I'm going to continue working with the deck for this next week for my daily readings (and away from here for much longer, I expect).
Today I've got the Magician - this guy is one of the pale moon figures - he's conscious thought, skill, and will. He's got four arms, and each of his hands are manipulating one of the elements - a wand and sword in the right hands, a coin held up in one of his left hands, while the other dips a finger into a chalice on a small magician's table covered in a red print with gold stars, moons, and planets on it.
He performs this trick of multi-tasking on a small gold circle that rests on a red-floored stage. And this is a stage - while I can see stars and moon in the background, it's painted on - there are shadows on the wall revealing a crowd of onlookers and a spotlight is shining on the magician's face and reflecting on the wall behind him.
The Magician seems to be entirely focused on his tasks - eying the coin for its worth, checking the water with his finger, holding tight to his sword and raising that wand overhead... but he has to be aware of the crowd, too - you don't accidentally wind up on stage performing.
Things here aren't exactly as they appear... they are more, or less, then what is seen, and the magician's real task is to create the appearance of reality and spontaneity to something that is planned and, perhaps, artificially engineered.
And yet - it's not that the skill isn't there.. it's that the skill isn't merely what we think it is. He's really quite as able to handle this multitasking as he seems... what the audience maybe doesn't see is that he's also handling them.
So, looking forward into my day, I'm left wondering... where do I need to multi-task? Where do I need to 'perform' for others and deliberately create a specific impression? How much of what I focus on is dependent on how others will see it? And just how do I feel about that sticky and controversial question that always comes up with the Magician... just how much manipulation of people is acceptable without dipping into con artist territory?
Not ready to answer any of these right now... but I will be considering the questions today.
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