This is a card of…

Will

Creative force

First steps

Planning

Drive

“It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done.”

-Terry Pratchett

There are two main traditions for depicting Key I. One is the playful carnival barker style of the Marseilles deck, the other the face-forward master of magic a la RWS. They both tend to have one arm above their shoulder and the other gesturing downward, symbolizing a common interpretation of the card. The magic the Magician wields is to make himself a lightening rod for inspiration from a higher source- that inspiration flows through him and out into the grounded physical world. He has at his disposal on the table before him all four suits of the pips: Wands for will, Cups for emotion, Swords for intellect, Disks (or Pentacles, or Coins) for tangible reality. It is the first one that is most important and one of The Magician’s typical keywords: will. The magician makes things happen. He is the extreme of active rather than passive being.

There are two cautions here: One, we must remember that divine source rather than inflating ourselves up as superior beings of genius. Two, the energy needs to be grounded. When inspiration strikes and we feel the surge to create, bottling it up is damaging. If you’re feeling the charge of the Magician, get it down to earth! Even if it’s just to scribble your sensations down in a journal or to throw off some quick sketches or measures of music- start the process of getting it out to the exterior world.

This is a helpful card for the artist staring at the blank canvas, the writer staring at the blank page, or the entrepreneur who has had a brilliant idea for a business but can’t think of a first step (hint: grab a pen and a notebook). Journals and notebooks are especially relevant because the magician is also associated with the adept use of language. Naming and categorizing makes chaos manageable. When we use words to state our goals the path is brought into focus. Whether we seek to satisfy our drives, our hearts, our intellect, or our material needs- we need the Magician at the outset.

He represents concrete first steps, the will to make things happen, creative drive, and personal energy.

Advice:

Do the thing.

Any setback is only a delay.

Make it happen.

Set things in motion.

Warning:

Dreaming is not doing.

The impulse to create turns ugly when ignored.