April 28, 2010 - The Magician

There's one area of my life that seems more chance than co-creation.  Work, writing, collage -- they all seem if not under my control, at least within my sphere of influence.  I am the active heroine in those tales.  Love though, seems more fated, my position more passive, waiting for my prince and happy ever after as opposed to seeking my future and fortunes.

I tend not to ask the cards about love, afraid, I think, that it will confirm my worst fears.  Every once in a while though, I slip and ask.  Today was one of those days and this is the card that came up -- The Magician.

The Magician is a card about conscious awareness, action and power.  He is a powerful being, able to tap universal forces and use them for creative forces.  His one arm is raised toward the heavens, calling for Divine inspiration, the other is pointed to the earth, grounding that energy and manifesting it here on earth.  We all can do this, but this is the Magician's unique gift.  It may seem like miracles to others, maybe even the Magician himself, but it's what is possible for all of us.

Joan Bunning writes: "In a reading, The Magician implies that the primal forces of creativity are yours if you can claim your power and act with awareness and concentration.  This card is a signal to act and act now, provided you understand exactly what you want and are committed to getting it."  Hmmmm.  It seems the cards are telling me I'm not as passive and powerless as I sometimes I feel in love.  If I know what I want and commit myself to it, miracles can happen, do happen, the everyday kind  available to all of us if we only believed.  Can I move to this place?  Looking at the Magician, I think maybe I can.

In the Jane Austen Tarot, the Magician card depicts Henry Crawford of Mansfield Park, reading Shakespeare to Fanny Price and Lady Bertram.  He hardly looks at the pages but regales them from heart and memory, and his passion and skill enchants them.  Henry Crawford is not a particularly likable character.  In this deck, the author has a different view of the Magician card, whose energy can be both positive and negative.  It says that the querent possesses many gifts -- charm, fluidity of communication, and the ability to manifest goals seemingly without effort.  Like every gift, they can be used for good or ill.  The key is discernment.  Where are you applying your considerable abilities?

What Would Jane Do?
"If you don't allow your desires of the moment to misdirect your focus, you can achieve the great things your talents hint at, which are only promised by diligence and constancy....The direction of your strong will is that of your future, for good or ill." p. 14

So today I will watch for the Magician, within and without.  And I will think about my own powers in the realm of love and the worthiness of where I apply myself.  I may figure it out.  I'll keep you posted.