Home

About Tarot
About Oxford
The Oxford Tarot Deck
All Tarot Cards (General)
Articles about Tarot

FREE Tarot Readings

More Major Arcana Cards:
0 - The Fool
1 - The Magician
2 - The High Priestess
3 - The Empress
4 - The Emperor
5 - The Hierophant
6 - The Lovers
7 - The Chariot
8 - Strength
9 - The Hermit
10 - Wheel of Fortune
11 - Justice
12 - The Hanged Man
13 - Death
14 - Temperance
15 - The Devil
16 - The Tower
17 - The Star
18 - The Moon
19 - The Sun
20 - Judgement
21 - The World

Other Tarot Cards:
Suit of Cups
Suit of Pentacles
Suit of Swords
Suit of Wands

 

1 - The Magician

The Magician card often depicts a grand yet mysterious figure, inspiring reverence and receptivity to higher awareness. It also represents a showman, a creator of illusions.

Some readers compare the Magician with the Fool because the illusionary aspects of the Magician cause some to wonder if he is, in fact, another aspect of the Fool, or perhaps the Fool after he has completed his journey of learning. The Magician is card number 1.
Some Tarot Decks (such as the popular Rider Waite and Robin Wood decks) depict the Magician receiving higher energy via his raised right hand and grounding it with his lowered left hand. Many writers suggest that the Magician’s key role is to receive spiritual understanding and make it accessible to others.

The Magician is usually interpreted as a positive card that indicates many abilities, confidence, initiative, information and energy.

 

The Major Arcana cards are thought to be the most powerful cards in the Tarot. They tell a complete story when arranged in upright and numerical order. It is a story of development and enlightenment, sometimes called "The Fool's Journey".

Some texts include meanings for "reversed cards", which apply when the cards are shuffled in both order and orientation. This doubles the number of possible "cards" in the deck from 78 to 156. (In terms of the probabilities of obtaining results by chance alone, it is not a simple doubling as once a card has been drawn it cannot be selected again in the opposite orientation in the same reading.)

Why doesn't this page include a picture of this Tarot Card ?