The Spirit of the Tarot. Claudine Aegerter

alchemical work, which takes place through the whole of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana. This first stage of the alchemical work is also called the work of the raven, for this black bird sym bolises the work of exploring the subconscious, which is the very heart of the materia prima. In this first aspect of the work matter is represented esoterically by coal. Black coal represents the deepest, densest matter; it can be ignited to burn, giving flames and warmth. In the same way if we don’t go into our subconscious to find the densest darkest places, we can’t achieve the alchemical burning. The whole of the experience of matter is here represented by the coal, which is ready to be heated in the alchemical oven or athenor, so as to start the process of trans-substantiation. When we give ourselves in service, we give up all our experience of matter into the fire to be burned; in that process we can become ‘no substance’. The black work is the beginning, so we start from the matter that is not yet aware of itself and not aware that it is informed by Spirit. This is the starting point of man, so we see it symbolised in Adam, the earth-ling, or the newborn child, in a time when life was based purely on animal instinct and survival. With the energy of The Magician this Adam-man is asked to evolve, aspire and transcend, so becoming the spiritual human potential. If we look at The Magician’s hat, it is shaped in the symbol of infinity and he’s being asked to evolve to that infinite point, for as the initiate he has all the levels of con sciousness within him.

      He has a wand, or baton, in his hand, to repre sent man with all the potential and illusions of power within mankind. We shouldn’t be afraid to own our illusions, for if we are honest and able to understand their roots, we will transmute their energy into the force and ability to express our potential. The minute we see the illusions, we can transmute them and make a huge leap, then eventually by lifting and falling (only transmuting more coal into energy) again and again, we will have done that energetic rise in consciousness.

      The Magician comes back realising that he holds all the possi bilities in him and he is completely aware of how he has to handle matter. He has the baton in his hand, which is the symbol for the wands and on the table in front of him he has the cup, the sword and the pentacle. These are the four elements symbolising the tools that we have to help us proceed from the lower to the higher states. The wand is fire, the pentacle earth, the sword is air and the cup is water. He holds the wand in his left hand and he’s pointing to the pentacle with the index finger of his right hand. He has contact with the wand of the active/masculine element, which is directed towards and received by, the pentacle of earth, the feminine/receptive element. The Magician himself is active, being a Number 1, because he acts on and in the world; he’s the alchemist guiding the transmutation of those parts of the world he’s going to expose. The sword, as air, is masculine/active, bringing Spirit into the receptive/feminine cup.

      The wand is in his left hand. If we see a picture of someone in authority with a wand in the right hand, this is a false magician. This is because the right hand is the hand of rationalism and intel lect, whereas the left hand is about feeling and receptivity. The red upper tip of the wand represents the fire of Spirit coming down; the lower blue tip symbolises receptivity to that greater energy, which has to be translated by the mind. The order or command is received from above through the left hand, so it is not him doing the order ing. This gives him the possibility of receiving intuitive power and knowledge and then implementing the vision into the material world, which is represented by the pentacle, or element Earth. He is really a ‘way-through’, for he doesn’t do it himself. That is why he’s a true Magician, for he understands and acts, but knows that the greater energy is working through him. This is what it means when it says in Genesis that the power and domination of the world is given to man, so that it can be used to work in the name of God. This is of course an incredibly high degree of achievement and we have to go through the purification of all our mistakes, which are only misunderstandings, to eventually become a true Magician or juggler. The word ‘juggler’ is another good name for this card, for it doesn’t carry the pretensions of the ego that ‘The Magician’ does.

      If we haven’t elevated our minds into the knowledge that the world of matter and form is an illusion, then we become the type of magician that does magic in an illusionary way. We need to look at the distinction between the two magicians, for the difference is quite subtle. It is about applying the word of God to everyday life, rather than playing at moving or manifesting objects in the air. The real work could be something so simple as to be unnoticed.

      The Magician has to be completely open, supple and receptive, for he never knows when the order is going to come and he always has to be ready to obey the higher impulse from within himself. He is getting himself ready to knock on that great inner door with the purpose of finding the universal truth.

      The wand is a symbol of order or command; it has been found absolutely everywhere on the planet, right back to prehistoric times wands are found in tombs buried with tribal chiefs. The wand would be given to the wise one in the tribe, because they would be recognised as having ideas that were always beneficial to the group and therefore coming from a higher place. This is the spiritual will coming in to inform matter and the power conferred to mankind to dominate, use and transform the material world. It is a great chal lenge and can have an inverse action, for in the acceptance of power a man is dragged into the world, which then may hold and imprison him. When he dominates his world from that place, he can be con fused if he focuses on that and starts to believe that he is ‘God’. This means that he’s not purified enough and his personality is being taken up by the idea of his own power.

      Matter is not the prison for Spirit, rather it gives the freedom for Spirit to forever demonstrate and manifest new forms, new diversity, new beauty and new refinement. But if we haven’t felt the heaviness and the incredible lure of form, we shouldn’t even try to be a Magician. Matter becomes mere dust when we know it isn’t real and can be transformed with ideas into new worlds. When we get taken in by matter, we feel the mass and the heaviness of it; we all recognise that feeling. From coal to diamond, we have to experience life on the earth as heavy, dark and oppressive, so as to associate with the suffering of humanity. Every time we go through an up-lift, we release the weight of what we’re leaving behind. Remember the 8 of infinity, which tells us that every time we rise we have to go a bit lower, until eventually we touch the outer realm of our world.

      The wand or baton is also used as a symbol of generation, with the idea of perpetrating a species, a race or an idea. Mass conscious ness will use this energy as brute power. In this case it would be completely lost except for its other use – the instinct of reproduction, which is needed to perpetuate the race. In mankind the instinct of reproduction carries misunderstandings and distortions. The great illusion for mankind is that we think we choose, possess and domi nate, when all the time we are only the instrument of propagation. So the initiate can easily revert to the state of the generative, biologi cal man, rather than remembering where he comes from and what he’s supposed to do. Because he is going deeper than he has ever gone before, he feels that the perseverance he has had to have to go through his many lives has all been in vain. All he needs is to become a witness, a Soul infused personality and maya will not fool him anymore.

      The Magician, with his discriminating right hand of reason, shows us the pentacle, which is the sign that represents the Earth. It is the circle of Spirit, sur rounding the cross of matter to show us that he is implementing Spirit into the world. The position of the hands is reflected in the feet. The right foot is stable and solid, so that the left one can step out from a good base. They are in the shape of a setsquare, which is another symbol used by the initiate, to do with measuring and sacred geometry; man as a corner stone for a temple. So the steps are taken from the solid ground of rationalism and common sense and the movement comes from feeling, receptiv ity and above all, passion.

      This passion burns a path for the higher energies of love and light, to penetrate matter with the purpose of uplifting its conscious ness. It is the passion that says “I’m going for it whether I’m going to be blamed or praised”. The ultimate hallmark of any master has to be the passion of service and the fire of action. Passion receives the higher order when it is aligned to the higher will and then it is implemented into right action. The ‘sad