From: opentarotnexus@googlegroups.com
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:50:04 +0000
Subject: {Open Tarot Nexus} Digest for opentarotnexus@googlegroups.com
- 4 Messages in 4 Topics
To: Digest Recipients <opentarotnexus@googlegroups.com>
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Today's Topic Summary
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Group: opentarotnexus@googlegroups.com
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/topics
- The History of the Magician Card [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/f8cef2089a7e4a10
- Angel Paths for February 11 - The Magus (Magician) [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/66192df8e79c4e4d
- Card of the Day for February 11 - The Magician [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/72d65cdff5fd4c64
- Saturday February 11, 2012: Reference.com On This Day [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/5ca3c47c5927b32f
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Topic: The History of the Magician Card
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/f8cef2089a7e4a10
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From: msesheta <msesheta@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 11 12:08PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/msg/a9c38413b4db858
The History of the Magician Card
The Magician in historic tarot decks conveys a somewhat different
archetype than in the modern decks. There are two kinds of magician.
One is the magus, master of metaphysical secrets and ancient
knowledge, calling on the powers of the cosmos to bend reality in
accordance with his will. The other is the stage magician, the
conjurer, the entertainer, the charlatan. Although the two visions of
the magician can mix and interact in fascinating ways, it is accurate
to say that in modern decks we usually see the magus; in the historic
decks we usually see the stage magician.
This character is the fast-talking, attention-grabbing, flamboyant
stuffed shirt who cons passers-by out of their money using sleight of
hand and clever prattle. He is the ancestor of the man in the black
tophat and waxed mustache, of PT Barnum, and of every two-bit hustler
who hopes to make the big score.
The Waite-Smith and other occult decks introduced some changes that
helped bring out the magus archetype. What is fascinating, though, is
that only relatively minor changes were needed to effect the
transformation.
The classic Marseilles-type Magician (see the Tarot de Besancon image
here) holds up a wand in one hand; it's a standard stage prop. His
other hand is busy at the table, perhaps ready to rearrange the cups
and balls while our eyes are on the wand. In the Waite-Smith deck,
though, the second hand points to the Earth, making the magician a
channel for drawing down energies from the higher planes.
In the modern decks, the Magician's table almost invariably shows the
four suit symbols: a sword, a wand, a cup, and a pentacle. At first
glance, the Magician's table in the historic decks just seems
cluttered with juggler's props and tools, which do not resemble the
suit symbols at all in the way they are rendered. And yet, with an
uncanny eeriness that gives one pause for thought, they are all there
in less conspicuous form: the staff or baton is present in
miniaturized form as the magician's wand; the swords are likewise
present in the form of a knife or two (which the magician would use
for cutting rope or twine); the cups are present, not as ornate
goblets but as small tumblers for use in the shell game; and there are
often coins on the table, or if not, at least small balls, rendered as
simple circles in the woodcut designs.
It is details like these that make the historic tarots so delightfully
intriguing. Perhaps the props on his table are just the routine
apparatus of his trade. But can we rule out that the woodblock carver,
who after all would have carved out each suit symbol 59 times (!) in
producing the minor arcana for the deck, would have had them well
ingrained in his mind (and hands!) to the extent that they resurface
here? Or perhaps some long-forgotten designer put them there on
purpose for reasons no longer known, and they were copied routinely
for centuries.
The lemniscate over the Magician's head in modern decks is a
consequence of French occultist Elpiphas Levi's musings on the shape
of the Magician's hat in the old decks. Since many of the court cards
also wear hats of this design, it is unlikely that early designers saw
any special significance in the headware.
The Magician in the historic decks is connected with another archetype
as well; that of the craftsman or artisan, as we see in the Tarocchi
del Mantegna prints. Remarkbaly once again, just a small change of
design is needed to transform the "man behind a table cluttered with
tools" from juggler con-man to industrious jeweller or cobbler. Do
these two seemingly different characters have anything at all in
common, aside from a superficial similarity in props in pose? I think
so. The tarot dates from times when the ancient feudal system had been
intruded on and transformed by an ever more important middle class of
artisans, merchants, and others "out for themselves" in the world.
