Rosetta Tarot-The Magus I

[GoldenWolf]

This card shows Hermes-Thoth standing triumphantly on a column. He has wings on feet and his helmet. He holds a wand topped with a crystal. Two green snakes twine around the wand making it look like a very basic cadaceus. The snakes appear to be small versions of the large snake in the Fool card perhaps.

There are two Thoth apes or baboons, one on either side of his feet. They both point to the heavens or are they reaching? Both have a combination sun/moon sign on their heads.

Above the Magus's head are symbols of the four elements or worlds: a flaming wand or torch for fire/Atziluth, a cup for water/Briah, a sword for air/Yetzirah, and a disk for earth/Assiah. There is a scroll presumably since Thoth invented language near the sword. There's also a winged orphic egg that looks as if it's bering the disk (earth/Assiah) along. The crescent moon in the sky foreshadows the next card of the Priestess. Finally, there is a feather which is associated with Maat/Adjustment.

The sky in the background goes from indigo with stars at the top to a pale yellow at the bottom. The sun is rising behind the pillar. The wings on his feet make it look as if the sun is winged just like the orphic egg above.

The Magus's root chakra is now covered which brings to mind Adam and Eve discovering that they are naked in the garden and experiencing shame.

The only symbol I'm not sure of is what is on the sword hilt-an eye maybe?

[Babalon Jones]

I just wanted to pop in and provide a graphic for you

On the sword hilt is a clear quartz gem.

As far as the Magus' covered root chakra goes, I have a funny story. I was showing the artwork to a large group of friends when upon seeing the Magus one dear and innocent soul exclaimed loudly "and the Magus has a huge boner!" LOL. I guess it does rather look like that ;-)

[GoldenWolf]

Ha, ha, I must slipping in my old age to have missed that! Guess that's happens when you focus on the details and miss out on the big picture so to speak.

[frac_ture]

I always took the feather to be a quill pen, sort of a companion piece to go with the scroll.

I like the perspective of the sharp upward angle in this card a lot, the way the Magus bridges the sun and the moon, and the way the sky seems to open up far above him into a kind of portal into space, where the infinity symbol is the only thing present, and not even stars appear there. It gives it all a very mystical feel.

[Starlily]

I also really like the perspective of this card, the feeling that the viewer is looking up at the Magus. As I looked at this card today, I was thinking about how we've transitioned from the breath of life of the Fool to the idea of words/ language/ communication.

Usually Magus cards show only the power aspect of this archetype but this one has an element of playfulness, too, in the idea of juggling and the trickster aspect of the apes.

[stonesatiety]

There's a quartz crystal on the staff as well--two! Two furry dudes with snake-like tails wear what look to me also like crescent moons with earthshine lighting the rest. By the lighting they are two full moons as well as sun/moon combos, but my feeling also shows two crescents. (Two earths! Or maybe Venus and Earth.) The crescents go with the smiley moon on top for three. The column upon which he stands is subtly mirrored by the solar column (with six flutes showing) behind him. I have only seen solar columns at sunset--that I remember--but this is dawn, the dawn of the tarot journey. The deep blue background...the void within a faint Ouroboros? Some distance from the first precarious steps of the Fool.

Now what's going on with the winged feet? I was looking for four, and there it is. Are those also the Sun's eyebrows? The Emperor's? In any case, only the Magus sports a huge boner, which signifies the card number one: though transient. Nice touch. Hey, the furry dudes are pointing and laughing at his boner! I wondered what they were doing too.

Rosetta chats easily, but it's so fun to look more deeply. So much to these cards. Thanks for doing this study group, everybody.