78 Weeks: Bateleur / Magician

To find out what these threads refer to, please seeThe link above provides suggested dates and links to all threads for this study.

Some amongst us may be working through the deck in a different order, and using different decks.

For more general comments or questions about the 78 weeks, please post in the thread linked above.

Enjoy!

It being the solstice, and wanting to start at the beginning, I decided to take a chance by being the first to respond in this thread. It is my sincere desire that this journey takes me to Australia in July 2005 and thus it seems appropriate for me to start with the Magician.

I am using for my studies the Tarot of Marseilles as published by US Games, having received this deck as a birthday present from Jane this year. It should be noted that the titles of the cards are in English.

As I've previously announced I will be sketching the card I am studying. I have since joining this community become increasingly interested in creating a Marseilles style deck. One of my concerns with the Marseilles style is the historical dress of the featured characters being too distant for modern people to relate to in their everyday lives. Thus, my sketches, though based on the Marseilles 'woodcut' type of artwork, will attempt to update the dress of the characters to a more modern style.

Another concern is that the title of this card seems to my friend Diana to be inappropriate in translation to English. Thus for my sketch I changed the title to the Conjuror, being to my mind closer to Le Bateleur.

I suspect others will provide detailed meanings as part of their reflections in this thread, so I will suffice by saying that my keywords for the Conjuror are: energy, application and willpower.

Edited to add: My friend Diana pointed out that the wand was pointed in the wrong direction and that my Conjuror didn't have a coin in his other hand. These details have been corrected.

I've got the Magician from the Tarot of Marseilles propped up on my computer monitor. During my meditation which included my Conjuror on the screen, this figure said to me, "I can do this".

I also saw Jim Carey as Bruce Almighty with the soundtrack playing "I've got the power!"

As I've embraced the goal of competing this deck and attending the conference I see that I can do this.

I do hope many more from this community can make this journey too.

Russian Tarot of St Petersburg

Hi Shepherd and sheep!

Russian:

Last night before going to bed I looked and looked at the Magician in this card, then fell asleep. I was hoping that I would either dream about the card or something would come to light and 'something has', but I'm not sure what to make of it. Usually when I dream I find that my mind reminds me to do things that I'd forgotten during the day. The card has the Magician sat at a table with the four suit implements, there is a rose in the cup, one on the table, one on the coin and one on the floor. What does this mean? I was thinking that roses represent love, could the one in the cup represent wishful/emotional love, the one on the coin realistic love and the one on the floor lost love? But what this has to do with the Magician I don't know. (Haven't read the card section in the book yet - deliberately!).
As we have 5 minutes per day on the card I will have another go with this card later today.

27/12/03
Does anyone know what the Magician is holding in this card? I just can't make it out. Also the lemniscate has wings! Could this be connected to Hermes (messenger of the Gods) with his winged boots?

28/12/03
Just notes: red cloak = passion, blue tunic = restful? Colours could represent the four suits.

Gill:

A colourful, bright card which says to me 'confidence'. An unusual mound which may be a burial mound in the background, a brilliant Sun and more roses! Why have I not noticed roses in the Magician card before?

27/12/03
He looks more Shamanic - he's outside - dressed in white robe - the card invokes thoughts of fresh air, back to nature and he's in deep thought.

28/12/03
Notes: roses = passion, lilies = peace, medatative gaze

Hadar:

Has someone in the audience distracted Le Basteleur? He looks to me as though he is twirling his baton and tossing the coin when suddenly something has caught his eye. He is definately not concentrating on his table of 'things'.

27/12/03
He looks to me like a modern day magician, a showman doing tricks. His facial expression says alot of mixed things to me. Is he reminiscing? (he is looking to his right, afterall). Maybe he is looking at a child?

28/12/03
Notes: what do colours mean? Why 5 buttons? Why has he set up his table on bumpy ground? His stance suggests he is balancing. His back is towards emptiness... could this mean trust? Straight back = grounding? Hmmm

Moonbow*

edited to add: Ah, Diana - passion? roses? hmm

Here are my notes from my time with the Magician straight from my journal. I will just update this post as the week goes by with any further comments rather than post scattered throughout the thread. I will use the DD/MM/YY method of indicating the date.

22/12/03:

The Magician from the Tarot of Prague and the Blue Rose Tarot.

The mask. Both of them are wearing masks. Flowered hats as well. Sometimes the Magician is not what he seems to be. The hats with flowers indicate inspiration from above. Both have a wand through which magic flows from above.