Such people were not well respected. The great artists of the
Renaissance, whose paintings and sculptures are now seen as priceless
masterpieces of what is highest in the human spirit, were in their own
time lumped together with the cobblers, housepainters, tailors, and
others who worked with their hands to provide purely utilitarian goods
and services. So both the juggler/magician and the artisan/craftsman
were "nobodies" operating outside the formal hierarchical world of the
nobility, yet neither were they serfs or slaves; indeed they might be
wealthy enough (or clever enough) to carry influence out of proportion
to their social status.
The original Italian name for the Magician, Bagatella (or Bagatto or
Bagatino) is a not a commonplace word in Italian. It is apparently
derived from the word for stick or wand, so that a Bagatella is
someone who uses a wand, hence a magician. The French name for the
card, Bateleur, is thus a close translation. The English "Magician" is
a clumsy but serviceable analog. ("Juggler" or "Mountebank" are also
fair renderings.) Probably because of long association with the tarot
card, the Italian word has also come to mean a trifle or a thing of
little worth. It is also a word for "cobbler" in the dialect of Milan.
This is interesting because Milanese tarots for the last two centuries
have depicted the Magician as a cobbler, complete with a half-made
shoe on his work table (see the Soprafino Tarot). Which came first,
the picture or the word? We can't say, but it is intriguing to
speculate that the Milanese design may be a throwback to the "artisan"
pictured in the Tarocchi del Mantegna. The Milanese designs include
another enertaining feature: instead of a wand, the Bagatto holds up
one of the cups from his table, presumably well filled with wine.
The Magician card, like the Fool, has a very special role in the game
of tarot which deserves comment. In the game, the court cards are all
worth points, but the trumps are generally not. The only exceptions
are the World, the Magician, and the Fool, which are each worth as
much as kings, making them among the most valuable cards in the game.
Now if you are dealt the Fool or World, those points are guaranteed to
you, because neither of those cards can be captured during play. The
Magician, on the other hand, is extremely vulnerable to being
captured, because it is outranked by all the other trumps. So to win a
trick with the Magician, the other players must all play suit cards,
not trumps. This is not an easy thing to arrange. It can happen only
if (a) you are out of a particular suit that everyone else still has,
or (b) everyone else is completely out of trumps. If neither of those
conditions occur, you will likely lose the Magician (and all its
points) to some other player. So arranging an opportunity to play the
Magician card without losing it is a major component of tarot
strategy.
One can generally not count on the lucky opportunity of running out of
a suit that others still have, although it is easy enough to take
advantage of the opportunity if you are the last one to play in a
given trick. More challenging and fun is saving the Magician until
everyone else has run out of trumps. (For this to work, you must be
dealt many of the trumps to begin with--if not, you are likely to run
out early yourself.) You hold the Magician card until the end of the
game, when you hope all the other players will be defenseless against
it. Furthermore, the way the game works, players are often caught
holding court cards through the middle of the game, because it is too
risky to play them when they might be captured by a trump. So at the
end of the game, players are finally forced to play their valuable
court cards. There is no greater glee in the game than taking a
handful of royalty by playing the Magician in the last trick. This
feature is so prominent that in most versions of the game, a player
who pulls this maneuver off gets a hefty point bonus!
Even in the French-suited "tarrock" decks, in which the traditional
trump designs have all been replaced by animals or scenes of country
life, the Magician card still often depicts a flashy magician-like
character, so strong is the association between the card's role in the
game and the "personality" of the magician.
I go into this detail of the game because (believe it or not) I think
it adds a great deal to our understanding of the character of the
card. The Magician is a coward, a swindler, and a cheat. He lives by
his wits. All the other cards of the major arcana depict high earthly
rulers (Pope and Emperor, for example) or archetypal powers (like
Love, Death, and Time), which are unambiguously superior to the kings,
queens, and knights of the court. Only the Magician, as an ignoble
commoner, cannot "logically" triumph over royalty. By his powers of
illusion, dexterity, and fast talk, though, he can capture them! As if
his portrayal on the card were not enough to make the point clear, the
rules of the game are contrived so that the Magician lurks secretively
throughout the entire hand, waiting for the great powers of the cosmos
to play themselves out; he appears by surprise at the end to capture a
veritable hoard of royalty who were too cautious or inept to enter the
fray of the early part of the game. I think the game of tarot is full
of wry social and metaphysical ironies of this type. The Magician is
the ultimate manipulator. Although without nobility or rank, he rakes
in his victory by unabashedly exploiting the rules of the game of
life.
