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Description
In French, the Magician is called Le Bateleur, "the mountebank" or the "sleight of hand artist", a practitioner of stage magic. The Italian tradition calls him Il Bagatto or Il Bagatello, which has similar connotations to the French term according to old dictionaries. The Mantegna Tarocchi image that would seem to correspond with the Magician is labeled Artixano, the Artisan; he is the second lowest in the series, outranking only the Beggar.

In esoteric decks, occultists, starting with Oswald Wirth, turned Le Bateleur from a mountebank into a magus and other symbols were added. The illustration of the Tarot card "The Magician" from the Rider-Waite tarot deck was developed by A. E. Waite for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1910. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretation, though not all interpretations follow his theology.

The essentials are that the magician has set up an outdoor altar, to display items that represent the suits of the Minor Arcana: Cups (Water), Coins (Earth), Swords (Air). The fourth, Clubs (Fire), he holds in his hand.

In my interpretation, the Magus is portrayed as a powerful feminine figure with her back slightly turned in a “sleight of hand” type of move. The suits here are portrayed in their most elemental state in the alchemical circles surrounding the Magus.

The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things just-so by speaking them aloud ("And God said 'Let there be Light!' and there was Light"). Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the sleight of hand (Mercury *was* the god of thieves!) and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.

The 4 suits laid out before him remind us of the 4 aces, which in the Tarot symbolize the raw, undeveloped, undirected power of each suit. When the Magician appears, he reveals these to you. The reader might well interpret this card as telling the querent that they will be given a vision, an idea, a magical, mental image of whatever it is they most want: the solution to a problem, an ambitious career, a love life, a job.

Most importantly, the Magician card stands for the "reveal" - as in a magic trick. The handkerchief is draped over an empty box, the Magician waves his wand, *presto!*--now there is a dove in the box. The Magician card does the same for the Querent--only what it reveals is not birds or rabbits but NEW ideas. Emphasis on NEW. When the Magician card appears, the Querent is likely to say: "Now there's an idea! Why didn't I think of that before?" Truth is, the Querent had that idea in his head all along. The Magician merely revealed it to him. But what will the Querent do with this idea?

That's a question for the High Priestess.

Sold. Thank you very much!

Description
In French, the Magician is called Le Bateleur, "the mountebank" or the "sleight of hand artist", a practitioner of stage magic. The Italian tradition calls him Il Bagatto or Il Bagatello, which has similar connotations to the French term according to old dictionaries. The Mantegna Tarocchi image that would seem to correspond with the Magician is labeled Artixano, the Artisan; he is the second lowest in the series, outranking only the Beggar.

In esoteric decks, occultists, starting with Oswald Wirth, turned Le Bateleur from a mountebank into a magus and other symbols were added. The illustration of the Tarot card "The Magician" from the Rider-Waite tarot deck was developed by A. E. Waite for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1910. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretation, though not all interpretations follow his theology.

The essentials are that the magician has set up an outdoor altar, to display items that represent the suits of the Minor Arcana: Cups (Water), Coins (Earth), Swords (Air). The fourth, Clubs (Fire), he holds in his hand.

In my interpretation, the Magus is portrayed as a powerful feminine figure with her back slightly turned in a “sleight of hand” type of move. The suits here are portrayed in their most elemental state in the alchemical circles surrounding the Magus.

The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things just-so by speaking them aloud ("And God said 'Let there be Light!' and there was Light"). Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the sleight of hand (Mercury *was* the god of thieves!) and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.

The 4 suits laid out before him remind us of the 4 aces, which in the Tarot symbolize the raw, undeveloped, undirected power of each suit. When the Magician appears, he reveals these to you. The reader might well interpret this card as telling the querent that they will be given a vision, an idea, a magical, mental image of whatever it is they most want: the solution to a problem, an ambitious career, a love life, a job.

Most importantly, the Magician card stands for the "reveal" - as in a magic trick. The handkerchief is draped over an empty box, the Magician waves his wand, *presto!*--now there is a dove in the box. The Magician card does the same for the Querent--only what it reveals is not birds or rabbits but NEW ideas. Emphasis on NEW. When the Magician card appears, the Querent is likely to say: "Now there's an idea! Why didn't I think of that before?" Truth is, the Querent had that idea in his head all along. The Magician merely revealed it to him. But what will the Querent do with this idea?

That's a question for the High Priestess.

Sold. Thank you very much!