When Mercury Crosses the Sun: A Tarot Exercise

This week, on May 9th, we had a rare astronomical event. Mercury crossed in front of the sun.

For a look at the astrological impact of this event, see what Astrology King has to say.

I am much more a tarotist than an astrologer.

When I heard that Mercury crossed the Sun, all I could think was, “Hmmm, what a powerful reading that would be!”

Often, we create tarot spreads to perform in celebration or commemoration of holidays and special events.

This Mercury transit across the Sun made me think of another sort of tarot exercise; not a spread, but a configuration.

This configuration could be a reading, or a lesson, for the whole planet this week, and for each person on the planet.

Mercury crossing the Sun, for me, translates into tarot like this.

The Sun, Major Arcana 19, is the card that represents what is currently happening, or the energy that is currently available to us.

Mercury, for me, is the Magician, Major Arcana 1. That’s because Mercury is attributed to the Magician in a prominent system of tarot’s astrological associations.

The “As Above, So Below” arm gesture of the Magician calls to mind Hermes, who is conflated with Mercury.

As a crossing card in this configuration, the Magician represents the challenge or obstacle.

The Sun is the energy that we have available to us, the Magician is the thing we have to overcome to utilize that energy to its fullest.

Since this Mercury transit across the Sun is planetary event, we could say that, for just a moment this week, these two tarot cards, in this configuration, are pertinent to each of us.

The question is, how will you interpret them in your life?

What do you think they say to our planet as a whole?

The Power of the Magician

 Card One of the Major Arcana, the Magician, is one of my favorite cards. I know that some people see the Magician as the trickster because he is able to create illusion. But just like my take on another very magickal card, The Moon, I resonate more with magick for healing and positive growth than trickery.

The Magician carries so many positive messages. On a very mundane level, the Magician can simply indicate education. The Magician tells us to be smart, to learn and to keep an open mind.

The Magician tells us to take a clear accounting of our skills, tools and abilities. With his arms pointing to heaven and to Earth he reminds us of the eternal sources of power in our lives.

The Magician is connected to the wisdom of Hermes who teaches "As Above, So Below." Whatever is happening on a mundane level is also happening on a spiritual level, and vice versa.

Perhaps how we relate to the more magickal cards in tarot is connected to how we perceive the use of magick in our lives. If we are concerned with curses, jinxes and superstitious nonsense we might be wary of cards such as the Magician and the Moon.

If we understand magick to be a power that is our birthright - an energy we can use for healing - then we can count upon magick as one of our tools on our own Magician's table.