Having taken this historical perspective on the Magician card, one
might find it easy to write off the "magus" persona as an unworthy
occultist intrusion on the earlier tradition. But that would be to
miss some very interesting avenues of thought. For although magus and
charlatan are very different characters, their paths have been
profoundly intertwined throughout human history. From ancient Greece
down to the present day, charlatans have posed as magi--and magi have
posed as charlatans! Writers of the late Renaissance bemoan the
problems of distinguishing true alchemists from frauds. Even today,
tarot enthusiasts find themselves needing to emphasize the distinction
between legitimate card reading and the exploitative scams that are
exposed by the TV journalists. But what makes one reading legitimate
and another bogus? Is it the method? The intention? The grace of the
gods?
My thoughts are drawn back to The Wizard of Oz (movie version).
Professor Marvel is a charlatan, but one with a heart of gold. In
Dorothy's dream, he becomes the Great and Powerful Oz, who alone can
make her wishes come true. In the end, she finds that power in
herself, and the professor is no longer either charlatan or magus, but
just a well-meaning old man who knows how to get a lot of mileage out
of a few clever words and old props. In the end, he uses his
theatrical gifts to help Dorothy's friends discover what they've
carried within themselves all the time. And isn't that a form of magic
that reunites charlatan and magus?
The Magician is the "front man" for the tarot deck. In the Tarocco
Siciliano, we see him dealing a pack of cards! Disreputable,
commonplace but mysterious, ambitious but charming, a hustler,
inventor, and showman. Is he a Power or a Poser? Perhaps there is
power in the pose . . .
Visconti-Sforza Triumph Cards, c.1450
Minchiate Etrutia, c.1725
Tarocco Siciliano, modern
http://www.tarothermit.com/magician.htm
Copyright 1999 Tom Tadfor Little
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Topic: Angel Paths for February 11 - The Magus (Magician)
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/66192df8e79c4e4d
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From: msesheta <msesheta@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 11 12:07PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/msg/c620c6031352cb3d
The Magus
The Magician is normally numbered one and is sometimes called the
Magus. The Magician is usually depicted as a powerful adept, a master
of the four elements. He is able to shift events in his favour - to
make the World change around him according to his Will.
He is highly skilled, highly powerful and hence a highly dynamic and
charismatic figure. He is that part of us which we harness to control
our own lives. When we are the Magician we make what we want happen.
However, you can be sure that we receive exactly what we ask for - "be
careful what you pray for, you might just get it"! The Magician knows
where to throw the pebble into the pool of the Universe in order to
get exactly the ripples he wants. If we choose happiness and joy and
put our Will behind them, that is what we can achieve.
Working with The Magus
The Magus, at his highest level of interpretation, indicates the
intricate and complex web of influences that binds the Universe to
itself, and to all else. This is essentially a card about
communication, but on the subtle levels beyond the material world.
If you want to manifest your heart's desire into the mundane world,
you will have to come to terms with the actuality, the workings and
the efficient manipulation of this web, understanding its laws and
vagaries.
This web is what causes so-called 'coincidences', or those freak
connections that we make right when we most need them. It is this
system that brings the teacher to the student at exactly the right
time, puts the very book we need on the bookshelf just when we needed
it, draws the right person into our lives at the opportune moment.
You can see, therefore, how essential it is if you want to achieve
your highest possible destiny, that you develop your understanding of
the web of life. And in so doing, become a magus of sorts yourself.
So on a day ruled by the Magus, we need to be experimenting with the
way this web works. We need to look at the thoughts we are
transmitting ourselves - because what goes around comes around,
remember? What we put out eventually finds its way back to us -
coloured by everything it has touched along the way. This is the
single most practical reason for positive thinking!!
