The Magician: A Musical Journey through the Major Arcana of the Tarot

2nd Card of Major Arcana

Number: 1

Tarot Card: The Magician

Symbol: The Circle

Sound/Musical reference: Om  

Quote: “The universe is but one vast Symbol of God. — Thomas Carlyle (1795— 1881)

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music". - Aldous Huxley

“It’s amazing, ’cause sometimes when we’re on stage, I feel like somebody’s just moving the pieces. ... I’m just going, ‘God, we don’t have any control over this.’ And that’s magic.” Stevie Nicks

"Nowhere are we closer to the sublime secret of all origination than in the recognition of our own selves, whom we always think we know already. Yet we know the immensities of space better than we know our own depths, where -even though we do not understand it-we can listen directly to the throb of creation itself."– Carl Jung, Swiss Psychiatrist

Song: "One" (is the loneliest number that you ever knew) - Three Dog Night

            "He’s a Magic Man" - Heart

Tarot wisdom

When I first began using the Tarot, I asked which card represented the energy of the band Cheap Trick. When I split the deck, The Magician stared back at me.  He’s the first numbered card (#1) and symbolizes the trickster-wizard, a bridge between two worlds: spirit and the physical. Most people think magic is for silly Fools, but on my wild and crazy spiritual bus ride with rock 'n' roll, I began to understand the deeper meaning of The Magician and creation, as well as in important link to music. 

Are Musicians actually Magicians?

One day I came across a fascinating quote in the book Healing Sounds, by sound healer Jonathan Goldman: “In the Ancient Mystery Schools, the priests and magicians were often also the musicians.” Priests, Magicians, Musicians. Hmmm. In upcoming posts, quotes by numerous rock musicians reveal how they felt like shamans, mediums or channels, and created magic when performing. Long before I read any of the quotes from rock musicians, I was drawn into a world of the Ancient Mystery Schools where sound was used as a tool for healing, and the vibrations could bring us back to our sense of oneness or unity. 

One is the Loneliest Number: (Not really)

Uni-means one, and the word unity is a state of being one, the arrangement of parts into a whole. The first time I went to the House of Blues in Los Angeles, CA, I was in the midst of writing about my insights regarding how spiritually we are all one. I questioned whether other fans at a rock concert actually felt this intense mystical connection to the music and band we were watching. Something prompted me to look towards the ceiling, and I spotted several Eastern statues and a Hindu Om symbol, but above it all were the words “Unity through Diversity.” I was shocked. Seeing those words and symbols gave me tiny bit of hope that I wasn’t a complete Fool for following a path to discover my spiritual and emotional self with rock music.

Throughout many cultures, the number one represents unity, and its symbol is the circle. The word “band” can refer to a bunch of musicians, or to encircle, as if with a band. To band together is to unite a group. I think it’s pretty cool that the words “band” and “one” create a circle. Why did rock music unite or band together millions of people over the years? From a spiritual perspective, what purpose has it served? Are we any closer to feeling a greater sense of unity as John Lennon had hoped when he saw the world living as one, or are we all still locked into the illusion that we are separate and different from one another? 

EGO-Everybody’s Got One

This isn’t the ego of conceit that swells your head to the point your ears scrape across the door jam. In psychoanalysis, the ego is a division of the psyche that is conscious, most immediately controls thought and behavior, and is most in touch with external reality. Along my journey, a big BIG BIG mirror reflected back how my ego kept me separate from my intuition and spirit, and pushed me away from feeling a sense of unity with other Fools. It’s been said that EGO stands for Everybody’s Got One. Have you ever had a  knee-jerk reaction to a situation about yourself or someone else and felt fear, anger, jealousy, pride, anxiety, etc…? Ever blame someone else for how lousy you feel, and never consider that you've somehow created the mess? Congratulations. You’ve got an ego too. We’ll explore more of the ego in upcoming posts. 

But for now, how can we begin to dissolve the bands of separateness created by our ego? Why not start with the sound of the day?

Sound/Musical Reference: Om (Ohm, Aum)  

If sitting around chanting Om seems really Fool-like to you, you’re not alone. I used to think the same thing. But Om is an extraordinary sound if you give it a chance to work its magic on you.

To the Hindus, the "mother tone" Aum created the universe out of nothing. All the frequencies and overtones of all other sounds were contained within this seed sound.  If one uses the Om sound through visual meditation and sounding of the vibration, it is supposed to allow you to become ONE with the source of all that is. 

So, give it a try! There’s lots of ways to use the OM mantra, and no right or wrong method, but a simple example is to take a moment and breathe in/exhale deeply several times.  Relax and begin to hold a visualization of whatever “OM” means to you, and repeat the sound either silently or out loud for several minutes. Where do you feel the sound resonating in your body? You can focus on breaking the sound up into Ah -oo- mm as in AUM if you like. Focusing on OM can have many practical side-effects, such as feeling less stress, and a silencing of the internal chatter of the mind. The sound helps me feel as though I've found my true h"om." 

For more ways to use “Om,” there are numerous websites to choose from, but here are a few:

http://swamij.com/om-mantra.htm

http://www.healingsounds.com/planetary-healing-sounds