I love The Magician's red, flowing robe! The card is very festive, with the intertwining border of red, white and pink flowers on a green, leafy vine.
The staff The Magician holds appears to represent also the wand in this card, as I clearly see the chalice (cup), the pentacle and the sword. There is an animal behind The Magician (to the Magician's right) with red eyes. The animal looks as though ... ah! now I see this "animal" has what appears to be an almost human hand. The Magician is master of the physical realm. Thus, we see nature, animals and even Man represented on this card of the physical realm, as well as the array of tools that The Magician has at his disposal. I see the figure 8 of infinity close to the top of his staff, near his shoulder. The Magician is barefoot or perhaps sandaled; he appears to be a wanderer of the earth. I think of the old traveling minstrels and their bags of tricks when I see this Magician.
He appears to have a good heart and good intentions, but the shadowy animal creature behind him may indicate the darker side of the Magician, or perhaps it represents power the Magician holds, to create transformations of the unexpected.
Something else that strikes me about this creature: The Magician is master of the physical world, but this creature almost appears to be part of the otherworld; some other dimension which remains unseen to our eyes.
That brings me to The Magician's appearance. The Magician, with his long, flowing white beard and manner of dress, looks like a wizard. He looks more like the master of another world beyond our physical world, instead of mere master of the physical. This is so obvious it almost escaped me. This Magician has much more to him than meets the eye. He is not merely master of this physical realm; he is master of realms unseen, be they physical on another plane, but he is master of worlds, physical in existence, yet unseen to most of us. Just as most of us don't see faeries, and yet someone is their master ... in those worlds, this Magician rules.
