Thoth - The Magus

MystiqueMoonlight

"The true self is the meaning of the True Will: know thyself through Thy Way. Calculate well the formula of Thy Way. Create freely, absorb joyously, divide intently, consolidate completely.
Wake Thou omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent in and for Eternity" (Aleister Crowley)


Correspondence:-

Colour: Purple

Herb: Ginseng

Astrology: Mercury (the God depicted on this card)

Rune: Fehu; this is the first rune. Indicates possesions, income won or earned. Wealth which must be calculated wisely to be of any relevance (be it social or monetary). Karmic wealth invested wisely.

Hebrew: Beth the symbol of habitations and receptacles of anything which "contains". It is viril and paternal, a glyph of active and interior action

Let us now analyse the card. For those who have the deck containing the 3 Magus cards we refer to that card depicting Mercury in gold colour upon 2 large wings and Thoth behind on lower right hand corner in the form of a baboon.

The card represents will, wisdom and communication on all levels. You may note he is juggling all the different tools of communication. The Magus is a genius at utilising his skill with these objects.

The Magus is on the border of the dark and the light. Completely aware of his abilities to use his power of communication and magick. He has no conscience and is apt to superiority and power, often tempted to misuse his talents. However in this card you will note The Magus wears a smile which is an indication of his positive purpose. The baboon in the lower right hand corner is the other image of Thoth. Thoth was associated with the Moon (in Ancient Egypt baboons only ever came out at night and with the Dawn they would howl at the Sun). Thoth of course is the God of scribe, written words and communication.

Take a look at the objects The Magus juggles:
- Coins;matter, finance
- Fire;inspiration, renewal
- Wand;religion, spirituality
- Arrow;aim, focus
- Scroll;the written word
- Winged Egg;ESP, intuitiveness
- Snake in Cup;sexuality, relationships
- Sword;logic, intellect

Again the Caduceus appears on this card (above The Magus' head) indicating health and well being within the process of thought. The Eye of Horus is indicative of perception and protection. Note also the blue/yellow beam of energy which runs through his centre from above his head through his feet. The Magus is receiving Universal inspiration. The Magus cannot react without remaining within the true service of the Univeral Law which empowers him.
 

Kaz

attachment: thoth - magus

MystiqueM, i only have one magus in my deck, have you got the others?
could you attach them here?

kaz
 

Attachments

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MystiqueMoonlight

Kaz,

Thanks for posting the attachments, cause I have no idea how to do it.

The Magus you have attached is exactly the one as mentioned above. No matter which Magus is used the correspondences and general meanings are the same. I would suggest though the other Magus may have further intuitive influences.
 

Strange2

Re: attachment: thoth - magus

Kaz said:
i only have one magus in my deck, have you got the others?
could you attach them here?

Here's a link that shows the 3 Magician cards from the Thoth deck.

http://www.astroamerica.com/t-3mage.html

Only the smaller sized Thoth deck published by U.S. Games has the 3 Magician cards, and not the larger or pocket sized Thoth deck.
 

MeeWah

Mystique: The snake is twined above The Magus' head in such a way as to suggest "horns": the Horned God, the active principle or the yang. The caduceus could indicate the ability to wield the divine power that flows through him (the blue of spirit & the yellow of intellect); thus, he creates & manifests with an understanding of the power of thought.

The Magus looks to be a depiction of Mercury, the Roman (Hermes in Greek) God of messages & communication, he protected travelers & guided the dead to the underworld. He moves between the worlds of the living & the spirits or the dead at will.
 

MystiqueMoonlight

Meewah,

Yes that is correct. You echo my definitions above. Interesting your analysis based upon a pagan view point (the horned God association). It just goes to prove the Thoth deck can be used by many even if you do not have Thelemic or GD experience.
 

MeeWah

Strange2: I meant to thank ye sooner, so thanks very much for the link of all 3 cards! I was curious to see what they look like. I plan to get the smaller (non-green) deck :D
 

SlyR

To those curious about the 3 Magi (merry Christmas!), here's a link that offers a slightly different slant on each card:

http://www.angelfire.com/celeb/Crowley/thoth/majors.html

The three alternate names are the Juggler, De Mercurio, and the Lord of Illusion.

Personally, I use the Juggler and leave the other two out of the deck.
 

MeeWah

SlyR: I like that reference--the 3 Magi. Thanks for the link! It looks vaguely familiar. Someone, Mystique perhaps, posted it a while ago somewhere but until I started looking at this deck, the material did not relate. Much of it is beyond me at the moment...new territories to explore.
 

isthmus nekoi

The 3 Magi may also correspond to Hermes Trimegistus who 'wrote' the Emerald Tablet (as above, so below) writing, "... Hermes Trimegistus is my name, b/c I possess the 3 parts of the wisdom of the whole world." Very suiting sentence for a Magus to write!

Hermes corresponds to the god Mercury and is the ultimate transforming agent in alchemy. It is at once the highest and lowest element (very much like the Thoth deck itself w/its lofty associations w/esoteric structures to its shared reputation w/the wicked Mr. Crowley). Potent, fast acting and dangerous (poisonous), Mercury was revered by alchemists. As a substance and a god, Hermes is at once quicksilver and shapeshifter, rogue and trickster, animus and psychopompus.

As a figure of thought and communication, Hermes in this card is not merely the Divine messenger, but the connection b/w two worlds. He works here to make manifest what is not overtly physical, or to MTIV (make the invisible visible). Old Herm also presides over dice and divination. I think it was Apollo who got divination through word - the Oracle, but Hermes got dice, gambling and game and thus is a suiting representative for this deck of extremes - Tarot as game, as chance, and then simultaneously, Tarot as a channel to a greater structure of destiny.

Oh my, there's so much to write about Hermes. He's one of my fave gods.

Thoth as the Divine scribe has been likened to Hermes on many an occasion. I've yet to read deeply about Thoth himself though...