The Contract Tarot 1: The Magus

“The Magus Is upon us In all his eternal omniscience! His wand unites And harmonizes Elemental weapons In white light and darkness. Zero in on positive manifestation And joyfully energize creation. Craft synchronous success In the desire of your will. The power of the Sphinx, The Cynocephalus Ape Say ‘Go!’ and take with you The change that will make you!”

The card’s background is rain on a yellow field of colour. This is Air, wet and hot.

Let’s talk about the ‘things’ you see on this card.

The most prominent feature is the caduceus. The caduceus has on its wings a censer, a quill pen and a winged egg. It has a blue dove on its centre. The caduceus is the Wand of Mercury, a symbol of creative force and energy. The snakes that wrap around it are positive and negative currents. They form a lemniscate, the symbol of omniscience. The blue dove represents Spirit.

The disk, dagger, cup and censer are the four elemental weapons and the winged egg is the fifth element of Spirit. The wand of double power is energy and power and unites opposites under one will. The quill pen and scroll are instruments of communication and represent Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing, wisdom and magick.

The Cynocephalus Ape appears among the roses and lilies at the bottom of the card. He is a baboon and is sometimes thought to be a bit antagonistic in some circles and, in others, an intelligent companion. The roses symbolise desire and the lilies symbolise knowledge.

The glyphs at the bottom of the scroll are Mercury, Air and the Hebrew letter Beth (house). This card represents the path between Kether (Crown) and Binah (Understanding).

The verse speaks of the elements of this card including alluding to the Sphinx, the symbol of which the Magus wears as a sandal strap on his ankle. This card is all about creative force harnessed by will to create change.

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

Tarot Symbolism: The Thoth Tarot – the 3 Magi

In this post, I am exploring the symbolism of the 3 Magi. Did you know there were 3 Magi in the Thoth Tarot?

They are: I – The Magus, also known as The Magus of Power; V – The Hierophant, also known as The Magus of the Eternal; and IX – The Hermit, also known as The Magus of the Voice of Power.

Let’s look at the common definition of Magus. From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/magus we find:

Definition of MAGUS

1a: a member of a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Medes and Persians
1b: often capitalized: one of the traditionally three wise men from the East paying homage to the infant Jesus

2: magician, sorcerer

of Magician we find:

Definition of MAGICIAN

1: one skilled in magic; especially: sorcerer

2: one who performs tricks of illusion and sleight of hand

and, of sorcerer, we find:

Definition of SORCERER

a person who practices sorcery: wizard

and finally, of sorcery, we find:

Definition of SORCERY

1: the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits especially for divining: necromancy

2: magic 2a

So, we have come full circle and can find the common theme to be: one skilled in magic.

The three magi in the Thoth Tarot are all quite powerful. They are in control of their skill and they each demonstrate mastery in their own unique ways. Let’s look a little more closely at them.

I – The Magus (The Magus of Power): This  young androgynous figure is the only one identified openly as Magus. He is so into himself isn’t he… all glorious and golden! On the Tree of Life, he joins Kether – the Crown to Understanding – Binah. His planetary trump is Mercury and he displays Mercurial properties magnificently! He looks like Mercury with wings on his feet. He is yellow and gray, Mercury in Atzilut (Emanation) and Yetzirah (Formation). He juggles eight tools which he uses to bring about his will. These eight tools are: the disk, censer, Wand of Double Power, the stylus/pen, the scroll, the Winged Egg, the cup and the dagger. Four of these represent the elemental weapons of the Magus. They are the disk, censer, cup and dagger. The Winged Egg represents Spirit. The Wand of Double Power is the symbol of energy and its function is to unite opposites under one will. The stylus/pen and scroll are instruments of Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing, wisdom and magick. His magick can be seen in the tools, the caduceus, the serpents, the infinity symbol, the blue dove, the winged sandals and the ape. Interpretation in a reading is around creative force of directed will, education, communication, change, messages, travel, commerce and business.

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V – The Hierophant (The Magus of the Eternal): For a bearded old guy, he really looks rather smug and a know-it-all! He connects Chokmah – wisdom with mercy – Chesed. He wears the Crown of Osiris and radiates maturity and fatherly power. He is rather bullish and this is Taurus in Atzilut (Emanation). His tools are the three-ringed wand symbolising the Thelemic (will) Aeons – Horus, Osiris and Isis. His magick can be seen in this card as the woman with the sword, the child Horus, the unification in the hexagram-pentagram symbol, the sandal strap, the oriel and Kerubim. Interpretation in a reading is around instruction, learning new things (like a child), intuitive understanding, esoteric knowledge, endurance, patience and physical labor.

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IX – The Hermit (The Magus of the Voice of Power): He reminds me of a homeless figure being followed by his dog and, creepily, just a bit voyeuristic. Who knew? On the Tree of Life, he connects Chesed – mercy with beauty – Tipareth. He carries the Sun in his lamp and wears the white hair and beard of the Ancient of Days and the head of the ibis of Thoth/Mercury. His magick can be seen everywhere in this card from the Sun lamp to Cerberus to the Serpent Wand and finally, to the Orphic Egg. Interpretation in a reading is around illumination and isolation.

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I hope this has given you a beginning to understanding the symbolism of the 3 Magi in the Thoth Tarot. I have been studying using Lon Milo DuQuette’s book, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, Michael Osiris Snuffin’s book, The Thoth Companion and various resources from the internet. I would encourage you to look into these texts as well as The Book of Thoth, The Book of Law and the Liber 777, all atributed to Aleister Crowley, which can be found on the internet as free pdf downloads.

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!