The Magician

Knower,seer ,wizard and alchemist …TheMagician.

Gosh it is certainly a little ‘grim’ out there at the moment.Hopefully this might brighten up your day.It has certainly brightened mine.The other week when I was in Cornwall ( feels like about ten years ago now )I read a book which talked about the sounds under the seas and that possibly the song of the fin back whale is so powerful is circumnavigates the globe.This lead my imagination into a place where there’s a network of whale song lines under the seas- keeping us together-like a sub marine gravity sorts.The same book talked about the amazing ability the octopus has to adapt to its surroundings without using its brain.What a skill-If only I /we could circumnavaigate our brains and egos! That lead to my imagination running riot – what if the octopus was so magical it actually changed not just itself but its environment to suit itself – without even a thought.That would be something.Octopus …the magician.

The Magician is one of the major archetypes ( a collection of behaviours, ideas or in Jungian terms ” a primitive mental image inherited from the earliest human ancestors, and supposed to be present in the collective unconscious”. Also the Magician heavily discussed by Robert More and D Gillettes influential book, “King Warrior ,Magician, Lover.”

The Magician appears in so many cultural references such as Gandolf ,Yoda,Dumbledor and Merlin -the Magician knows how to work with all the elements and knows how to create new worlds and new experiences.

In the worlds of Druidry it is said there are three strains or types of Magic

-the Magic of Making

Is there anything more magical than bringing something into the world that didn’t exist before you imagined it ? The Magic of making includes making art , poetry , prose, story telling and crafts of all kinds.Growing plants and.. children .The magic of creation .

-the Magic of Seeing

The art of seeing things as they are and the unseen.Divination covering all kinds of modalities and practices from tree lore to Ogham staves to stone and cloud scrying.

-the Magic of Changing

The ability to change circumstances and energies.Spell craft and the traditional ideas of magic belong here.There are also other ways to influence the world through as counsellor and guide -think of the archetype of the Wizard Merlin advising King Arthur or the Druids who advised the chieftains of old .

It can be said that Magicians are healers ,wise-ones , seerers and knowers.

Most of all though – to me ..they are they the creators inspired by non ordinary reality. They take inspiration form the other worlds and bring creations or experiences or changes into this physical realm.

If we look art the classically known Images of the Magician through tarot we will find a lot of symbolism – it’s known as a card of mastery-of the master at his table able to use all elements to create his or her own world .

Usually he/she/they will be shown with representatives of the four elements(earth, air, fire and water ) and or tools to represent a sense of craft and mastery.

Most of all though – to me ..they are they the creators inspired by non ordinary reality thus in touch with the ‘trans-rational’. They take inspiration form the other worlds and bring creations or experiences or changes into this physical realm.In the Smith -Rider -Waite the Magician famously is shown with one hand pointed to the sky and one to towards the earth as if saying “as above so below”.

A friend of mine who is a Shamanic practitioner also uses the journeying process to gain messages and information. When she saw the above image of my ‘Octo – magus’ she told me she works with an Octopus spirit guide who is also a Magician going by the name …Houdini.Which makes Magical sense …to me .