Rider–Waite The Magician is depicted with one hand pointing upwards towards the sky and the other pointing down to the earth, interpreted widely as an "
as above, so below" reference to the spiritual and physical realms. On the table before him are a wand, a pentacle, a sword, and a cup, representing the four suits of the
Minor Arcana. Such symbols signify the
classical elements of fire, earth, air, and water, "which lie like counters before the adept, and he adapts them as he wills". The Magician's right hand, pointed upwards, holds a double-ended white wand; the ends are interpreted much like the hand gestures, in that they represent the Magician's status as conduit between the spiritual and the physical. His robe is similarly also white, a symbol of purity yet also of inexperience, while his red
mantle is understood through the lens of red's wildly polarised colour symbolism—both a representative of willpower and passion, and one of egotism, rage, and revenge. In front of the Magician is a garden of
Rose of Sharon and
lily of the valley demonstrating the "culture of aspiration", or the Magician's ability to cultivate and fulfill potential.
Crowley-Thoth The Magician is associated with the planet
Mercury, and hence the signs of
Gemini and
Virgo in astrology.
Golden Dawn In The Hermetic Tarot, The Magician poses dynamically on one side of the card, pointing his wand angled towards another man, who appears to be Hermes, floating in the air. The cup, sword, and pentacle are all on the ground around him, as well as a candle, dagger, and a wilted vase of flowers. On each end of the circle he stands in is all four
Alchemical symbols of the basic elements.
Marseilles Although the
Rider–Waite Tarot deck is the most often used in occult contexts, other decks such as the
Tarot of Marseilles usually used for game-playing have also been read through a symbolic lens.
Alejandro Jodorowsky's reading of the Magician as
Le Bateleur draws attention to individual details of the Marseilles card, such as the fingers, table, and depiction of the plants, in addition to the elements shared between the Rider–Waite and Marseilles decks. The Magician in the Marseilles deck is depicted with
six fingers on his left hand rather than five, which Jodorowsky interprets as a symbol of manipulating and reorganizing reality. Similarly, the table he stands behind has three legs rather than four; the fourth leg is interpreted as being outside the card, a
metafictional statement that "[i]t is by going beyond the stage of possibilities and moving into the reality of action and choice that The Magician gives concrete expression to his situation". Rather than flowers, the Magician of the Marseilles deck is depicted with a small plant between his feet. The plant has a
yonic appearance and has been interpreted as the sex organs of either a personal mother or the abstract concept of
Mother Nature. == Divination ==