The Magician Tarot Meanings Blog Directory
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The Magician Tarot Card Meaning: Upright and Reversed Meanings & Breakdowns

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The Magician Tarot Card Keywords

Upright Keywords

Creation, Manifestation, Magic, Action, Conscious, Experimentation, Abilities, Inspiration

Jump to upright meanings

Reversed Keywords

Trickery, Dishonesty, Narcissism, Manipulation, Overconfidence, Illusion, Fakery

Jump to reversed meanings

The Magician Tarot Meaning

The Magician is the Major Arcana’s first step into the conscious realm. After The Fool’s leap into the unknown, the first energy he comes into contact with is The Magician. This is where he learns how to wield all the forces available to him. We can see this in many illustrations of The Magician, as a figure stands in front of a table laden with the four classical elements, represented by the four Tarot suits.

You’ll most likely see a wand being held aloft to help channel the power of the universe down from above and into the physical realm below. You’ll see a sword to represent the element of air and things like communication, inspiration and knowledge. There’ll be a cup to represent the element of water and the emotional and intuitive energy, and a pentacle to represent the element of earth and its grounding, physical properties.  

With these tools, The Magician sets to work, wielding them, mixing them together and seeing what he can create from seemingly nothing at all. This card is an energy designed to inspire us to think about the power we wield and how we can use it to create, find wonder and be more conscious of the impact we have on the world. 

The Magician Upright Meaning

The Magician is an archetype that is focused on the development of any kind. It’s an energy that encourages experimentation in the hope of transformation. Think of a scientist locked away in their lab mixing different chemicals together, testing their reaction and then making small adjustments to the formula in order to aid the scientist in creating what they want to achieve. That’s the sort of energy The Magician upright brings to the table. 

The use of the four classical elements – Fire, Water, Earth and Air – is to remind us that this ‘magic’, this ‘power’, this ‘energy’ that we work with when we step into The Magician, is based in the physical realm.

We have everything we need at our fingertips. Now, it’s time to play around with them to see what we have the power to conjure. 

When The Magician upright appears in your readings, it could be a call to spend some time experimenting and exploring. The Magician upright is a perfect card for personal development and working to grow, heal and transform the self. At this stage, with The Magician, you’re just gathering the tools you need and thinking about how to use them. Results from your experiments will vary, but the value lies in the act of conducting the experiments in the first place.

Journal Prompts for The Magician, Upright

What does the next level look like for me, and what needs to change to get there?

How can I use what’s already available to me to help me get to where I want to be?

What knowledge and or skills could help me with my personal development or to reach my goals?

“The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary” – Christopher Priest

The Magician Upright Meanings | Love, Career & Finances

In a Love reading, The Magician Upright can represent a relationship that motivates and inspires you. You might feel freer or more encouraged by your partner. You might even find someone who feels like your equal and someone you can imagine creating a life with. But, with the Magician’s tricky nature, it also suggests a need to always be looking deeper than external actions, look for the motivations behind the actions to gauge genuine and honest gestures.

This card can also be a call to think about what you want love to look like for you. To get clear about how you want to feel when you are with someone. What you want them to bring into your life, and how you want a relationship to support you. It can be an invitation to start clearing the way for love to come in, especially if you find it hard to be vulnerable or open with others. Make sure to do the inner work first, and the perfect partner/relationship will manifest itself.

In a career reading, The Magician Upright can indicate a desire to level up, to really open up and show others what you are capable of achieving. It can also ask you to test your own boundaries and see how far you can push your own skills. You might feel more motivated to work towards a particular promotion or career goal. You might even look for opportunities to further hone your skills or even retrain in something you feel more passionate about.

The Magician upright can help us see what work needs to be done in order for us to get to where we want to be in our career or in business. It might be that you’re ready to take on the role of The Magician and create your own sources of income through side-hustles or launching your own businesses.

When it comes to finances, The Magician Upright could symbolise a need to be more conscious of spending and/or current finances. With The Magician, there may be room to experiment with new financial investments, but be on guard for opportunities or offers that look ‘too good to be true’.

It can also be an invitation to think about how your finances could support your ideas and plans, whether they be plans for personal growth or more material plans like travelling or buying a home. It might ask you to think about what the best use of your finances could be, requiring you to get creative if you have little to play with right now, or being as intentional as possible if you have an overabundance.

The Magician in the upright position in a self-development tarot reading can suggest a need to believe in your own abilities. If there’s a dream you want to make a reality, pay attention to the way you speak to yourself about it and make sure that you’re not leaning into a lack of self-belief.

This is also known as the card of manifestation, because it reminds us that we are capable of attracting anything we desire. If this is the case, The Magician upright can ask you to meet it halfway. Put out into the universe what you desire and why, then do what you need to do to put those wheels in motion. Don’t sit back and wait for things to be handed to you; take control and make them happen for yourself.

The Magician Reversed Meaning

The Magician reversed can reveal the card’s trickier personality traits. We all love a bit of sleight of hand magic as a source of entertainment, but if it’s used against us, it could cause us to be cheated, defrauded or have the wool pulled over our eyes. 

