[X] Idea: The Magician, Trismegistus
Will. Magic. As above, so below. Words and thoughts with power to bend reality. Words as trickery. Illusion versus change in accordance with Will. Knowledge. Skills. Tools. Connection. Transmission. Universal access to all realms. Domain of Mind, with all its virtues and flaws. The Wand.
The core of Magician is the embodiment of the idea of
As above, so below. He points to the stars and the earth and forms connections between them. The Magus doesn't hold the wand, he
is the Wand, the channel of Will.
Mercury is always in motion, and here in his original Juggler aspect juggles eight implements. For eight is the number of his sephira Hod, in the Kabbalah. In the air surrounding him revolve his Tools and elemental weapons of power:
• Dagger of Air - "Blade of Insight": to carve destiny's path with deepest knowledge and perception. With it in hand Magician slices through falsehoods and the fabric of Fate.
• Cup of Water - "Chalice of Valiance ": To quench the thirst for conquest by drinking from the abyss of Courage. Pure willpower, in face of Adversity. Washes away all fear and inhibitions. The Tides obey.
• Winged Egg of Spirit - "The Vessel of Transcendence": Soar with the wings of eternity, trespassing through dimensions. Astrally project, and communicate with spirits and ethereal entities.
• Scroll that bears the Word - "The Codex of Creation": holds the Words of creation itself. When the Magician invokes a Word, they can bring objects into existence, alter reality, and bend the laws of nature.
• Stylus that writes the Word - "The Pen of Manifestation": To write the Word with celestial ink. When the Stylus touches a surface, it can bring any drawings, symbols, or inscriptions to life.
• Phoenix Wand - "Staff of Rebirth": of resurrection and renewal. When activated, it can heal wounds, restore life, and reincarnate the dead and dying.
• Censer of Fire - "Vessel of Will": vessel for holding the element of fire and Will in physical form. By swinging the Censer, the Magician can command and manipulate flames, project their intentions made manifest.
• Pentacle of Earth - "Seal of Silence": When touched to the ground, it manifests unyielding barriers, like backs of mountains. Steals away all voices and sounds while allowing the Magician to speak to the soul.
Limitation: All magics bear a price. Someone, or something must always bear the cost. The Magician is also limited in the sense that he juggles between his Artifacts to channel each aspect of his magics at a time.. He must always peer into the tapestry of the heavens watching for the stars to align before he can act, connecting them to the Earth. Neither does he possess any of the Magician's vestments at the journey's start.. he must prove himself worthy to claim each one, by one.
[X]
Idea: The Pagan Devil
Rebirth. Time. Forbidden knowledge. Temptation. Knowledge = power. Climbing. Shadows and light. The eye as mirror of the soul. Mind over matter. Matter over Spirit. Blind impulse. Unstoppable growth. Material mastery. Hidden structures of matter. Lust of result. Natural vigor.
"
Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."
Pan Pangenetor, the all-begetter Goat is crowned with horns of the spiraling form of all nature. Before him is the Wand of the Chief Adept, crowned with the winged globe and the twin serpents of Horus and Osiris - icon of the divine will of creation. Adorned with the grapes of Bacchus, he smiles. His third eye is open, seeing past all illusions.
Cosmic Convergence: Drawing on the aspect as the Child of Time, dances sending ripples across the time stream. Speeding up or slowing down time, flitting seconds back and forth out of existence. Foresee shatterpoints in time, wherein branches of Time spilt.
Wand of Divine Will: The Wand which wills dreams into reality and illusions. Reshape matter. Summon the Gates of Matter to make true creation, limited only by Will. Can cast friend or foe into an illusory Labyrinth where time does not pass.
Trickster's Gambit: As Pan, can enter into soulbound Pacts. Pacts, which the very world will not allow to be broken. Extraordinary talent for discerning ones heart's desires and misdirection in negotiation. Claims the skills and abilities of oathbreakers.
Ayin's Vision: Through the mystical connection to the Hebrew letter Ayin, Capricorn gains True perception, allowing them to see Truth of all things. Illusions fade, mysteries unravel, souls lay bare before him.
The Ecstasy of Creation: Pan through his bonds grants freedom to others from the shackles of the mundane, propelling them toward new horizons of boundless potential - their idealized state. Darker or Brighter mirrors of what they were.
Capricorn's Ascent: Like the mountain goat climbs past obstacles, see the footholds in Time. Rise with the challenges, and worthy opponents. Fall from a misstep.
Limitation: Lose the ability of utter falsehood, forevermore. Bound to comply with letter of a Deal. Celestial Guardians of cosmic balance can intervene to seal the Devil's powers if his actions threaten the harmony of the universe. Draws from the alignment of Saturn, rising and falling with its ascension.
