Sparked by the Ionians, those Greeks living in Persia along the Aegean Coast in Asia Minor, the Greeks and the Persians fought for centuries. This rebellion spanned the course of two separate conflicts, one against King Darius of Persia and the other, his son Xerxes. Although the Ionian Rebellion was crushed, the King’s ego got the better of him. He vowed to make them all pay. Darius made two attempts to invade the lands of Athens and Eretria, both having aided the Ionians, but he was horrendously unsuccessful. King Darius passed away after 30 days of illness, and Xerxes vowing to avenge his father’s death, took up the cause. While the Persians held a great army, they ultimately ended up falling, for the Grecian navy was far superior.
Persian priests during this time were referred to as magosh, which came to be known as the magoi to the Greeks. Their rituals became known as mageia, and then later magika. Magika was defined as any foreign, unorthodox, or illegitimate religious practice. The hysteria surrounding witches and the subsequent burnings and hangings were prompted in 1486 by the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, a guide written by two German Dominicans on how to identify, hunt, and interrogate witches. This led to over 80,000 Europeans, mostly women, being put to death. For more than 100 years this book sold more copies than any other book except for the Bible.
In 1584 The Discoverie of Witchcraft was published as a way to explain these magical secrets, and as a way to stop people for being killed for witchcraft. Reginald Scot, the author of this exposé, considered the prosecution of peoples accused of witchcraft to be irrational and unChristian-like. He blamed the Roman Catholic Church. Yet the controversy continued along, eventually making its way across the giant pond into Massachusettes, where the Salem Witch Trials would take place in 1692. Various witch trials occurred throughout the 13 colonies until well into the 1700s. A satirical article, supposedly written by Benjamin Franklin, was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette, remarking on the ridiculousness of it all. Shortly thereafter new laws were passed, protecting people from such false accusations.
Ruled by Mercury and connected through Gemini, the Magician is the tarot card that represents the active male archetype, the ego in action. Like the sun, both fiery and light, this is the card that “urges you to speak aloud what it is that you want – to will it into existence, releasing it from the world of mere hopes and thoughts” (The Fountain Tarot). The Magician asks that we merely begin a project, that we build things and create through the fire of our own will. This is not to say that we will know what exactly we are making, or why we are doing it in the first place. Sometimes we simply need to let our muses tell us what they want us to work on, while we remain open and available to this type of creation without feeling like we have to push for it.
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.
Albert Einstein
When the Magician shows up in a tarot reading, or any other major arcana card for that matter, the key to its understanding is through surrender. This card in particular is telling you that the call is coming from inside the house, and I don’t mean that in a someone’s-going-to-murder-you type of way. It’s the full-bodied understanding that the things we need to make our dreams come true are already in our grasp. We simply have to heed the call. We have to open the doors to our own hearts. We have to be humble to the telephone calling from within ourselves. The key significance of the Magician, much like in modern stage magic, is that of timing. It’s all about letting things flow, about movement and manifestation. We live in a world with an unlimited amount of potential, and with this magic our own possibilities are revealed.
Mad love, Jenna
deck credit: Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, drawn in 1909 by Pamela Colman Smith under direction of Arthur Edward Waite
