After we pass the stage of Unconsciousness represented by The Wheel Of Fortune we enter the one of The Magician.
I also call it Consciousness.
The Magician is the stage of initiation. His feet are on the ground, for he has reached the consciousness of his path. He is beginning to know himself, to know Nature and to know God.
He has started a quest seeking transcendental knowledge, by means of study and practice. He can initiate in Religion, the Kabbalah, Alchemy, Magick, energy development and controlling, Yoga, etc. It depends on a person's interest and strength to carry on the fight.
So The Magician has every element of his practice on the table in front of him: the pentacle, the staff, the sword and the cup. He becomes aware of many hermetic principles in order to perform the transformations. However, the only true transformation is the Great Work, the path of enlightenment.
Although throughout times Magic(k) and Religion have been in conflict, it is my understanding that they are both vehicles of Light, if interpreted the right way. And towards that we have the Kabbalah from which Magick takes its principles and by which Religion is explained.
Also in Magick, we have Aleister Crowley who says: 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, Love under will.' in his Book Of The Law, which can be rather controversial. I believe however that even his teachings can be compatible with Religion and therefore all true religions. Every truth is true.
Regarding Religion, I must say that there are many true religions which are different manifestations of a single principle which, in my point of view, can be Love. Christianism preaches Love to our brothers. Buddhism talks of compassion. I will discuss this in the stage of The Sun.
Judaism and Christianism, if explained by the Kabbalah, make a complex but beautiful path of enlightenment. Their quest is to become reunited with God, ascending Sephiroth by Sephiroth towards Ein-Soph.
Buddhism has a difference between it and other religions: it is almost the only one with the explicit quest for enlightenment, for it sometimes is not considered a religion, but a philosophy. Anyway, its purpose is the one I mentioned, Nirvana. The path to follow is explained in the state of The Wheel Of Fortune.
As to Alchemy, which Christianism so much accused of false and maybe demoniac, it also is a vehicle of Light. The transformation it proposes can be interpreted as a mere methafor of what should happen with our soul and spirit. I consider that the physical transmutation can be possible though, because of the principle of analogy of the Tabula Smaragdina.
As to the many types of Yoga, they involve energy (prana), like Kundalini Yoga. In fact, life force, chi, qi, prana, Kundalini, orgone, odic force, huna, animal magnetism, orenda, num, are all different names for the same thing: a universal energy that unifies everything and is a common element of every religion since their beginning.
The life force is the great magical agent that must be controlled and that performs the Great Transmutation. I have however many unsolved questions about its nature and relation with God and the primordial Light Source (Ein-Soph Aur). So I realise that this stage is full of confusion and if we have no-one to guide us we might just get lost.
There is also Raja Yoga, which is the higher path of the yogas. Its objective is the Samadhi, which is a state in which the self doesn't really exist: the self and the object are one and so we achieve transcendental knowledge. Samadhi is union with the whole, union with God. I will discuss this further.
However, beware! The Great Path is difficult and it involves work and pawning. There are many, many ways to get lost and confused. Buddhism calls our attention to the Siddhis. They are special powers that we acquire as a product of our evolution. They are not the aim though. We must not focus on them or else they will give us nothing, no other aim. We might even lose them.
Is it true that a magician seeks these powers? If so, how to explain that many magicians die in poverty or disgrace, humiliated or even killed? The powers are the fake path which will lead us to nothing more. But still many people take it. I will not be the judge though. Every person has its way to learn. Every person has its own path.
Take one. We will one day meet in Unity and Love.