[X]
Idea: The Hanged Man
Dissolution. Sacrifice. Renunciation. Redemption. Immersion. Baptism. Crucifixion. Suspension. Cleansing. Earned wisdom. Lucid dreaming. Stillness. Meditation. The power of water. Roads less traveled. Waiting. Annihilation of self in the beloved. Enlightment.
Embodies the phrase "
Let go and let God"
The card of the Dying Gods and Mem - the element of Water. Of Osiris slain by Set and reassembled by Isis. Odin, wounded by a spear, willingly hung upon the Yggdrasil.
Elemental Equilibrium: harmonize the once opposing elemental forces of Water, Air, and Fire, fusing these elements into a godfyre that sparks like lightning and blaze like the sun.
Baptism of Renewal: As Osiris, immerse themselves and others in pools of sacred water, experiencing a rebirth that washes away negative effects, and even grievious injuries and the god's protection for a time.
Black Chalice of Binah: The highest waters of the sea of wisdom. Drinking from the summoned chalice grants them a glimpse of omniscience, peering at the world through eyes of a god. Become, a transcendent strategist on the vision glimpsed for that period of time.
Lucid Sleep of Shiloam: Allowing them to see beyond the veil of reality and access hidden realms or memories. Enters the Dreaming realm while conscious, traveling to surreal landscapes to gain insights, ferry dreamstuff back to the waking realm.
Transcendental Sacrifice: Unlike traditional sacrifice, instead reject very the notion of something valuable lost. Instead, it empowers the Hanged Man through acts of significant selflessness to touch upon a sliver of divinity.
No earthly means may harm them at this state. They blaze with celestial radiance, the light of creation pushing back against the darkness of entropy. Allied hearts sing in fervor as the god walk again for a time. Cleansing conceptual corruption, mending, enlightenment aura.
God barterer: Like Odin's sacrificing his Eye, the Hanged Man will part with something of great value or significance, once. And the universe will part with something back.
Limitation: Rites of purification must be performed before they are worthy in mind and body to channel the powers of this mantle. To always be in spiritual equilibrium.
Like the dying gods of time immemorial, the Hanged man too must be brought to near death to experience their ectasy. In the Lucid Sleep of Shiloam which is no different than the waking world, they shall have their trials and die time after time.
[X]
Idea: The Lovers, Brothers
Analysis. Division and union. Choice. Choosing one's fate. Reception of inspiration. The Emperor and Empress. The Other. Contradiction.
Separation creates awareness of other. Binaries. Twins: mortal and immortal. The Price of the Fruit of knowledge.
The Sacred twins. When his mortal brother Castor dies Pollox petitioned to share his godhood, and was so granted giving rise to the Gemini.
Fundamental nature of the Brothers Tarot is thus "
Solve et coagula": Solve, to break down, and coagula, to recombine, to higher form - an ascension to Divinity.
Primeval Transmutation: through secrets of Hermetic marriage and Solve et Coagula, the Gemini Twins wield the power to breaking down opposing elements – light and darkness, fire and water – reconvening them into their primeval, most highest form.
Division's Edge - One of the twin Swords of Zayin. The Cosmic Scaple, that severs conceptual bonds when invoked, like social bonds, memories, curses. Furthermore can divide abstract concepts, at a cost.
Starthreadder- The counterpart, The Needle that weaves back the fraying threads of the Cosmos. Ordo Ab Chao, holds the power to reverse entropy, for a time. Replenish life force of beings and systems, negate the effects of deterioration. Reverse conceptual decay, temporarily.
Arch of Revelation: Crossing the paired Swords of Zayin open a mystical arch of swords, that is the bridge over the Abyss between worlds. Distant places, realms, the metaphorical bridge of understanding is in grasp.
The Ape of Thoth - summon a towering entity cloaked in eerie hieroglyphs. It whispers discord, fears and insights. Weaving illusory shadows that distort reality. For a Price.
Limitations: The Twins can only embrace the powers of Gemini while together. Should the scales of Balance ever tip the Ape of Thoth will exact retribution. Arch of Relevation will bar the derelict Twins from entry.
Ordained by Fate, one of the twins will always die before journey's end.
[X] Coffee Jello Tycoon
[X] Idea: [The Devil - Tempter of Hell]
[X] Idea: The High Priestess - Keeper of Secrets
[X] Idea: Suit of Pentacles
[X] Idea: The World - Dungeon Master
Pagan Devil lore post
The Lovers, Brothers lore post