Keywords: Be ready. Initiation. Cleverness and wit. Having the tools necessary to manifest something. Mercury. Manifestation of ideas. Magic. Hermetic knowledge. Fulfilment of aspirations. Resolute person, who handles the situation, although he has secrets, gambler.
Arcanum number 1, the first of the so-called 22 trumps of the Tarot.
The number one refers to the self, the being. The experience of thinking, and using our intellect. It also relates to the planet Mercury, as it is the first planet opposite the Sun. It is an androgynous figure, its polarity is neither masculine nor feminine; the first to receive direct light from the star. The magician is a knowledgeable figure who is ready to start something. Whether it is manifesting or mapping out a plan of action, he knows how to achieve what he sets out to do.
He will not always do it in a way that is morally accepted by some majority… but the magician materialises his desires. He is privy to secrets and occult power, he has studied it… and he has the head, the ability to understand how things work. How to manipulate reality. He knows the laws of the Universe and knows how to transform energy, using his personal magic, when the occasion benefits him or requires it.
He is symbolised with the four suits of the deck of cards to his credit; on a table of traditionally three legs, the fourth is his, disguisedly.
Ready to be combined in front of him, the elements symbolise the elemental aspects of energy that makeup reality. Air, Fire, Water, Earth.
The context matters when interpreting, but it usually indicates personal success, an intelligent person who knows how to sell himself and be charming in order to achieve what he sets out to do.
It can also symbolize that an enterprise that you are going to start is totally within your reach, that you are ready. That the person receives fruits for their personal and/or professional efforts.
If you use face-down cards in your spreads: A manipulative person with not very good intentions, without morals. Preoccupied and off-centre in worldly matters. Uses his intelligence to get what he wants, although this has a somewhat turbulent selfish purpose. May also refer to a failure of the plan, an imbalance between the elements, or a delay due to an extraneous cause.
Creative visualisation to connect with the card
In this meditation, I again crossed the threshold of the letter. Through a forest enchanted by Arthurian legends, I encountered a magic feather and an ogre. Escaping I reach the magician, Merlin, in the deck. After some personal questions, he tells me of a destroyed tower; the same as the one in arcane 16, the Tower, the place where he dwelt until it was no longer useful to him. His home now: a modest little thatched cottage. There is an owl who serves us tea, and he guided me through the whole visualisation. Merlin told me that in each element there is the fire itself, a sword/weapon. I see my fire, between pink and red; he shows me that there are many types of fires. He shows me my spear, which is quite impressive. When interacting with the water everything becomes a blur. I touch the stone, feeling it very clearly in my touch and I suddenly come out of my exercise.
