Tarot Pull: The Magician
If you read last week’s write-up on The Fool, you’ll know we left off with a bit of a tease. Tomas Hijo, author and artist of the Tarot Del Toro deck, indicated that when The Magician encounters The Fool on the journey through the Major Arcana, it is representative of someone giving tools or mystical insight to the traveler. As I mentioned in that article, this couldn’t be a more apt description of how The Fool and The Magician archetypes interact in my novel (currently being queried), THE HIEROPHANT.
In THE HIEROPHANT, the archetype of The Magician is invoked to represent a character which holds incredible knowledge, skill and drive along with a dash of mystery. Of course, he’s also conniving, manipulative and overly confident. He roundly dismisses the wellbeing of others in pursuit of his goals, and he does so without remorse. Ben Howard ends up being the perfect example of both sides of The Magician card, so let’s take a closer look at this risky gent.
Pictured: The Magician from the Ethereal Visions deck
Common keywords for The Magician include:
Upright – Manifestation, resourcefulness, power, inspired action
Reverse – Manipulation, poor planning, untapped talents
For more in-depth information on the card, see Biddy Tarot’s article.
Pictured: The Magician from the Wild Unknown deck
The Magician is both a creator and a destroyer. He is inherently a trickster no matter which way you flip the card as he exists in a morally ambiguous space. His magic and skill can be used for good, but it can just as easily be flipped.
While some may read The Magician in its upright form as being an indicator of “real” magic versus an “imposter,” I don’t think it’s quite so cut and dry. At his core, The Magician will always be a magician. It’s how he orients himself that reveals whether he’s coming from a place of goodwill or ill; whether the results will be miraculous or disastrous.
Pictured: The Magician from the Star Spinner Tarot deck
Out of the cards I chose to showcase for this write-up, I think the Star Spinner version best represents the chaotic power of The Magician. Here, you can see The Magician exerts great force, breaking and creating simultaneously. His hand is sure while his actions are brash. The Magician isn’t a subtle card, even if he can be devious.
Pictured: The Magician from the Tarot Del Toro deck
The Magician from the Tarot Del Toro deck also demonstrates the creation aspect of the card (with less emphasis on the ‘smash it to bits’ aspect). In the Tarot Del Toro, Guillermo Del Toro himself is used to represent The Magician— pretty fitting given the context of the deck.
He sits at a work bench tinkering away at the bits and pieces the filmmaker has woven together to make cinematic magic. These are his tools, his creations, his highest magic that he gifts to the world. It’s really a beautiful image of The Magician.
Looking at these two versions in particular highlight the base essence of this character in THE HIEROPHANT. A master of skill that (almost) no one else matches can produce stunning, revelatory results. He can shape the world in unprecedented ways. Sometimes, that requires breaking boundaries and injecting chaos. It almost always means pulling others into whatever magic is being cooked up (The Magician doesn’t really work in a vacuum).
The Magician is always going to be a creator whether you like it or not— lies; force; smoke; illusions; bargains; the unknowable— it’s all part of The Magician’s brand. What you’ll wind up with in the end is what remains in question. It will always depend on The Magician you encounter.
Pictured: Major Arcana cards from the Wild Unknown deck
As a fun side note, I highly recommend pulling a clarifying card when you draw The Magician with your creative work. It can help provide some specificity as to how the magic will go or what the magic relates to. Because of The Magician’s ambiguous nature, it can be helpful to have that extra clarifying card to give you better perspective on what aspect of The Magician you want to work with.
