Description
Very similar to the Universal Waite with, what I believe to be, a crucial difference. In the center of the card is a man in a white tunic and red cloak. Around his waist is the ouroborus and on his forehead a circlet of gold. His left hand extends to the earth and in his right hand, which extends to the heavens, is a short wand. Above his head is the lemniscate. He is in a garden of red roses and white lilies. Before him is a table upon which all the suits are represented. As I said very little difference from the "traditional" Magician. What is crucial is the stance that Connollyís Magician takes. In the Universal Waite, he is standing tall and still, a passive conduit for the divine. Connollyís Magician is an active channel. His expression is intense and is body is charged with energy. You can see the energy extending from his hand to create the divine here upon earth. To me this is a very significant difference.

From CONNOLLY'S A New Handbook for the Apprentice:

KEY: Know that everything is possible through the power of God.

MEMORY: Through Godís love let all men know all is given, blessings flow.

GUIDELINES: Application of will and the courage to have faith is the formula for success. You are well blessed and your fervent attitude will bring about what you need. You are going in the right direction.

MEDITATION: You must learn to go within yourself and use the divine power available. Life presents opportunities that are not always recognized because they are offered in the embryonic state. He who does not understand the divine wisdom sees only the mighty oak and ignores the potential of the acorn. Through the wisdom of the Tarot, we battle with seeds that have remained undernourished through lack of recognition. It is easy to learn that Cups represent Love and Happiness, but the sensitive Tarot Master is able to detect the SEED of love in the thimble, the beginnings of negative vibrations in the penknife. Man must know himself, he must know his desires by laying them openly on the table of life and believing that all is possible to those who have faith. Make known your request to God and reach out to the divine channel for His promised manifestations.

SEPHIROTH: Triad of Intelligence

PATH: 12 ñ Binah to Kether

HEBREW: Beth (House)

MY RUMINATIONS ON THE MAGICIAN
Tools upon the table, an offering, a sacrificial offering to be used by the power of the divine. Not my will but thine. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As above, so below. The active manifestation of the divine into earthly plane. God made man. A clear, clean channel for transmuting higher self. A model for the Tarot reader. Using the sanctified tools of the Tarot I offer myself as a clear, clean channel for the divine.

Dr. Ann Davies Of BOTA writes in her book "Inspirational thoughts on the Tarot" that if the Fool represents the superconsciousness than the Magician represents the self-consciousness and that the proper use of our self-consciousness is as a witness of and for the work of the Divine. Upon the Magicianís table are the implements we use to attain the magic of the Transparent Intelligence. The wand is representative of the Divine Will. Each of us receives the Divine Will through our personalities, which we then interpret as a seemingly personal desire. The cup symbolizes the faculty that develops mental imagery from what we observe. We all look at essentially the same things, but the way we interpret them is colored and given shape by the level of development of our individual imaginations. The sword represents the intellectual processes which discern and lay out the corresponding patterns within which we develop the imagery, and the coin corresponds to the final result, or manifestation in the physical world, of the original desire. We can create a magical experience every instant of our lives by the way we use these implements in our relationships with others and in the way we respond to the circumstances of daily existence. And finally, the day comes when we can consciously choose the right tool for the right situation and BE the magical Transparent Intelligence of the Most High.

Whatsoever existeth hath its beginning in my Will, continueth in my Will, and by my Will cometh at last to its appointed end. Than this, indeed, there is no other will in all the universe, yet in it do all creatures have a part. From my substance all things derive their substance, and all that hath form is built from my four-fold elemental manifestation. Four are the subtle principles which the wise conceal from the uninitiate by the names: FIRE, WATER, AIR, and EARTH. Paul Foster Case ñ "The Book of Tokens : Tarot Meditations"

When I think of magic and a magician, I canít help but remember the magic incantation "Abracadabra!" that has always signaled in books and movies that something extraordinary is about to happen. Isabel Radow Kleigman writes in her book "Tarot and the Tree of Life" that abracadabra comes from Hebrew or Aramaic and means "As it is said, so shall it be". To me the magic and power of this word sums up the essence of the Magician.

Susan
marquis@bayserve.net