The Magician: Modern RWS Tarot Card Meanings
‘KEY I: Magician’, Rider Waite Smith tarot deck.
The Magician: Upright RWS Meanings
Keywords
White magic, Willpower, Imagination, Self-mastery, Language
Occult Themes & Symbolism
KEY I: The Magician relates to the famous Hermetic idea of ‘as above, so below, as within, so without’, also known from The Kybalion as the Principle of Correspondence. From my understanding, Waite’s magician card in particular is cosmogogical as much as it is a Hermetic magician. That is correspondence again: the All within the All. But what does this mean?
In the perennial wisdom tradition (where fate is believed in but free will also accepted) the magician is a person keenly discerning of the distinction between agency and efficacy. That is, he is an expert in discerning what is within vs outside of his control. This congruence with reality allows him to manifest his desires, within the confines of providence (symbolized by the lemniscate/infinity sign). Thus, his consciousness is said to be a conduit for the Divine (symbolized by the roses and lillies).
He attains his mystic powers by overcoming the four occult Elements within his lower self (Earth, Air, Water and Fire) and then connecting to the fith Element of Spirit (the Divine Soul). These Elements are symbolized in Waite’s magician card as the Pentacle, Sword, Cup and Wand respectively, which refer broadly to the actions, thoughts, feelings and passions. All of them lie on the square table or alter which is the foundation of the Elements, the Quintessence (Spirit).
The implication: a white magician has a noticeable degree of self-mastery. He does not reject the material world; he overcomes himself and lives a charmed life because of it. That is, he works through his issues to make the most of his lot.
He is logical, persuasive and charming whilst enacting discipline, justice and honesty; his attractive qualities mingle with his virtues - fruits of his theurgic work. Waite’s KEY I in particular shows the magician’s body in the shape of the Hebrew letter Alef; a nod to Jewish Kabbalah and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn that he joined.
In a Love Or Relationship Context
This card signifies proactive courtship and the conscious creation of a relationship. Finally asking someone out, clearly communicating your desire for commitment, winning someone's affection with your charm. Similar to The Lovers.
In a Money/Career Context
This card points to professional skill and successful manifestation gained through competence, charm and integrity. A successful business launch, nailing a job interview, a promotion to a leadership role, starting a skilled apprenticeship.
“A year or two ago now, I did a tarot reading on the Tommy Fury vs Jake Paul fight. Tommy was said to win and was represented by the Magician card, whereas Jake was King of Wands. Interpretation: Tommy’s skillset was more well-rounded. This may seem obvious to you since he has professional boxers in his family. But as a divinatory reader, I do not take things for granted when seeking occult knowledge. Like a natural scientist, I test my assumptions in case they are wrong.”
In a Spiritual Context
This card is about the practical application of one's spiritual path. Aligning your actions with Divine Will, "walking the talk," using focused will to create positive change for the good of all. It is also about working through your personal issues to gain self-mastery; a truly spiritual idea within the Western Esoteric Tradition. Similar to The Chariot.
In Common Spread Positions
As Advice
The active, skilful energy of The Magician advises you to take action now and use the tools you have at your disposal. Or, if you have no tools, you should generate opportunity through disciplined planning and execution.
As (Ultimate) Outcome
The outcome is one of successful manifestation. Your focused will and skill will bring about your imagined or dream result (the 10 of Cups).
As Obstaces
The obstacle is a misapplication of skill. Progress is blocked by vice, arrogance or dishonesty. Similar to KEY XV: The Devil.
As Hidden Energy
Untapped potential, Divine (karmic) timing. Blessings (especially blessings in disguise). Covert strategy. Magical protection and invocations.
As Resources/Alliances
Expertise, talent, great learning, positive karma accrued from this or past lives, theurgy. Corresponds to the 5th house of vedic astrology.
The Magician: Reversed RWS Meanings
Keywords
Performance, Incompetence, Illusion, Black Magic, Ignorance.
Generally
Reversed, The Magician turns into a sorcerer or black magician; one who binds himself to the material plane through ignorant use of occult laws. Through pleasure and power seeking, the sorcerer cuts himself off from his Divine spark, inevitably ending up in ruin. The fate of sorcrerers is often told by these very people themselves as they sell manifestation hacks and ritual magic practices for the same.
For example, one famous sorcerer, inspired by a proponent of The Secret, was 15 or more years into his black magic practice when his despair brought him to a manual of self-initiation. But not before the final grade of the outer work did he presume to teach the usual “magick” arts - of NLP, self-hypnosis and getting laid….and yes, the Hermetic qabalah and the ritual stuff too. Obviously.
More than a decade on does the same man speak in paywalled channels of things unbecoming to a theurgist: freak weather events from botched rituals, traffic jams from protection spells gone wrong and roughly a third of the year spent trembling in abject fear of mercury retrograde!