We need to consider our overall direction and the things we are doing
to fulfil our aspirations. We need to look at how every single action
we take can be made into an act of magick. People miss this concept
all the time. Yet holding the idea in the forefront of your mind
changes the way that you approach your daily activities.
So acting with intent is another thing we can practise on the day of
the Magus. For instance, if you cook a meal, cook it with the
intention that it will sustain the very spirit of those who eat it. If
you do the washing up, do it remembering that you are washing away the
stains of the world. If you are driving to see a friend, regard the
journey as another step in your growth and development. Get the idea?
Practise everything with intent. From personal experience, let me tell
you it really gets the mundane stuff done quickly, efficiently and
with a full heart.
Also when working the affirmation for today, remember one thing - if
you aren't happy with your life the way you've made it so far, the
Magus releases the power within you to make it something happier and
more satisfying. All you have to do is begin........
Affirmation: My life is everything I make it.
http://www.angelpaths.com/majors/magus2.html
__._
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Topic: Card of the Day for February 11 - The Magician
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/72d65cdff5fd4c64
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From: msesheta <msesheta@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 11 12:04PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/msg/aa9b0e090865033
THE MAGICIAN
Attribution - Mercury (rules Gemini and Virgo; exalts in Virgo)
The Magician is represented by the number 1, which is the beginning of
creation and the initiation of materializing your ideas.
Rider-Waite Imagery
The magician stands behind a table. His left hand holds a white double
pointed wand in the air. His right hand is pointed down to the ground.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite (1911)
Part I: The Veil and its Symbols
1.. The Magus, Magician, or juggler, the caster of the dice and
mountebank, in the world of vulgar trickery. This is the colportage
interpretation, and it has the same correspondence with the real
symbolical meaning that the use of the Tarot in fortune-telling has
with its mystic construction according to the secret science of
symbolism. I should add that many independent students of the subject,
following their own lights, have produced individual sequences of
meaning in respect of the Trumps Major, and their lights are sometimes
suggestive, but they are not the true lights. For example, Eliphas
Levi says that the Magus signifies that unity which is the mother of
numbers; others say that it is the Divine Unity; and one of the latest
French commentators considers that in its general sense it is the
will.
Part II: The Doctrine Behind the Veil
A youthful figure in the robe of a magician, having the countenance of
divine Apollo, with smile of confidence and shining eyes. Above his
head is the mysterious sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like
an endless cord, forming the figure 8 in a horizontal position . About
his waist is a serpent-cincture, the serpent appearing to devour its
own tail. This is familiar to most as a conventional symbol of
eternity, but here it indicates more especially the eternity of
attainment in the spirit. In the Magician's right hand is a wand
raised towards heaven, while the left hand is pointing to the earth.
This dual sign is known in very high grades of the Instituted
Mysteries; it shews the descent of grace, virtue and light, drawn from
things above and derived to things below. The suggestion throughout is
therefore the possession and communication of the Powers and Gifts of
the Spirit. On the table in front of the Magician are the symbols of
the four Tarot suits, signifying the elements of natural life, which
lie like counters before the adept, and he adapts them as he wills.
Beneath are roses and lilies, the flos campi and lilium convallium,
changed into garden flowers, to shew the culture of aspiration. This
card signifies the divine motive in man, reflecting God, the will in
the liberation of its union with that which is above. It is also the
unity of individual being on all planes, and in a very high sense it
is thought, in the fixation thereof. With further reference to what I
have called the sign of life and its connexion with the number 8, it
may be remembered that Christian Gnosticism speaks of rebirth in
Christ as a change "unto the Ogdoad." The mystic number is termed
Jerusalem above, the Land flowing with Milk and Honey, the Holy Spirit
and the Land of the Lord. According to Martinism, 8 is the number of
Christ.
UPRIGHT
The Guide.
A wise person with deep knowledge.
The sixth sense.
A link to the spirit world.
Hermes, Wizard, The Trickster, Lord of Misrule.
Naming, identity, titles.
A great harnessing of power.
Do not look for help elsewhere, you will do better on your own.
