Pisces the Poet

There may be a dry spell here at Turtlephoenix Tarot as I move to another state. However, once I get settled in, I will be posting promptly.

For those of you who have not heard of the myth of Orpheus, let me give you the abridged version.
Orpheus was a bard in ancient Greece. He had such talent that his playing could tame a lion or make a tree bow. He was madly in love with a woman named Eurydice. One day, Eurydice was bitten by a snake and taken to the underworld. To get her back, Orpheus traveled to Hell and demanded an audience with Hades. He played for Hades, and Hades was so moved that he agreed to let Eurydice go back to the land of the living, on one condition: she must follow behind Orpheus, and he must not look back at her until they were both in the light.
They almost made it. Orpheus looked back, and Eurydice was sucked back into Tartarus. Afterwards, Orpheus wandered about in despair, before the Maenads (or the Bacchae), followers of Dionysus, in one of their cannibalistic sex frenzies.

Pisces energy is the energy of spiritual secrets, of the mysteries with clues hidden in dreams. Tartarus, and any other underground place, is symbolic of the Feminine, the Great Mother, the womb, and the subconscious. Pisceans are dreamers, both literally and figuratively. This energy is artistic and creative. It has a transcendence to it.

Pisceans, like all water signs, are gifted with intuition (however, if you are not a water sign, do not let this stop you from developing your intuition. This is energy that is available to everybody).  They can think symbolically, and may be more comfortable with the abstract than the concrete, with illusion rather than reality. It is this preference for the romance and beauty of the dream time that can lead the Pisces to self-destruction through addiction.

Pisces is also a sign of sacrifice. Christ himself was symbolized by Ichthus, the Fish. Guess what animal Pisces is? For noble feelings, a creative dream, for love, or for answers to life's great questions, Pisces is willing to dive deep down into scary darkness. Pisces can forsake its health and even life for union with God, the Great Spirit, the Goddess, you name it. This is the sign of spirituality, but it is also the sign of addiction. A well balanced Pisces will use its gifts to empathize with other people, to be a warm house in the middle of the pouring rain for a friend in need, a nice hot cup of hot chocolate and a gooey cookie after a snowball fight. Well-balanced Pisces energy is compassionate and empathetic, and a person with this energy will go out of his or her way to not only comfort but also to understand someone in pain, even when the person in question is repulsive or performed an evil deed. Because Pisces thinks in the abstract, nothing is black or white. Forgiveness comes easily. A balanced Pisces is also great at dream interpretation, and can help people access and understand their own subconscious minds.

An out of balance Pisces, however, is prone to addiction and self-destruction.  Unbalanced Piscean energy turns someone into a doormat at best and an overdose statistic at worst. Pisces wants to experience altered states, and will try to find it by any means necessary. This can lead to promiscuous sex (not necessarily a bad thing, but it honestly depends on the motive and whether the person genuinely enjoys it), hard drugs, and joining cults.  Self-sacrifice may be performed to get accolades as an artiste, not for any other's good.  To prevent this, Pisces must learn to assess themselves--what are their motives? Are there any other ways to achieve enlightenment that is constructive, and not destructive?

One wonderful example, from Raven Kaldera's  wonderful book, MythAstrology (have you bought it yet? Why in God's name haven't you? Go here.) is the story of Obalata. Obalata is an orisha, or Caribbean deity, with roots in Africa. He created human beings with clay, and was very gentle, soft spoken, and modest, just like Pisces energy. His talent to create was only surpassed by the love and care he felt for his creations, again, like Pisces.

However, Obalata was an alcoholic (an addiction, something which Pisces can be prone to), and it is said that human birth defects are caused by a batch of clay molded by him when he was wasted. Obalata felt so guilty about this that he quit drinking. One must wonder if he would have stopped drinking if it was only himself he was hurting, and not his precious creations. Given what I know, I doubt it. Pisces can be selfish in their selflessness.

Pisces can rush into madness. They may at first mistake it for deepness of feeling or creativity, and be reluctant to part with it, even for the sake of their happiness. They may go deep, deep down into the abyss and never come back, and that would truly be a tragedy, as Pisces has such soulful beauty to share with the world. How would Orpheus' story have been different if he had sought healing from his grief?


Archetypal Pisces:
Odin, who sacrificed himself on a tree for the knowledge of the Runes.
Kurt Cobain
Orpheus
Obalata

Questions:
What do you see as being worthy of sacrifice? What would you sacrifice for it?
Keep a dream journal. What are your dreams telling you? Put yourself as a character in the dream. For example, let's see you dream about a river. Answer these questions, in first person, as the river:
How do you feel?
Why do you feel that way?
What do you want?
Who are you?
When are you?
Where are you?
How much intensity of feeling are you comfortable with? How do you handle your "intense feelings"?
How do you create? What can you do, everyday, to be creative?

The Magician

Remember, look at the cards. What particular card stands out to you?  What detail about the card stands out to you? What does it mean for you?

The first card in the Tarot deck is the Magician, after the 0 of the Fool.

The Magician is a card of skills, intelligence, and mastery. When the Magician appears, it indicates the ability to manipulate resources to give a desired outcome. The Magician's strength is more externally focused, though there must be an internal steadiness to tap into the power he represents.
As you can see, in all of the cards (except for Isis) the Magician is surrounded by the symbols of the elements, or suits--the coin for Pentacles (Earth), the staff/baton for Wands (Fire), a sword or dagger for Swords (Air), and a cup for--you'll never guess--Cups (Water).  The meaning of this is that the Magician, and the person he has come to speak to, currently has a wonderful understanding of the elements and what they symbolize.