Blue Rose Tarot From this Magician's wand flows a beautiful rainbow. From his divine inspirations, beauty and joy, good fortune can be created here in life. On his hat are red flowers for the passion his divine inspiration evokes. His face, or half of it, anyway, is painted white. The palms of his hands as well. This is how his inspiration comes out to his world. With a pure heart.

Tarot of Prague The golden, flowering crown of divine inspiration sits on his head. Flowing down from above to bloom through our lives here on Earth. He wears a mask showing what we see is not always the truth. Negative aspect would be the trickster. Mercury the messenger is also in the backround, swift and sure to deliver his messages. So does the Magician deliver his. The question is if these messages are always understood.
Aside from the tools of the 4 suits, wands (raised up with his right arm), the disk, cup and sword, on his table there are game boards. The chess board in particular reminds me that this Magician sees life as a game, but not a game of chance. A game of skill and cunning. BTW, what a nice body he has! Athlete. Notice also there are more masks carved into the legs of his table. We all have many masks, don't we?

Today, I will focus on the many masks I wear. The first one being my working Mom mask which I must put on immediately or I will be late for work!

23/12/03

This morning I went over some of the notes I had on this fellow from when I first began studying Tarot. This was written literally days after I bought my first deck.

28/7/02

Power. Infinate knowledge from above and below. Spiritual and worldly knowledge. Self attuned goodness and life surround him. He has access to all the elements. Simple - don't think too much, the answer is right before you. Can combine spiritual and worldly to reap him the most benefits. Knows his purpose. Wants others to see. He is a showman. Serious looking. Can manipulate the world with his knowledge. I think he uses it wisely.

What does the snake around his waist mean? He's eating himself up? Ok, I looked that up, the snake means wholeness.

I think this card is about discovering your abilities and that God gives them to all of us. What we think is allusion is really reality.

27/12/03
Meditation or entering the card using the Universal Rider Waite:

I told him immediately how he reminds me of Jesus Christ. The wooden table, the tools upon it remind ve of Jesus, the Carpenter. His robes so simple and unadorned. Whit for purity, red for passion. He told me I was not too far off. Jesus taught us with parables and so the Magician does as well. They teach us to live peacebly here on Earth. There is a dove engraved in the table that stands for peace and the bringer of hope.

We also talked of his shortcomings. I mentioned how I felt 'boxed in' surrounded by all of these wildly growing flowers and vines. He told me at times he can be rather closed minded believing his way is the only correct way.

Inspiration from above. Our resources are unlimited! If we are unsure how to procede, all we need to doe is ask. Believe in yourself.

He also told me to make a list of all my good qualities. My tools. He told me to stop focusing on my shortcomings. I was making them more real by doing this.

Magician, Blue Rose deck

I grew up in a small town where the annual parade was an Event. There are a lot of retirees here, and there was a nice man, round and balding and lacking any semblence of Magic, named Mr. Bola, who had at some time been a clown. Every year he would undergo the ritual of putting on his unique clown face and roll out from somewhere in his house a balloon blowing up machine on wheels (who knew?). He would tap into his humor muse (he was the funny type of clown) and transform himself from being a spectator to being very much a part of the greatest show in Our Town, U.S.A. It reminds me that anyone can conciously focus their energy, perhaps with the help of some ritual, and tap into a muse, or, at it's highest manifestation, the Divine. I look at this card and he seems to becon: "IT'S SHOWTIME!"

Magician: Blue Rose deck: www.tarotpassages.com/PGMag.htm

HAINDL Magician

The Haindl is so different from RWS decks, I chose it to explore the unusual imagery. Jewel-ry is joining me--and we invite others.

I can't say everything here, so much came as I looked at the card, but to start, aiming for conciseness:

First reactions to the card:
1. All the eyes! Two pairs looking in opposite directions, plus 4 separate eyes looking left. The eyes on the center face (the Magician) are wise and expert and kind. The upper pair--are they part of the same person--his "inner eyes"? They look the opposite way--seeing alternatives.

1a. And whose are those 4 individual eyes? I had the thought that they might represent other senses--we can also "see" with touch, smell, hearing and taste.

2. The sword goes through the stone (this deck's representation of pentacles). This situation immediately makes me think of the Arthur story, where he seemed like a magician to be able to pull the sword out of the stone.

3. The wand, which looks like a lance, goes through the glass goblet, without breaking it--this is magic, indeed. The wand tip has a fiery haze--passion and action vibrate off its tip.