New directions.
Skill, creativity, self-confidence.
Flexibility, dexterity.
Initiative.
Willpower.
Diplomacy.
Guile.
Me, myself, and I.
Control over personal destiny.
Practical use of knowledge.
To direct your strength through will.
Ask and you shall receive, you already have the power.
The elements are yours to command.
Resolve and candour are important.
Sense of wicked fun.
Communicating clearly.
You know what you want.
Owning your own thoughts.
A skillful physician or surgeon.
A promoter.
There is a way to manipulate the forces of nature to control your own
destiny. It is YOUR life. Make it the life you want to live.
Thoughts (and actions) become things.
REVERSED
Be careful not to count on the wrong person, listen to the Magician in you.
Misuse of power, talent wasted.
Shyness, poor self-image.
Misuse of power.
Weakness of the mind.
Ignoring hunches.
Trying to appear skillful without the necessary training.
Confusion, scattered ability, indecision.
Is this real or is it fools' gold?
Not being sure of your facts.
Hazardous destination.
Excuses, laziness.
You need more information about an important matter.
Failure of projects.
Spinning your wheels.
Unskilled, clumsy.
Being deliberately misled or deceived.
A person ill-equipped for life, full of fears and hesitation.
Don't make choices in haste or under pressure.
Con artist.
Argumentative.
1. Amber
2. Robin Wood
3. Fey
4. Folletti
5. Sephiroh
6. Master
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Topic: Saturday February 11, 2012: Reference.com On This Day
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/t/5ca3c47c5927b32f
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From: msesheta <msesheta@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 11 12:02PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/opentarotnexus/msg/fd161316a6d01c9e
On This Day:
Saturday February 11, 2012
This is the 42nd day of the year, with 324 days remaining in 2012.
Fact of the Day: pink and blue
Researchers say that in Anglo-Saxon Britain, in the 5th and 6th
centuries, boy babies were more prized than girls. The belief spread
that evil spirits would visit the cradle and harm or carry off a boy
child. Blue, a power color representing the sky, would scare away an
evil spirit. Later, in Germany, a widespread legend held that girl
babies sprang from a pink rose and it became customary to dress baby
girls in pink. That custom merged with the British one of dressing
boys in blue.
Holidays
Feast day of Saints Saturninus and Dativus, St. Benedict of Aniane,
St. Gregory II, pope, St. Caedmon, St. Pascal, pope, St. Lazarus of
Milan, St. Lucius of Adrianople, and St. Severinus of Agaunum.
Japan: National Foundation Day.
Cameroon: Youth Day.
Iran: National Day.
Events
1254 - The British Parliament first convened.
1531 - King Henry VIII was recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
1812 - The term "gerrymandering" was coined when Massachusetts
Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a re-districting law favoring his
party.
1815 - News of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, finally
reached the United States.
1929 - The Lateran Treaty was signed with Italy, recognizing the
independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.
1945 - The Yalta Conference ended, at which the Allied leaders planned
the final defeat of Germany and agreed on the establishment of the
United Nations.
1975 - Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to lead the British
Conservative Party.
1989 - Reverend Barbara C. Harris became the first woman consecrated
as a bishop in the Episcopal Church.
1990 - South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27
years in captivity.
2006 - Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots a friend during
a quail hunting trip on a southern Texas ranch.
Births
1800 - William Henry Fox Talbot, British photography pioneer, producer
of the first book with photographic illustrations.
1847 - Thomas Alva Edison, prolific American inventor; claimed 1,093
patented ideas.
1855 - Josephine Marshall Jewell Dodge, American educator, pioneer of
day care for children.
1926 - Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor and absurdist comedian.
1934 - Mary Quant, British fashion designer.
1941 - Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian musician.
1962 - Sheryl Crow, nine-time Grammy-winning American musician.
1972 - Kelly Slater, American professional surfer.
Deaths
1963 - Sylvia Plath, American poet.
1976 - Lee J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby), American actor.
2006 - Peter Benchley, American novelist, journalist, and screenwriter.
Reference.com On This Day
http://www.reference.com/thisday/
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