The Magician as Intentions: To Make It Happen, Deliberately

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Magician as intentions is a plan with all the tools laid out. Here is what I would read in it, upright and reversed, and why the tools can cut both ways.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Magician as intentions that are deliberate, capable and about to become action. In an intentions position the card suggests the person has a plan involving you, has the means to carry it out, and intends to. The intention is clear and skilful. Whether it is sincere or strategic is the thing the Magician's tools do not announce.

This is the figure at the table with every suit laid out, one hand up and one hand down. They intend to make something. What they intend to make is the question.

The Magician upright as intentions

Tina Gong's the Magician guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with willpower, manifestation, resourcefulness and skill. When the card lands in a position that asks what someone intends toward you, I read those meanings as the shape of their plan rather than as a promise about what they will do. Feelings and intentions are different questions; the Magician as feelings covers the first, and this page covers the second. The Major Arcana overview at Biddy Tarot is a useful second reference.

Upright, I read the Magician as a person who intends to act on their interest with competence: to approach well, to say the right thing, to arrange the circumstances, to make the connection happen. They are not waiting for luck. They are planning, and their plans tend to work.

What I would not read into it is sincerity by default. The Magician's intention is to manifest. The same skill that manifests a real relationship manifests a convincing impression of one, and the person chooses which.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm the person's plan is honest, that it includes a relationship rather than a result, or that what they make will last once made. No card lets a reader see another person's plans. What a card can do is describe the kind of intention that fits the person's behaviour, and give you something to check against what they actually do.

The Magician reversed as intentions

Reversed, the Magician as intentions describes manipulation or waste: a plan to get something from you through charm and technique, intentions that are managed rather than felt, or a person with every tool and no will to use them well. It can also describe someone who says exactly the right thing because they have studied what the right thing is.

In your own question, ask whether the person's attention feels like a performance, and whether what they make between you seems made for you or made for effect. A reversed card as intentions is a prompt to compare what is said with what is done, not a diagnosis of bad faith.

The Magician as an ex's intentions

Asked about an ex, the Magician as intentions can suggest they are capable of reopening things and are considering how. That is ability, not decision. The Magician's tools sit on the table unused all the time, and a plan to return is not the same as returning. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Magician as a new person's intentions

For someone new, this card describes confident, deliberate intent: they like you and mean to do something about it, well. Enjoy the competence. Watch whether, once the approach has worked, the person is still as interested as the approach suggested.

What their intentions look like in action

Look for intention made visible: they plan, they follow through, they create occasions. A Magician intention is purposeful. If the purpose seems to be impressing you rather than knowing you, read the reversal, however polished the result.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, what the person has actually made happen between you, and whether it feels made for you or made for effect. The third note is the discerning one.

For comparison, the King of Wands as intentions and the High Priestess as intentions describe different intentions. The the Magician card meaning page covers the card in full, and the Magician as a person and the Magician as a yes or no cover the other questions people most often ask of it. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.