Meeting the Magician

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As the Fool continues on his journey, after making his leap of faith, the first person he meets is the Magician. This card portrays the Magician in a red cloak standing before a table outdoors. On the table are the symbols of the four suits of the Tarot (swords, wands, coins, and cups) which represent the four basic elements of nature (air, fire, earth, and water). Additionally these four elements mirror the four aspects of mankind (mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional).

Above the Magician's head is the symbol for infinity or eternity. His right hand holds a baton aloft (sometimes seen as a two-ended candle) and points his left hand to the ground, genuflecting the axiom "as above, so below."

The Magician is sometimes called the Mage or Magus, and he does indeed bring some wonderful gifts.

The Magician's message to the Fool is two-fold. First, he lets the Fool know that he has everything he needs to accomplish his journey through the combination of his mind, spirit, body, and heart. Secondly, the Magician reveals the bridge between Heaven and Earth by illustrating that all things done on the spiritual plane are manifested in the physical plane.

For each of us, as we take our own journeys, we must remember and be aware of the tools we have at our disposal. Our minds allow us to conceive of new plans and goals. Our spirits urge us on toward greater ambitions. Our bodies provide us with movement and conduits for our energies. And our hearts help us to share our journeys with those we meet along the way.

And let us not forget as we travel on our paths that the seeds we sow in heaven are made manifest in our lives. Be it the law of cause and effect or the law of karma or the law of attraction, there is profound truth in the idea that what we sow we shall also reap. Let us sow good seeds as we plant our magic beans, and may their growth carry us onward toward the realization of our dreams.

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• The Fool's Journey (inkensoul.blogspot.com)

The Fool's Journey

Image via Wikipedia

The Major Arcana of the Tarot, what is often known as the Fool's Journey.

Fool
Magician
High Priestess
Empress
Emperor
Hierophant
Lovers
Chariot
Hermit
Wheel of Fortune
Justice
Hanged Man
Death
Temperance
Devil
Tower
Star
Moon
Sun
Judgment
World


The Fool is the first card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot. It is given the number Zero because it represents the nothingness from which we all come and the field of infinite possibilities. The character portrayed on the card is rather androgynous and is meant to portray all of us - each of us is the Fool, for we are all on this journey of life in search of our own experience.

The card depicts the sun rising behind the Fool as if it is a new day and we are at the beginning. The Fool steps toward the edge of a precipice, eyes toward the sky, unaware and unnassuming of what the next step will bring, just as we all are at the beginning of our endeavors. The Fool carries all that is needed for the journey in a bindle and has a flower in hand in appreciation of beauty. At the Fool's heel yaps a dog, perhaps warning of the impending danger, perhaps saying goodbye. In the distance is a range of mountains symbolizing the ups and downs of the adventure in store.

As each of us steps off on our own Fool's journey, we must move forward with a leap of faith, unsure of what lies ahead, but with the full knowledge that there is no challenge that we cannot handle.


Seventy-eight degrees of Wisdom

Playing CARDS

Image of Gale Fulton Ross

A few years ago, I was approached by an artist by the name of Gale Fulton Ross. She said that she wanted to write a book that could serve as a guideline for artists who wanted to make a career of their craft. She called the book Artists Must Play CARDS, the anagram representing the five things that the professional artist needs in order to be successful.

Commitment
Ambition
Resourcefulness
Dedication
Solitude

I will be discussing these elements more in further blogs as I find the Solitude to work on my own art. But suffice it to say that I marveled at the idea and was almost instantly drawn to how her concepts (minus the Solitude) aligned with the four cards of the regular playing deck.

Spades
Clubs
Diamonds
Hearts

Furthermore, I was engrossed in the idea of how these aligned with the four elements of material being.

Air
Fire
Earth
Water

I began to see how these four concepts further aligned with the four aspects of humanity

Mind
Spirit
Body
Heart

I was drawn back to the concept of cards. Though it recommended that I fear and shun it as a young Christian, the deck of the Tarot cards have been a source of much wonder for me. Though there are many different styles out there, I've tended to stick with the classic Rider-Waite deck. I find the artistry in the cards very telling, the way they interpret both the numberology and the meanings of the suits.

Swords
Wands
Coins
Cups

Looking into the many self help gurus and business consultants, I began to see more of this occurance. For instance, Wayne Dyer has his Pathways to Mastery.

Wisdom
Surrender
Discipline
Unconditional Love

Stephen Covey discusses the four modes of creativity

Pathfinding
Modeling
Aligning
Empowering

As well as the four styles of leadership...

Directing
Coaching
Supporting
Delegating

And the four human desires...

To Live
To Love
To Learn
To Leave a Legacy

The actual CARDS book will be out soon, but these four principles, in whatever words describe them, are also the basis for my new book The McAllister Code and I am very grateful to Ms. Fulton Ross for making me aware of them. Go to www.themcallistercode.com now to be a part of the adventure.


The Way of Four