tarot of the secret forest- the magician

[greenbeans]

I wonder what everyone makes of this card?

I am a little puzzled as to the gender- on the coloured side the magician appears to be a slender male, whilst on the b/w side it is rather feminine, complete with cute 'princess leia' hairstyle! As in the RWS he wears red, which I have read means 'spiritual will', but correct me if I am wrong.

The traditional 4 tools are not present (as far as I can see). But the lemniscate is- in the form of a curving root beneath him/her. A link between nature and the infinite.

The magicians hands leave a trail of tiny stars, you can almost hear the magic crackle in the air. Is this a 'divine spark' of life and creation and new ideas, or just cheap glitter?

The magicians wings have false eyes- which, as we know, are used by butterflies to fool predators. The magician is capable of deceit, then. And isn't illusion a big part of any magician's role?

The main difference with the b/w side is the wand. I wonder why this might be? Also the lack of facial features on the b/w side makes it quite mysterious.

 

[Hemera]

I also have mixed feelings of this Magician.. The missing tools puzzle me most. Also, the root below him looks rather like a rope ready for a hanging!
I don´t mind the gender. I like it being a bit unclear. I also like the stars. I think they are real ones, not just glitter.
Maybe the stars,the wand and the light shining from the top of his head are his tools? So then maybe the false eyes would be the 4th tool? (And s/he also has four false eyes on the b/w side, whereas on the coloured side you can see only 2 of them clearly)
Which suits would they then correspond? Wand is wands, of course. Maybe the beam from his head could be swords, representing his intellect,thoughts etc. ? The stars could be tiny pentacles. That would leave the false eyes as cups. They would represent feelings. The butterfly opens its wings (so that the eyes become visible) when it feels warm and comfortable, doesn´t it? And yes, also when it feels threatened and it feels fear. What do you think of this?

 

[greenbeans]

Maybe the stars,the wand and the light shining from the top of his head are his tools? So then maybe the false eyes would be the 4th tool? (And s/he also has four false eyes on the b/w side, whereas on the coloured side you can see only 2 of them clearly)
Which suits would they then correspond? Wand is wands, of course. Maybe the beam from his head could be swords, representing his intellect,thoughts etc. ? The stars could be tiny pentacles. That would leave the false eyes as cups. They would represent feelings. The butterfly opens its wings (so that the eyes become visible) when it feels warm and comfortable, doesn´t it? And yes, also when it feels threatened and it feels fear. What do you think of this?

Yes! I think this is a great idea! It helps me a lot with this tricky magician- to see the tools not as items on a table, but more intimate somehow...closer, connected, part of the magician.I especially like the little stars as pentacles- and I never really saw the 'beam' on his head before, but, wow, it is definitely there!

As for eyes/cups- hm...I know eyes are considered the window to the soul? And don't we see wide eyes as innocence, deepset eyes as furtiveness, as if someones emotions lie in their eyes? and there are many beliefs such as evil eye, all seeing eye, third eye...quite spiritual.

The wand- I suppose on the b/w side we see a traditional wand as a tool of magic, an extension of the magician's arm...on the colour side his arm IS the wand, creating magic directly...

 

[flipperjane]

Magician - Secret forest

I 'feel' like this magician could suddenly appear before you, sort of hanging in the air in front of you. The 'eyes' seem a bit menacing to me - you sort of don't know whether to look at him or at the eyes. so maybe they area distraction - on purpose?

The question of gender is very apparent isn't it. To me the figure looks very feminine on both sides - and I don't like that. I like my Magician to be male - hmm - going to have to ponder that.

I don't find much else to say about this card so far - I'm hovering over not liking it......

 

[velvetina]

This possibly isn't the best card to begin with for me as it isn't -to me - particularly interesting in the symbolism & has some quite off-putting features.

I see a person in a red swimsuit. It matters not to me that it might not be a swimsuit, that's what I see, & oh how I wish he would put some clothes on! Or be entirely naked. A red bathing suit does not make me think of a Magician's qualities.

Besides that, I like the white light he's crowned with; reminds me of the Thoth Magus, channeling energy from 'above'...this Magician is conjuring up something.

Why does he have a wand in the b&w version? Just his hands in the colour? Is it because this Magician needs no tools, just his Will & Intention?

If this is a Tarot of the forest, the natural world, it might emphasise that we have everything we need within ourselves & it is our wit & will & intelligence that cause changes.

The lemniscate twig is a more direct allusion. Infinity of course.

Both sides show gender ambiguous figures. I'm sure that it could have been done without the red swimsuit!