Eclectic Witch

Today our tarot journey continues from where we began last week with The Fool, and moves on to The Magician.  My first image is from the Morgan Greer tarot deck which happens to be my most regularly used deck.  I find the imagery simple and uncluttered which allows me to quickly arrive at an understanding of the cards’ message.

Despite the many books, articles and sources by which you may study tarot, learn to read tarot, or memorize tarot, and despite the fact that I have a freaking ridiculous number of tarot books on my Occult shelves, I believe that the very best way to learn Tarot and to learn to open oneself to the creative process necessary to read Tarot, is to develop a personal relationship with the cards.

Every single one of them.

The way to do this is to spend time with them.  To consider and meditate on them.  To listen to the story they have to tell you, and then to tell a story about them.  If you’d care to join me in this journey through the Tarot, pick up a deck that you absolutely love.  A deck that sings to you, shouts to you in it’s rich beauty and symbolism, or one that sits peacefully and gently on your eyes.

For now, put the book away.  Look at The Magician.  What color jumps out at you first?  What is the first image or symbol or detail of the card that speaks to you?  Do you get an overall impression from the image as a whole?  Do you get random (seeming) flashes and thoughts?  Does your mind or vision keep returning to a certain area or thought pattern?

Write these things down.  Any and all thoughts that come to you, regardless of what you think The Magician should mean, or what you have learned or studied of it.

Beginners will most likely have an easier time of this than those who consider themselves well versed in Tarot. If you have memorized someone’s book interpretations, you are going to have to reach outside of your logical mind a bit to find the card’s personal message for you, but keep trying.  It will come.

Keep the card and a small notebook either with you, or in a conspicuous place where you will see and consider it often for the next week.  If you have very busy days, place it next to your bed and consider it a bit before sleep and upon waking.  Jot down notes.  Think on what the image is telling you.  What relevance does it have in your life today?

If the meaning seems to shift and change from day to day, go with it.  Are you getting a repeat message from the card?  Something important that you need to hear?  Or is there a new message every day as your world shifts around you?

Resist the temptation to turn to the book for your answers.  Write your own stories.

On Monday evening, or before you return for the next edition of Tarot Tuesday, see if you can put the week’s meditation on The Magician into a story; a story of your life for the last week. After you have done this, go ahead and crack the book.  Now, after you’ve pulled every bit from the card that it has to offer you directly, now is the time to turn to definitions of symbolism, Qabbalistic correspondences, and traditional interpretations.  See what this adds to your understanding of the card and your story.  Edit and add to it as appropriate.  Follow your heart-
* Ol’ Auntie is playing along for Tarot Tuesday, a new meme.  Join us in posting your tarot thoughts, images and ideas on your own blog or in comments here or there for this weekly meme hosted by chameloeon’s dream at Tarot Tuesday Home . Check back and see who is playing and visit others posting for Tarot Tuesday!

Don’t forget to visit the Tarot Tuesday Page here at The Eclectic Witch.  Come back to either this post or to the Tarot page and share your thoughts with Ol’ Auntie.  Remember:

Ol’ Auntie wants to know!!

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