The Magician (Lore post)
Will. Magic. As Above, so Below. Illusion versus Reality. Knowledge. Tools. Connection. Transmission.
Life and Death. Traversing of all realms. The Wand. The Path of Beth, The First Key, The Magus of Power.
~By my all-knowing Mind,
Looketh out upon the world through thine eyes,
Shalt thou have faith to let me see.
Then shalt thou overcome the evil of thy senses~
The Magician is represented by Beth. The first letter in creation, the beginning of the beginning. The First Principle, or First Matter of the Alchemists - the Philosophic Mercury. To create beginning is to create an end. Life and death, polarities of creation, fall upon this domain.
The Path of Beth is the Intelligence of Transparency, for like light through a glass energy flows through it from the heavens. It is source from which prophetic visions emanate. Chazchazit, the realm where all seers See.
The Magician walks this path mirror opposite to the path of the Fool, on towards the Pillar of Form instead of the Force. If the Fool is the intake of breath, he is the outflow - the utterance of the spoken word.
Words are more than mere language. They're a vessel for ideas - a vibration laden with intelligence. In the hands of the Magician, they are instruments of power through which their will is enacted. Concept of words dictating the principles of cause and effect.
Like words transmit ideas, the Magician transmits the idea of Self-Creation from Above. Bridging the ideal to the real. The Hermetic principle of that which is Above, is as that which is Below.
He symbolizes the first vibration setting in motion the journey of manifestation. Without which there would be no life or death, neither beginning nor end. The entirety of existence, enclosing the Spirit within this fundamental vibration.. The serpent which holds its tail in its mouth, Ouroboros. The circle of energy in the Universe, begun by the number one (Beth) acting upon the zero (Aleph)
The Magician is Mercury, Hermes, Thoth - all in One, Hermes Trismegistus. Hermes from antiquity is associated with words, for a messenger must clearly state the cause of the one who sends him. The measurer of time and the scribe of the gods, he is credited with the inventions of all branches of Knowledge, human and divine, and the measurements that established the heavens and Earth.
He is the god of continuous creation. Being the Word, he is the law of reason or of necessity or chance, both truth and falsehood, wisdom and folly. He unsettles any established idea. He has no conscience, being the embodiment of creativity. If he cannot attain his ends by fair means, he does by cunning. He cannot be understood, because he is the Unconscious Will.
He bears the Stylus and Papyrus, as Thoth, the god of Hieroglyphs. Mankind's use of speech, or writing, meant the introduction of ambiguity and falsehood at the worst. The potential for misunderstanding and deceit. Thus he is followed by a Dog-headed ape, the Cynocephalus. Who is tasked to distort the Word of the god - to mock, to simulate and to deceive. Illusion.
A youthful figure adorns the robe of the Magician, the wisdom of ages on his smile and shining eyes. His vestments are arrayed as thus:
~With the Wand createth He. With the Cup preserveth He.
With the Dagger destroyeth He. With the Coin redeemeth He.~
His raised Wand bridges heaven and earth, while his outstretched hand points to the earthly realm. Up to Kether and down to Binah. A figure eight, symbol of infinity, forms above his head in a halo - the Magician's power to manifest everything and anything the heart desires, and his connection to the sephira Hod, the number of Mercury. At his waist is present a serpent alluding to the intertwining snakes of Hermes's caduceus. The Ouroboros whispers secret knowledge, and of the unending cycle of life and death.
~The True Self is the meaning of the True Will: Know Thyself through Thy Way.
Calculate well the Formula of Thy Path.
Create freely; absorb joyously; divide intently; consolidate completely.
Work thou, All-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Present, in and for Eternity.~