← “Röhrig Cards” deck

The Magician

“Röhrig Cards” deck · card #1

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"Talent works, genius creates."
Robert Schumann

In the beginning was the word, the unborn word. Then the word was born. Before its birth the word was silence; then came the first spark of life, the divine "One," the first breath, the first thought. The Divine was the first being, the father and mother of all the numbers that followed.

If we regard the Tarot as a card game, then the Magician is the first card in the game. Or, if we see the Tarot as a means to self-knowledge, he can be regarded as the first step on the path of spiritual evolution.

The Magician embodies creative activity in the realm of ideas. He is the expression of thinking man and woman who have, for the first time, become aware of their cosmic origin.

The Magician expresses his own thoughts; he no longer acts merely as a created being, but conducts himself as a human being who has reached the level of conscious existence. Until this moment he was a tangle of feelings and emotions, and his life was devoted chiefly to satisfying material needs — material hunger had to be satisfied, sexual need demanded satisfaction, and its resolution contented him only insofar as (and if) he ever looked beyond his own life. Only in this way, it seemed to him, could he project himself into life after death. He is influenced by his surroundings, his parents manipulate him, his upbringing has shaped him; thus he forgets his divine origin. His awakening as the Magician gives him the chance for a sudden return to his cosmic home. He begins to make conscious efforts, so that through a process of inner evolution he may find the way back home. His way home may be long and exhausting, or, alternatively, easy and joyful: it depends on whether or not he can develop the necessary qualities within himself. The twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana shed light upon this path, so that he may more easily find his way home.

The Magician embodies the beginning of a new idea, a new state, a new work or activity, as well as a playful possession of material things. He knows and governs the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. He passes through the first trial — the trial by fire — on the path of initiation, and receives the magic wand. Through his striving to discover the truth, he conquers the realm of air and receives the sword of truth. When he opens his understanding of the earth, he is given the gift of coins (disks). In the end, he is allowed to drink from the cup of wisdom.

The Magician stands under the sign of Mercury (or Hermes in Greek mythology). People saw in him the patron of trade and exchange. Hermes is marked by sociability, flexibility and congeniality, qualities with which the Magician is likewise endowed.

In the winged Hermes (the word "herme" means "waymark") the Greeks saw a signpost. For them he was the god of the road for all wanderers, who accompanied their souls on the way to the Underworld. In this light, the Magician is a guide through all the stages of the game of Tarot, which is not necessarily a journey to the Underworld, but into our own world and to our own center. Hermes, messenger of the gods, embodies speed, intelligence and curiosity, but also a certain inclination toward intrigue and power.

This card, like all the others in the Major Arcana of the Tarot of the Aquarian Age, is associated with a number and a letter: a letter of the Hebrew alphabet on the left, and a rune on the right. Both of these symbols express the meaning of the card.

The Magician is often (also outside the Tarot of the Aquarian Age deck) assigned the letter ALEPH, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which corresponds to his divine aspect and to silence. The primal sound has not yet been spoken. The bursting-forth of this first sound breaks the silence, and BETH (house) arises. BETH is the second letter of the alphabet, and we find it on the left side of the Magician's card. BETH is our home, this manifest world as against the unmanifest world beyond it — which at the same time reminds us that it exists.

In the right corner of the card is the rune FEHU, which means "cattle," and therefore, indirectly, symbolizes wealth or the mystery of gold. FEHU also signifies fire and energy. The power of FEHU lies in the hands of the truly noble. It must remain under the control of those responsible enough to use this power wisely. Anyone who abuses this power should beware, because sooner or later the energy that has been transformed into its negative expression will boomerang back upon whoever wielded it.

The Magician holds this power in his hands; everything depends on his choice. Will he decide to become an evil or a good magician? He stands at the beginning of his path, and every subsequent phase (every card) requires him to make a decision.

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