(Tarot Prompts for Writers)
What I See in the Card:
The Magician is ready for anything, capable and confident. They are alone but not lonely. They’re strong and independent, responsible for their actions, serious but not grave. In the decks I use, the Magician is young and strong with intelligent eyes.
There’s a sense of a larger life around the Magician that could include others (unlike the Fool or the Hermit). Maybe even an audience? The Magician is rooted in the world.
The Magician is inspired by light. In the decks I use, they are outdoors in the bright sun. (But there are many decks where the card is dark, indoors, with an impression of secrecy or even isolation.) In my deck, the Magician is preparing openly on a beautiful day, with nothing to fear or worry over. There’s no danger anywhere in the landscape. The Magician and the world are made for each other.
The four suits of the tarot are laid out on the Magician’s table. The Magician has everything at hand, all aspects of life and of their own being right in front of them and in their control (or at least so they believe — it’s just the beginning of the journey and we all know nothing lasts). They’ve picked up the cup – emotions/water – and they’ve raised the wand – soul/fire – but coins and swords are also at the ready and in good supply. The Magician knows the importance of all four aspects: the intellect and progress, the body and wealth, the spirit and creativity, and the heart and relationships.
The Magician looks at their stuff, their gifts, not at the world around them. They may be assessing their tools and skills in light of what needs to be done. They’ve laid everything out to take stock and plan and — most importantly – to use.
The Magician is preparing for what’s to come, seeing what they’ll need, pondering how best to go about things. They’re not about to sit in the shade. They’re about to act. And it looks like they’ll act wisely .
This is the first card after the ever-present Fool and this is the beginning of the journey. Everything looks promising.
I love the Magician. It’s a favourite card. This is how we long to feel: young and strong, at the beginning of an exciting life with the world at our fingertips.
Such a powerful card! Anything is possible for one who wields their gifts well.
Read will take you to my notes on how to tell a fortune with the Magician — traditional interpretations; what the card might mean in different positions; keywords to help memorize meanings; and questions to ponder or ask the querent.
Write will take you to a few prompts for launching from the Magician into a story. A first line, a setting, an object, a character, and a theme — five possible ways to turn the Magician into fiction.
Tarot will take you to a central Tarot-Prompts page.
Go ahead, wield those gifts.
Images on this page are by the following artists:
Banner (and top box), left to right: Marseilles deck engraved by Nicolas Conver; Dragon Tarot illustrated by Roger and Linda Garland: Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi; Druid Craft deck illustrated by Will Worthington; Radiant Rider-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti.
Mid-page boxes: Tarot Balbi; the Crow Tarot deck created by MJ Cullinane.
Catherine Austen 