In occult science, this is seen as being overcome by the very elemental forces or spirits which the sorcerer has sought to control in his quest for gains. It is also a perfect example of the charlatanry that this card represents in the reverse. The street juggler of the Tarot de Marseille tradition shows it well.
In a Love Or Relationship Context
This card often signifies manipulation or dishonesty. A partner making false promises, a smooth-talking player with no real intent, a relationship built on a deceptive facade.
Otherwise; love-bombing, love magic, seeking out the bad boy and other such perennial tropes of dating.
In a Money/Career Context
This can mean scams or a lack of skill. Falling for a "get rich quick" scheme, a fraudulent business deal, failing a job interview due to a lack of preparation, qualifications or charisma. Like the 5 of Pentacles.
In an Intellectual Context
This points to intellectual dishonesty. Plagiarism, using complex jargon to confuse people, sophistry (using clever but false arguments), spreading misinformation. Like the Ace of Swords reversed.
In a Spiritual Context
This can mean using spiritual practices for manipulative or egotistical ends. A disconnect between one's stated beliefs and one's actions, using spiritual language to deceive others. Like The Hierophant reversed.
In Common Spread Positions
As Advice
A warning against deception or inaction. It is time to question an offer that seems too good to be true, or to stop procrastinating and develop the skills you need.
As (Ultimate) Outcome
The outcome is defined by failure through inaction or deceit. A project will fail due to a lack of skill, or you will be the victim of a scam.
As Obstacles
The obstacle is deception or a lack of ability. A con artist, a lack of self-confidence, or your own wasted potential is blocking your progress.
As Hidden Energy
The manipulative energy of The Magician is a hidden threat. A person's desire to deceive is not obvious, or your own lack of skill is unconsciously sabotaging you.
As Resources/Alliances
Help comes from exposing a lie. Seeing through a deception or admitting your own lack of skill is the path forward (like the 7 of Swords reversed).
As Events
Failure, poor performance, identity revealed, hoax, scandal, debunking, rebuke.
Meditations On The Magician
How can I align my lower self with my Higher Self and Divine Soul?
Is my motive truly selfless?
Additional Notes on Waite’s KEY I: The Magician
Waite’s Divinatory Meanings
"Skill, diplomacy, address, subtlety; sickness, pain, loss, disaster, snares of enemies; self-confidence, will; the Querent, if male. Reversed: Physician, Magus, mental disease, disgrace, disquiet." (Pictoral Key To The Tarot, 1911)
Waite’s divinatory Major Arcana meanings can be quite dramatic, although they were given in reticence to appease a portion of his readers.
Magical Weapons Meaning (Wand, Cup, Pentacle, Sword)
They represent self-mastery in the occult sense of mastery over the four elements manifest in man’s lower nature (the body and brain), ruled by the 5th element of Spirit/Quintessence (symbolized as the table). Thus, the Magician can command his will and passion (Fire), navigate his emotions (Water), structure his intellect (Air), and takes care of his physical needs (Earth). But most importantly, this self-mastery is the first and most difficult step to initiation and it is what gives him the power to shape reality in accordance with Divine (not human) Will.
A Card of Occult Magic
Waite drew inspiration for his depiction of The Magician card from Eliphas Levi, a fellow initiate of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Levi believed that the Tarot de Marseille was a deck made by initiates. In this deck, the Magician is a street illusionist (stage magician) and Levi would consider this an esoteric allusion only understood by initiates. Waite however made this idea more explicit. He changed the juggler table to the theurgist’s ritual table, the stage magician’s props to magical tokens and the rest of the scenery to aspects of ritual magic (theurgy) more generally. The result was an unmistakable reference to Hermetic ritual magic.
The Mediator of Divine Will
Many modern interpretations reduce The Magician to a simple icon of personal power or a motivational cheerleader. From a Western Esoteric, Right Hand Path, perspective, this disregards important philosophical issues like fate vs free will (depicted in the Wheel of Fortune) and karma/cause & effect (symbolized in the RWS Justice card).
The Magician (when practicing white magic) is not the source of power, but its conscious mediator of it. His function is a theurgic one: to consciously direct spiritual forces from the higher planes into the material world, using his consciously trained will. Will trained towards what? Attunement with the impersonal Divine Will. In doing this, he lives out his souls’ purpose for incarnating. His path is not necessarily one of conducive material circumstances. That depends on his karma. But it is the right one for his soul, and to the initiate of white magic, this is the most important thing.
This is not to say that the white magician neglects his physical circumstances; mastering mundane life is very important in Western Esotericism. Just that he will not use occult means to improve his material circumstances. This is because it is the motive, and motive alone (not the intention) that makes an act of magic white (good, beneficient) or black (bad, malificient) magic.
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