Four Pillars Tarot The Magician (Energy Working)

Notes on TheMagician (Energy Working)

Four Pillars Society Tarot by Gary Rosenberg (GAR) and Nyxsaurius Fallsong

Artist’s Notes  :
 
In the oldest tarot decks such as the Tarot de Marseille, the Magus (or Magician) was called the juggler and our magus does with energy what an old-fashioned juggler does with balls, knives, cards or anything else he might be driven to use. He throws the items around, ever seeking new challenges and new patterns in which to arrange them. He ever seeks to add more and a larger variety of items to the mix until he reaches whatever he perceives  as his limits. After all, aren’t all limits self-perceived and self-created? He is the embodiment of willed kinetic energy. Energy taken from one’s potential store and used for purpose?
 
You may ask, what this has to do with magic or mages? Science tells us that nothing is truly solid and that all matter is composed of energy. The magician, like our juggler, seeks to make active-willed changes to his environment, challenging himself to use ever more of that which is in all but endless supply. True that, for the most part, the energies the Magus uses exist in more rarified and virtual form, yet that only makes the show and the working that much more powerful. 
 
It should be noted that the Magus’s working is not merely metaphysical The props that were the raison d’etre of the Juggler’s trade now become the elemental symbols by which the Magus can alter both his external and internal reality.
 
About the Archetype:
 
The Fool falls and lands. Where before the Fool was whole with the potential to become everything, now polarization has happened. The Magician is male to the Priestess’ female and active to the Priestess’ passivity. One way of looking at the Major Arcana is the quest to reunify these two into a realized World / Universe at the end.
The Magician utilizes his will and channels spiritual energy into accomplishment. He uses all four elemental tools (The Wand, The Chalice, The Sword and The Disk) to aid in this.
 
Another way of saying this is that through his will uses the power of his spirit (wand, fire, spirit) his emotions (cup) and intellect and knowledge (Sword, remember that the Magician’s astrological attribute is Mercury which is connected to the mind) and his sexuality (pentacle) to effect changes in his environment.
 
Regarding the last, given that we manifest in the physical it could be said that the Magician’s most powerful tool is his staff (between his legs). This is also true of the Priestess also but until the Magician opens the way with his staff, it remains secret, then she becomes the Empress as her Nature becomes manifest.
 
For those who may be inclined to take the above statement too literally, remember that we each contain all the archetypes within us. This means that we all have our own Magician, Priestess and Empress and all the others as well.
 
The Magician also represents the trickster archetype and teaches usually by tricking the student into learning what he or she needs to know. (Consider Merlin, Carlos Castaneda’s Don Juan or Socrates in the Peaceful Warrior Books by Dan Millman.) In tricking others, tho it is quite possible that he will surprise himself with a lesson or two as well. One of his lessons is learning to discern whether his results are objective and tangible as opposed to subjective. Another is to use his powers in a way that is true to his authentic self as opposed to wasting his energies on a whim.
 
 
Astrological Correspondent:
 
Mercury’s energy is all about fast transmission and communication. It also relates to intellect and logic. In Greek mythology, Mercury was the messenger of the gods, always in motion. Thus those who have a strong Mercury are likely to move swiftly from thing to thing to thing, going in, doing what they can and then moving on to the next thing. Mercury also is related to sensory impressions and the moment-to-moment intake of information.
 
In a Reading:
 
When the Magician turns up in a reading it can mean that a time of great creativity and communication is at hand. We feel energized and can accomplish anything and the things and people we need to help us will show up. Indeed quite often they will be caught up in our enthusiasm and be swept along. It is a time of inspiration and manifestation where we are able to impose our will on the world around us. The Magician tends to utilize and channel all in this process so when the reading refers to a relationship, it may be one where manipulation is present. A question that may come up when the Magician shows up in a reading is, “Who’s agenda is being followed? Who does the Magician represent in this situation?”
The Magician can also refer to a situation where we need greater focus and concentration.
 
When the Magician comes out reversed or badly aspected in a reading, it often means that we are blocked in some way. It is possible that we either don’t believe in what we are doing or that we don’t feel like we deserve the outcome that we are trying to manifest. The other cards in the reading may give an idea of what is blocking us. It may mean that we are repressing something that we need to take into account. This blockage may come from external sources as well. It may also mean that we are misusing our energies and imposing our will on others irrespective of what they may wish.
 
 
Fate’s Whisper:
 
The Magus usually depicts a magician at work. However, it is easily overlooked that the greatest form of the Magus is the energy he works with. The primordial forces we all use in our manifestations empower us to achieve great heights. Like the forces of yin and yang, energy intermingles with little to no resistance. Thus giving birth to the first dragonic tenet.
 
Become one with the true nature of energy’s will by embodying the path of least resistance.
 
Mastery of this tenet leads one to the pinnacle of what it means to be the Magus in all forms. Just like energy working, we should demonstrate this mastery of balancing the forces around us so we can live on the path of least res

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