Historically, the Tarot started life as a game. I find this fascinating because isn’t life itself just a game?
Like life, a game is a mixture of stratagem, skill and chance. We can plan for all eventualities but the element of luck is ever present. Chance has a funny way of overthrowing the “best laid plans of mice and men.”
I’ve always found gamblers fascinating, the way they connect chance and risk to life itself. If we also use the gamblers concept that games simply reflect life, then the game of Tarot made this connection explicitly clear and it accomplished this through its use of imagery, symbolism and the Trump cards ( think of these as representing luck ).
The plan
I plan on writing a series of articles looking at the Trumps from an historical perspective. I’m not going to go completely in-depth, at least not at this time. Rather, I’m really keen to focus on what history can teach us about the Trumps, and how that can enrich our Tarot readings and interpretations.
Historical stuff that’s relevant to these articles
What is critically important to us is the numbering of the Trumps. This gives us an insight into many things; the status certain characters had within that culture, and an understanding of the game of Tarot (which again links back to the Trumps having a special status). Here’s the key: historians aren’t sure of the exact numbering of the Trumps, so we all rely on the earliest surviving records and informed guesses.
Today’s Trump – The Magician
I’ve always found the Magician an enigmatic character and thought I’d write about what I’ve discovered.
Although the Magician is usually depicted as a very accomplished Magus with the skill and ability to command occult forces, he started life as a street performer, entertainer, juggler and stage magician. It’s believed that the Magician would have been numbered 1 in the sequence of the Trump cards. Although this is exactly the same as today, the significance of this “lowly” numbering is really interesting.
In the game of Tarot this Trump had a low status and only provided a low level of risk taking.
In terms of symbolism, although he was more explicitly turned into a conjurer as time went by, in the Visconti-Sforza he could have also been represented as a merchant or an artisan ( very common to the art culture of the time ). One other really interesting piece of information about this card’s humble beginnings was the red clothes he wore. The colour red was only deemed appropriate for gamblers, foot-soldiers and executioners. Like in today’s modern interpretation of the Magus, there is always a degree of ambiguity to this card. Can we trust him?
This card was known as il Bagatella. I’m sure I remember reading somewhere that this has a connection to the concept of chance! If anyone knows what the actual facts are, let me know.
However, somehow the concept of the Magician and Chance have both become entwined in my mind and it seems to make a lot of sense to me. Just think of its opposite. The Wheel of Fortune is explicitly connected to chance – with its ability to change someone’s status within society ( like the Magician ).
How does this help our Tarot readings?
With the possible connection to the merchants or artisans of the time, it’s easy to see why the Magus can represent self-employment in a Tarot reading.
Also, the connection with “low status”, his questionable morality and skill at trickery and deception (conjurer) all make him a fascinating character. Does his ability to get his hands dirty (executioner) make him dangerous?
Naturally, this card also points to “someone on the make”. With his low status but his skill, cunning and willingness to go the limit, there’s no doubt that this person’s career and position in society is on the climb.
Finally, the Viscontis ( a powerful family who commissioned what has become known as the Visconti-Sforza Tarot deck ) had an uneasy relationship with both the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. Is this uneasiness reflected in the numbering system? Does it signify that the cards after the Magician – the Popess, Empress, Emperor and Pope are little better than a common conjurer?
Conclusion
These ideas and concepts are far from dated. Rather, I’ve found that they are more relevant than the modern take on the cards. Somehow, reconnecting to the morality plays of 15th Century Italy helps me get a better sense of what is “playing” out in the client’s life.
Do you find a loose connection to history helps with your Tarot readings? What’s your experience of the Magician card? I’d love to hear all your thoughts 
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11 comments… Let's discuss
Nice idea, I shall look forward to reading more of these articles Doug
“I’m sure I remember reading somewhere that this has a connection to the concept of chance!”
In the book, Tarot Classic by Stuart R. Kaplan, he says of the Magician “The Magician perceives life as a perpetual game of chance offering circumstances upon which some real control is realizable based upon individual capabilities.”
Don’t know if that snippet helps.
Hi Helen,
Thanks for dropping by
I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know about Stuart R. Kaplan
I remembered reading about it at some point but I just couldn’t remember the source. I’ll have to look it out again. Very helpful, thank you!
The connection between a game of chance and the Magician is something I find really inspiring. I also find it a little incomprehensible. For me, the Magician is a very mysterious force.
fascinating stuff… when you strip away all the cosmic foo foo from the Tarot, there’s a genuinely interesting social history interwoven in it’s imagery that all too often gets overlooked.
The magician is almost always untrustworthy in my readings – someone on the make who will rip you off, or at least has an agenda. When I think about it the song “red right hand” by Nick Cave encapsulates what I think about the Magician “you’re just a microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan, designed and directed by his red right hand”.. funny that you pointed out the significance of the color red then.
Having said that, I often come up as either the emperor or the magician in my own readings. The emperor when I’m doing something dull and the magician when I’m having fun, so there is implicit in the card a sense of mischief in the lighthearted “fun” sense.
In the deck I use, Abdul Alhazred is the magician. While I this fits in many ways I prefer Nyarlathotep as the magician in another deck I have. Nyarlathotep is far more a slippery, cunning character. He’s also a bit gleeful in his marching the human race into oblivion in the actual story “Nyarlathotep”
Hi Chris,
Glad you liked the article
Man, I’m a big fan of Nick Cave – that song is an awesome association!
You make a good point about the lighthearted aspect of the Magician. That was something I didn’t include in the article but it’s definitely something we need to be aware of. Thanks for sharing
Just geeking out here but this is a perfect, if exaggerated and amplified expression of what the magician is to me:-
“I remember when Nyarlathotep came to my city the great, the old, the terrible city of unnumbered crimes. My friend had told me of him, and of the impelling fascination and allurement of his revelations, and I burned with eagerness to explore his uttermost mysteries. My friend said they were horrible and impressive beyond my most fevered imaginings; and what was thrown on a screen in the darkened room prophesied things none but Nyarlathotep dared prophesy, and in the sputter of his sparks there was taken from men that which had never been taken before yet which showed only in the eyes. And I heard it hinted abroad that those who knew Nyarlathotep looked on sights which others saw not”
- HP Lovecraft – Nyarlathotep December of 1920
Awesome quote. Thanks for sharing the connection with Nyarlathotep and the Magician card
that’s the kind of Tarot reader I can only aspire to be lol
LOL don’t we all
Interesting to read about ‘Bagatello’ – bagatelle is an old game, a bit like billiards, in which the aim is to get a number of balls past pins into holes. I remember my mother having a saying along the lines of ‘it’s a mere bagatelle’ or that life itself is like bagatelle – i.e. prone to random chances.
Very interesting article – my father is a stage magician (or used to be – not professionally) and a member of the Magic Circle in the UK, so I have always felt an affinity to this card.
Hi Liz,
Thanks for stopping by
That’s the first time I’ve heard that saying – its really interesting when connected with the Magician.
The Stage Magician element of the card is also something I like to keep in mind when doing readings. You mentioned you had an affinity with this card – do you see this particular aspect of the Magician whenever you read?
Glad you liked the post
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