4. I had to read the Pollack description to know that the white pointed area are crystals. This is a hugely significant part of the card to me. Ice crystals are natural, growing things that form in the right conditions of moisture and temperature. The Magician is looking right at them--creating them with a look? He has creativity, knowledge, and skill in making them appear. The card says: look what a magician or querent can do when s/he has the right conditions and acts.

One definition of magic is "technology we don't understand yet." Perhaps the magician knows how to use it before all the rest of us do--directly related to tarot reading!

5. Each Haindl card has a stripe denoting its relation to an element. The Magician has a white stripe for air--bringing things into being from air/knowledge?

6. The warm red sun and the crescent moon in cool starry field--day and night, the Magician is capable and aware.

7. The black/white striped fabric--what is that? A material for making . . . ? The mix of dark and light that is in all of us for creating our surroundings?

8. The muted/dark colors and worn/faded canvas look of the painting--very old, found in someone's attic. Ancient knowledge brought to light.

What a rich, fascinating group of images--and what a rewarding study! I'm looking forward to the next 77 cards!!

I have decided to use two of my favorite decks: Tarot of the Sephiroth and Shining Tribe. They are both contemporary but very different.

The Magician is a channel for creativity, of life giving energy.

Shining Tribe’s Shaman stands in the desert, channeling spirit into the parched landscape whilst Sephiroth’s futuristic Magician floats in the Cosmos, as if at the beginning of time.

How may I be a channel for Spirit in this life? How may I create and rebuild, working with my brothers and sisters?



Moongold

Crystal Tarots & Light and Shadow decks

Here's my 5 minutes for today:

These decks have such a different rendering of the Magician. (click on magician.jpg: http://www.tarot.rubricat.com)
In the Light and Shadow he's a playful trickster (magic fish), and in the Crystal he's a a meditative alchemist.

In melding the ideas of these 2 decks, I see the Magician as the master of both our mind (creativity) and matter (alchemy), since they are connected through perception/illusion (magic or magick). We can shape our worlds/lives through our perceptions and our creative/magical outlook can help us make changes.

ps: anyone else using these deck(s)?

Haindl - Crystal - Hadar

Hi all,

I'm going to give my instant reactions and then add to them throughout the week.

HAINDL

My first thoughts were that hes ugly, but hes not, hes old! His eyes look wise and pained. There are two magician heads, one is light, white, and looks towards a field of crystals, the light side of the card with the sun on it. The other is very dark and looks towards eyes and stars and the night side of the deck. I think the point here is to look at the light and the shadow side of the card. This deck is very focused on the environment and what man has and is doing to it. So yes you can create but look at the repercussions.
The four elements are represented. The wand appears to penetrate the cup and the sword penetrates the stone (pentacle). Is this saying that thought rules the material world and creativity/passion rules the emotions? The tip of the wand has red energy emanating from it and points to the field of crystals. I see directed energy, crystallization, purity, but with a warning!

CRYSTAL

The magician holds his cup and wand (they are also paired on the Haindl). He looks contemplative, peaceful, like he knows what hes doing, skilled and confident. The lemniscate above his head represents spiritual potential. This card smacks of potential. There is light and dark also in this card. He can do anything he puts his mind to.

HADAR

The Basteleur (havn't got the deck yet so a limited study from a picture on the net) he looks left, is colourful. Only appears to be three table legs. Colour of his tunic is interesting. Where there is blue on one side it is red on the other and vice versa. Blue represents the spiritual and red the material. Is this a type of balance?

More to come

J

22/12/2003
The Magician of the World Spirit privately performs a ritual in his hut. On the wooden walls around him hang strange and mysterious images. The Magician is tanned and looks very exotic... His chest and feet are bare, his eyes fixed on the symbols of the four elements. He holds the Wand in his right hand, the Sword in his left. The Pentacle and Cup are floating in the air. Candles and incense burn around the protective circle in which he’s dancing. Flowers and food lie before him as offerings for the gods. A lemniscate lies on the floor before him too, as a reminder of the great and eternal forces he is working with... Faster and faster the Magician dances, elegantly putting his one foot before the other – intensely, almost hypnotically holding and building his energy... Behind the Magician, a landscape is visible: green grass, a palm tree, a blue sky with clouds. Although the Magician appears to be alone, he is not – everything points to the fact that the Magician recognises that he is part of nature, part of the rhythm of life... (you can see him here)

The words that come to mind looking at this card are words like energy, power and awareness, and a deep connection with the world around you.
Today I’ve tried to be energetic and active, aware of the forces around me, seeing opportunities and actually grasping them...

