Ra by name. And she got this name by being "clever" and playing a trick on the god (once again, apt for the Magician).

And, of course, because of this story, she is known as a healer, especially when it comes to poisons. Which, again, relates very well to the Magician as "doctor" figure. Even in the Osirus story, we see her magic and healing powers, as, after reassembling all of Osirus' pieces, she creats a golden phallus and uses it to inseminate herself and create Horus.

So, she's not so off-beat for the Magican card as you think...though usually, in Tarot, she's cast as the High Priestess.

Any magician is a master of illusion. That means that things aren't always what they seem to be. That's what makes a magician so fascinating and why people hold them in such awe. You never know what you're going to see or hear next and you're never sure what's real and what's not, but they certainly do dazzle and mystify. Everything seems real enough that you can't help but believe it, even though they defy logic.

on a mundane level the magician preaches from personal experience but for personal gain as well as wanting to help others - think tony robbins - the life coach person - would he do it? if he didnt get paid? i dont think so

he has a lot to give and teach its up to you what you want to take

on a spiritual level i think the magician is a figure who confirms to you that as above so below - you can use your god given powers to bring good stuff down here if you find a way

sorry if that didnt help

all in all i think you can learn alot from the magician - in a way his lessons are free if you have a free mind

just my 2p