With The Magician reversed, it’s best to be vigilant, watch every move, be hyper aware of what is happening around you, so that you don’t fall victim to a falsity. When we turn this energy inwards, though, like we often do when a card is in a reversed position, we channel all of this into our sense of self, our sense of being and perspective on our own abilities.

This can cause common limiting beliefs like impostor syndrome. It may even cause you to not feel good enough to do the things you feel called to do. We doubt our abilities to manifest the things we want most and downplay our own magic.  

When you get The Magician reversed in your readings, there are two areas to look at. The internal world and the external world. With the external world, look out for opportunities or offers that seem to promise the world. More than likely, these will be a way to trick you into a position where you have little power. With the internal world, assess and explore any limiting beliefs you may have about your abilities and skills. Question any thoughts that come up that say things like “You’ll never…” or “You’re not good enough to…”. These thoughts are not facts. They are a symbol of a need for Magician energy in your life that will lift you up. 

Journal Prompts for The Magician, Reversed

How might I be doubting my own power and abilities right now?

How might I be being manipulated right now, and for what purpose? – Could be internal or external

Where am I lacking a sense of wonder and sources for inspiration? How could I resolve this?

“You have all the tools right under your nose to manifest your goals. It’s all just a matter of focus” – Theresa Reed a.k.a The Tarot Lady

The Magician Reversed Meanings | Love, Career & Finances

In a love reading, The Magician reversed can suggest that things may not be as they seem, whether that be with your current partner or in your relationship. If you’re single, it may indicate a skewed or defensive perspective on love that could keep you from finding it for yourself. This isn’t to say that anything is being hidden from you, but it’s an invitation to explore all the finer details to make sure you have the right end of the stick and know exactly where you stand.

This card, reversed, can also suggest that you may need to be braver in love. To put yourself out there more and have confidence in your own value and what you have to bring to the table. Don’t be put off by comparison to other relationships or the dating stories of others. The proof will be in the pudding, so the first thing to do is take the leap and experience situations that will help change your mind.

In a career reading, The Magician reversed could symbolise a limiting belief that is keeping you stuck in a role or job that you’ve now outgrown. Your power is bigger than the container you’re stuck in, and it’s time to explore how you can break out and unleash it to aid with transformation and career development.

You might be keeping to a job, role or workplace that you simply feel comfortable in, but doesn’t offer you any challenges. You may even feel elements of imposter syndrome when you try and expand out of your comfort zone. These are feelings that can often be traced back to deeper fears, so make sure you reflect on why this imposter feeling is coming up for you when you think about work or levelling up in your work.

In a financial reading, The Magician reversed could suggest you’re not being honest with yourself when it comes to how much you do or do not have. In some cases, this can be caused by The Magician’s need to bury their head in the sand and not accept what they’re either fully capable of affording due to fear and/or lack of confidence.

This card can also be an invitation to get creative with a lack of funds or find new ways to solve old financial problems. You may consider reaching out for someone to support you, just like how a magician will have an apprentice; you can find someone to share the load.

The Magician in the reversed position within a self-development reading could indicate a feeling such as impostor syndrome or of not feeling worthy of what you have achieved. You may feel like you’ve ‘cheated’ your way to your current position and distrust that you can sustain it going forward, all signs of low self-esteem and self-worth.

It can also be about underestimating your true potential, which can leave you feeling like you have a lack of direction. This can drain you of ambition, make it difficult to set goals and be able to get a clear vision of what you want to achieve in the future. In short, it makes you doubt your own inner Magician. Trust that you have what it takes to make your ideas come to life.

The Motivation of The Magician

When reading The Magician – whether in the upright or reversed position – it’s worth keeping the card’s archetypal motivations in mind. The Magician first and foremost is motivated by a need to transform and make dreams a reality. It wants to understand fully how things work. It wants to use this knowledge in the transformative work it is designed to do.

The Magician is also a bridge. As the second card in The Fool’s Journey, The Magician creates a bridge. It connects The Fool’s soul/spirit and the spiritual understanding of the physical world in The High Priestess. It is a bridge between the inner and outer world and channels the energy that surrounds us into physical manifestations.

The Magician | Esoteric Correspondences

Astrological Sign

The Magician Tarot Meanings Astrological

Mercury

Mercury is the planet of the mind and intelligence. The Magician channels this through its ability to take what’s in the mind and make it a reality. It is the archetype of creation, manifestation and using intellect to find ways to create a life we desire.

Elemental Energy

Wands Tarot Meanings Fire

Elemental Fire

The Magician has the element of fire because of its passion for creation and embracing personal power through its use of the wand. In theory, it embodies all of the elements, but it’s the fiery motivation that allows The Magician to create and manifest dreams and goals.

Numerology

Number One Numerology Meanings

Number One

Within numerology, the number 1 is the number of creation. Even its shape mirrors the wand that The Magician holds aloft. It is the first step on any journey and marks the point where wheels are set in motion, lessons are spread out in front of us, and we begin the process of enlightenment.

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