23/12/2003, (a)
I tried dreaming of the Magician tonight, and it actually worked! I dreamt of an entry for a game and that entry was a wall full of masks: large ones, little ones, coloured ones, etc... I really had the feeling that had something to do with the Magician.
Later on, I dreamt of some people who were asking questions to the Magician, who in turn answered them in riddles.
Then I dreamt of a bunch of little children who were buying coloured letters in a shop, and in that shop, the Magician was the cashier. Very strange...

23/12/2003, (b)
You can immediately see that le Ba(s)teleur from the Tarot de Marseille is *not* a boring person. He’s dressed so colourfully and wears a very cool hat on his blond curls – a very mysterious hat it is... When you think of the hat almost forming the infinity sign, of the possibility of the four elements being represented and of the missing table leg, this card seems to be a lot about looking outside the box, about a quest, if you will, for knowledge and experience...
Our Bateleur has everything he needs to begin this quest, and he seems to be examining all his little tools... I see coins there, a little staff, two little cups and two knifes. That may very well be the four elements represented – who knows? In any case, the Bateleur seems to be very well aware of them.
He’s looking toward his right, toward his future, and is standing—he is all ready to go on his search for balance. For now, though, his balance does seem to be a little precarious (remember that the table *is* missing a leg).

When I look at this card, I think of inventiveness, originality and initiative, and of an awareness of your own abilities and talents. Today, I’ve tried to be optimistic and aware of my potential - I’ve tried to make something good out of this day.

24/12/2003
The Magician from the Secret Tarots looks you straight in the eyes with a dark smile. He is cloaked – only his head and, strangely, his left hand are visible. In that hand, he holds a sceptre, sign of authority and power...
When you look at the Magician, you get the feeling that he’s hiding something. Actually, he doesn't look very human; he looks “super-human”, “super-natural”... From his purple hair points a curling, dark orange ‘something’. I think it’s an antenna or a lightning rod, putting him directly in contact with higher forces...
Before him lie a Wand and a Sword, and a golden Cup and Pentacle... The Magician stands at the entrance of a cave, a sign of how deep the Magician is prepared to go, exploring his own Self. It also reminds me of primeval and ancient powers... Behind the Magician is a yellow sky – in this sky I see a phallic form (is this just me?). Together with the cave, symbol of the womb, this is a card filled with the energy of creation, of life... (you can see him here)

When I look at this card I see power, creation and a certain darkness. Hmm... today I’ve tried to be aware of my ability to create things and how those forces manifest themselves in my life.

27/12/2003
The Magician in the Tarot of Dürer doesn’t look like a Magician. He doesn’t look like the innocent Marseille Bateleur either... He’s rather chubby and looks relatively old, and it seems as if he’s shouting to someone. Perhaps he’s challenging someone to play with the dices he tosses in his hands? Dices are, of course, a gambling game and, as the wise Jmd wrote in another thread: they show the human skill of number manipulation... I wouldn’t trust this Bateleur much; I think he’s got a few tricks up your sleeve, or maybe behind that little cape of his... It looks like he wants to sell something from his... well, his drawer. In the drawer I see, amongst other things, shoes, a hammer (he probably used this to hang up the slippers that dangle from a nail) and little pots with glue. Or maybe it isn’t glue, but honey. Either way it fits: this guy looks very “sticky”, not very easy to get rid of, and he probably uses words “as sweet as honey”... That drawer should be pretty practical, actually, as I think he travels a lot. Maybe that’s why he needs all those spare-shoes... He’s also got a bag that contains scissors, a wooden spoon and a bottle (probably with beer, explains the beer belly). With both feet in reality, he’s standing on a large, flat rock... There’s a little cat between his legs, showing his playful, sneaky and cunning side. On the card is a Latin saying: “Nemo potest personam diu ferre”, meaning, “Nobody can wear a mask”. (I found this link thanks to Mari!)

This ‘Magician’ will remind me to see people for what they are. He will help me to be dynamic, convincing and persistent. He will aid me to be practical, self-reliant and sure of myself. He’ll tell me to stop dreaming or worrying, but to stand with my two feet on the ground. He will teach me to occasionally show my playful side, and will tell me not to take things too seriously. But at the same time, he'll remember me not to be too pushy, medling or loud.