This week's card is The Magician from Tarot of the Animal Lords (idea and graphics by Pietro Alligo; artwork by Angelo Giannini; published by Lo Scarabeo).
This unusual deck places the Fox on The Magician card. The author of the accompanying "Little White Book", Bepi Vigna, offers the following keywords for the card: "shrewdness, will to succeed, lack of prejudice, errors, lies." (The italicized words apply to a reversed or ill-dignified card.)We can see that the fox on the card is doing some sort of "sleight of hand" trick for onlookers, including a plump red bird and a mouse.
The Fox's image as a sly, keen-witted trickster is almost universal, which ties in nicely with the Tarot Magician's relationship with Hermes (Mercury), described by Robert Place as "the god of gamblers, travelers, storytellers, dice, merchants, alchemists, magicians, liars, and thieves."
Ted Andrews, in his Animal-Wise Tarot, also puts the Fox on The Magician card, listing several Fox qualities that we might consider in our exploration of card: ability to conceal itself ("quiet invisibility"), keen sense of smell and hearing (heightening of all senses), awareness of possibilities and opportunities that comes from trusting one's instincts.
Andrews suggests that when The Magician (Fox) is reversed, we may need to examine how we are directing our creative, sexual energies. We may also need to find time to be alone for introspection "and not focus so much on charming others around us."According to Jack Tresidder, erotic associations for the Fox appear in Chinese folk superstitions.
So while this Magician departs from the Rider-Waite-Smith model, we still see vestiges of the oldest Tarot traditions in the "trickster" association.
What a lovely deck! and how appropriate the Fox is as the Magician - just those two qualities of being ready to grab an opportunity for the positive and wily as in cunning as the negative.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your explanation of this card Zanna.
Thanks, Helen! I do think the Fox is a great choice for The Magician. I often forget about The Magician's "tricky" nature, and I think I need to pay more attention to that in readings.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen "The Fantastic Mr Fox"? Magician, ALL THE WAY :)
ReplyDeleteHi, submerina! Thanks for commenting. I have not seen The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but it sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteAwesome image. I saw a fox yesterday and rather than cunning his message to me on this day was about focussing power to make stuff happen, and then I realised he is associated with the Magician card which made sense. Click my link for my take on it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting different image then the usual. I love finding new decks, it's an obsession, and I am also interested on how other people interpret an their takes on the cards. I have the animals divine tarot, but hadn't seen this deck yet. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteHello Lisha. Thank you so much for stopping by. I do love this deck!
Delete