The Magician: tarot meaning, upright and reversed

A raised wand and a downward-pointing hand join heaven and earth above the four suit implements.

Upright

skill · intention

Bring the resources already available into deliberate action. An idea needs a practiced hand.

Reversed

misdirection · unused ability

Skill may be scattered, withheld, or used to create an appearance without substance.

In a reading

The position gives this card a particular task: a description of the situation, a challenge, or guidance. Read its image and meaning alongside the other cards and the question that brought them together.

Golden Dawn correspondence

Planet: Mercury. This is the attribution in Book T.

Sources

A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. These notes are original interpretations of the Waite–Smith imagery, informed by that text.