What is the Meaning of the Magician Tarot Card?
The Magician is the second card of the tarot deck’s Major Arcana. The number associated with the figure of the Magician is one, as he stands for the power of creation — the act of taking the primordial potential represented by the Fool and transforming it into something of actual substance that is real, true, and tangible. The Magician could also rightly be represented by the concepts of divinity, magic, and power of an extremely potent variety.
On a basic level, the Magician represents many profound and monumental concepts along the lines of wisdom, power, action, and creativity. Just as the Fool is all about the initial potential of many things, the Magician is all about these same things made real and put into astonishing motion. The Magician quite literally has the power and this power has no limits or restrictions. He is the conduit for all the infinite wonders of the divine and the vessel through which this power flows into the world. He also represents the perfect union and balance of all things – positive and negative, creation and destruction, et cetera.
The Magician is traditionally depicted as a young, attractive, and robed male figure who has a definite air of confidence and “knowing” about him. The sign of the infinite – or alternatively, the Holy Spirit – is above his head and his belt takes the shape of a serpent devouring its own tale, both emphasizing the timelessness and omnipotence of the Magician. In his right hand, he holds a wand that is pointed toward the heavens, while his left hand is pointing toward the earth itself (“as above, so below”). He is usually standing next to or behind a table that has the symbols of all four tarot suits placed upon it. A garden of roses and lilies typically grows