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Summary:
Check out all of my finished Tarot Cards here: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/sam-in-new-york-tarot-cards
Third video in my Tarot Explanation series! Here’s a breakdown of the second card of the Major Arcana, The Magician. I explain the symbolism behind it and why I chose Sam for my version of it (the Fortunus Games Tarot deck). Sam is the main character from my Tapas graphic novels, “Sam in New York” and “Finding Sam.”
Read “Finding Sam” for more information about how his parents see his desires to become an actor.
Although “Finding Sam” isn’t canon, since it takes place in an alternative timeline, it’s a good approximation of how his parents will see his desire to become an actor and filmmaker later down the line.
In “Sam in New York,” we’re still looking at Sam’s childhood and he only starts talking about being a famous actor when he’s in university.
Transcript:
Hi everyone. This week, we’re going to be looking at how I chose to portray The Magician in my - Fortunus Games’ - tarot deck.
First of all, notice that the card is numbered 1. This is the number of new beginnings and opportunities and it continues from where we last left off at 0. Coincidentally, both 0, the Fool, and 1, the Magician, star Sam Abramov, the protagonist of my Tapas graphic novel, “Sam in New York.”
Because the Major Arcana can be seen as The Fool’s journey, starting with The Fool and ending with The World, I have chosen Sam to portray a lot of the cards in the Major Arcana, but not all of them. I chose Sam for the cards that symbolize beginnings because he plays a very large role in, of course, his own graphic novel, “Sam in New York.” He is also one of the most ambitious characters in my works.
As someone who wants to be a famous actor and filmmaker, he’s willing to do anything to achieve his goals. And his pose here reflects that. Like other magicians in other tarot card decks, one of his arms is stretched towards the heavens, while the other is pointing downwards.The arm pointing upwards is pointing towards the Universe, while the arm pointing downwards is pointing at the Earth. This symbolizes Sam (or The Magician)’s connection with the spiritual and the material realms.
According to BiddyTarot.com, the Magician uses the relationship between the celestial and earth powers to create and manifest his goals on the earth.
In front of him are the four symbols of the Minor Arcana: the pentacle, the cup, the sword, and the wand. Each of these symbolizes one of the four elements: water, earth, air, fire.
The cup is water, the pentacle is earth, the sword is air, and the wand is fire. Above Sam’s head is an infinity symbol, which means that he thinks there are limitless possibilities in this world.
Now let’s take a look at what he has behind him. He has a retro filmmaking device or camera right next to him. Behind him are curtains that symbolize his love for theater and Yiddish theater, which we saw in the first few chapters of “Sam in New York.”
Above all, The Magician symbolizes sheer willpower and Sam has plenty of that.
See you next week for the next tarot card!