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3. The 22 Major Arcana
4. The Magician

By ModUpdated 1 Nov 2026

Upright meaning

Reversed meaning

Imagery and symbols

• Right hand raising a double-ended wandDrawing power down from above; the white wand has two ends, so the power flows through him without sticking.
• Left hand pointing to the groundBringing that power into the material world. His whole posture is a bridge between idea and reality.
• The infinity sign over his headLimitless potential and an awakened mind; the same sign floats over the woman in Strength.
• The ouroboros beltThe serpent eating its tail: eternal cycles and endless renewal.
• Cup, sword, pentacle and wand on the tableThe four elements and every resource already at hand: feeling, thought, matter and will.
• Red robe over whiteDesire and action (red) resting on pure intention (white).
• Red roses and white liliesDesire and purity, placed above and below him, showing two forces in balance.
• The yellow backgroundThe brightness of intellect and conscious power.

Details most readers miss

• His wand is bare white wood, unlike the leafing wands of the Wands suit — a tool of the mind, not raw natural force.
• The four tools lie on the table, not in his hands. The meaning lies in picking them up, not in owning them.
• The Magician is the first numbered card — one, the number of beginnings and selfhood — after the Fool's zero.
• Because he began as a street conjurer, the card always carries a hint of trickery; reversed, it warns of words or skills used to deceive.

History and origins

In early Italian decks the card was Il Bagatto, and in the Marseille deck Le Bateleur: a street conjurer at a table, fooling crowds with cups and balls. The original image carried two meanings at once — skill and trickery.

The Golden Dawn raised him from conjurer to Magus, giving him the letter Beth (house) and Mercury, messenger and god of communication. In 1909 Pamela Colman Smith drew him before a table holding the symbols of all four suits, one hand raised to the sky and one pointing to the earth — the image that became shorthand for the Hermetic principle "as above, so below".

The story of the card

Setting out, the Fool first meets the Magician, who shows him he already has every tool: feeling, thought, body and will. His lesson is to unite those forces and use them with purpose.

The Magician is the lesson of the active conscious mind; the next card, the High Priestess, teaches the quiet, receptive unconscious. Together they form the pair of doing and knowing.

Element and elemental dignities

This card belongs to Air, the energy of thought, communication, decisions and truth.

Under the Golden Dawn rules of elemental dignities, Air is friendly with Fire and opposed to Earth. Beside cards of the same or a friendly element this card grows stronger; beside an opposing element it weakens or shows its harder side.

When Air dominates a spread: overthinking, endless analysis, mental conflict and stress. When it is missing: Add Air by writing your thoughts down, gathering facts and speaking plainly.

Sign, planet and timing

This card is ruled by Mercury ☿, the planet of communication, trade, study, paperwork. In the Golden Dawn system the seven classical planets belong to seven Major Arcana cards, matching the seven Hebrew "double" letters that have two pronunciations.

Mercury also rules 5 decans in the Minor Arcana: Eight of Wands, Three of Cups, Six of Swords, Five of Pentacles, Ten of Pentacles. Those cards show the same planetary energy working in specific areas of life.

Key of Life: number, birth cards and quintessence

The card's number 1, so it belongs to constellation 1 together with Wheel of Fortune, The Sun. This group is the initiator who creates by their own will. If your birth-date total is 1, this is your Personality card and card 1 is your Soul card.

To find your birth cards with Mary K. Greer's method, add your birth day, month and year, then add the digits until the result is 22 or less. Born 14 June 1990: 14 + 6 + 1990 = 2010 → 2 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 3, the Empress.

The same card can also be a "year card" when you use the current year instead of your birth year, and the "quintessence" of a reading when the numbers of all cards in the spread reduce to 1.

Path on the Tree of Life

The 22 Major Arcana are the 22 paths (numbered 11–32) linking the ten sephiroth of the Tree of Life. This card is path 12, joining Kether · Crown (the source, pure will, the highest aim) with Binah · Understanding (giving form, structure, boundaries), and the Hebrew letter ב Beth, meaning "house".

Read as a journey of the mind, the path teaches how to bring the power of Kether down into Binah, or how to climb from below to above. It crosses between the pillars, so it works to reconcile two forces.

Uranian astrology connection

Uranian astrology (the Hamburg School) uses eight hypothetical points beyond Neptune alongside the real planets. This card resonates with Apollon and Zeus.

• Apollon (Apo)Apollon, the first of Friedrich Sieggrün's points, means multiplication and spread: knowledge, trade, reputation and success that reaches beyond oneself. Keywords: expansion, multiplicity, science, commerce, success, fame
• Zeus (Zeu)Zeus is force aimed at one target, like fire inside an engine or a guided projectile. It reads as action, ambition, production and bringing something new into being. Keywords: creative force, fire, machines, directed energy, leadership, initiation

The Magician works many tools at once, matching Apollon's multiplicity and skill; Zeus is the will aimed at a result.

This correspondence is TarotMod's own synthesis from the meanings of the Hamburg School factors; it is not part of traditional tarot. Cast your Uranian chart

Related cards

• Wheel of FortuneSame constellation
• The SunSame constellation
• Eight of WandsMercury decan
• Three of CupsMercury decan
• Six of SwordsMercury decan
• Five of PentaclesMercury decan
• Ten of PentaclesMercury decan

Frequently asked questions

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