Barbara G. Walker Magician 

Earth is the element of physical health and strength, stability, comfort, and money (hence the Pentacle embossed coin). This is the element of luxury and security. The Magician can manifest these things. The Pentacle is important, as its points represent the four elements, with spirit at the top.  I think that the Pentacle is a good symbol for Earth, as Earth is a base and harvest ground. The Earth is the mother from which all things come. The Magician also recognizes this, and, if he is a man, he is respects his feminine qualities--intuition and nurturing. 

Celtic Magician 

The Suit of Wands, represented here with a torch, in Barbara Walker's deck with a baton, and in Robin Wood's deck with a crystal topped staff, is aligned with the element of Fire. Fire is the element of energy and creativity. It has the potential to create and cleanse, but the also the potential to lose control and destroy.  The Magician knows how to handle this strong, primal energy. Fire is a masculine element, and the phallic symbol of the wands is quite appropriate. It is the "spark" of inspiration. If you see the Magician, then your spark is going to ignite! As Earth is feminine, and the Magician appreciates feminine qualities, he or she also is comfortable with "masculinity"--the assertive motions and energy--and knows how to use them. 

Robin Wood Magician 

If you look closely at the Robin Wood Magician, you will see that on the table in front of him is a sword crossing a wand. Swords are associated with the element of Air, the realm of intellectualism, abstract thought, and ideas. The Sword is also a teacher of hard truths--lessons learned through tough times. It cuts to the heart of the matter. It penetrates below the surface (hee hee, phallic talk). Air is considered a "masculine" element as well, along with fire. Air can move anywhere, and "flights of fancy" can lead to great breakthroughs! The Magician is comfortable with abstract ideas. He or she is intellectual, and moves below the surface to sniff out truth.  Also, the Magician is strong enough to appreciate tough times, and be grateful for the lessons that they teach.  However, what should balance out intellectualism? Can anyone guess? 

 Isis, the Magician of the Kris Waldherr Goddess Deck 

If you answered emotion to the above question, then you would be right! The Magician's Cup represents the element of Water. Water is a feminine element. This association has been around since antiquity, Poseidon notwithstanding. When someone dreams about water, it symbolizes the unconscious. The unconscious is a realm typically associated with the feminine, probably because the womb was/is considered a mysterious place. The ocean is a place that is deep and mysterious, about as mysterious as outer space, and about as mysterious as what we have lurking and roiling around all willy-nilly in our subconscious! (subconsciouses? subconsci?) Water is the element of the subconscious, dreams, emotions, and compassion. It is kind, and its creativity is more like a flow than a spark. However, Water has its dark side, too. It hides nasty beasties that can bite your ass off. It can, and will, flood and drown and wash away, both good and bad. But it's also very useful for washing away impurities. The Magician works with water, using it to cleanse and purify. The good Magician is also compassionate and empathetic, with him/herself as well as others.  The Magician is also friends with the subconscious, and uses dreams as tools to further self-knowledge as well as knowledge about the world. 

In the Barbara Walker and Robin Wood decks, you may notice the infinity symbol. The infinity symbol represents the absolutely bottomless reservoir of knowledge that is available to us, and the limitless capacity of human creativity. 

You may be asking why Kris Waldherr chose Isis to represent the Magician in her deck. Well, that is because Isis was a Magician. Her skill as a Magician brought Osiris back from the dead. It enabled her to ensure that Egypt was peaceful and prosperous. 

Besides Isis, people and animals that I associate with the Magician are anything or anyone that can transform and/or master the world around them. Alchemists, those scientists reputed to be able to turn common metals into gold, are Magicians. Thoth, the Egyptian god who invented hieroglyphics, was also a Magician--and if writing isn't magical, I don't know what is.   

Jesus Christ, I think, is a wonderful example of a Magician. As 100% divine, as well as 100% human, he shows the perfect balance of these attributes, of masculine and feminine energies, and all the strengths of all the elements. 

Walt Disney was a Magician, and so was Jim Henson. 

Obviously, Merlin, Gandalf and Dumbledore are literal Magicians, but they also show mastery of aspects of the human condition--intellect and emotion, compassion and invention. 

As for animals, butterflies symbolize transformation, like the alchemists, of something simple into something divine.  

The Shadow side of the Magician, or the reversed, is someone having trouble mastering a skill, or someone who has mastered skills, but use these skills to cause pain and suffering.  If your Magician turns up reversed, it may mean that you aren't using your skills to your full potential, or, you're wasting your skills on something not worth your time.  

Questions: 

1) Which Magician card stands out to you? What detail, in particular, stands out? what does it mean to you? 

2) What element--Earth, Fire, Air, or Water--do you feel most aligned with? How can you maintain that alliance? 

3) What element do you feel misaligned with? How can you forge a better cooperation with the element? 

4) What skills do you have, and love to use? Do you get ample opportunities to use these? If not, how can you make these opportunities? 

5) What skills would you like to master? 

6) Who or what do you think represents the Magician? 

Please read and respond! 

Love, Kathy