By Cynthia Ray

Desire is the engine that drives our will.  Do you know what you want, what you desire with all of your heart?   When we truly want something, we take definite steps towards obtaining it.  In fact, we are pulled towards our desire, like iron to a magnet.  It’s a powerful, fiery force.

Our fiery desire is what keeps us going when we run into difficulties on the path to winning the object we yearn for.  If I decide I want to become a published author, I may not know that writing a book can be a long and difficult journey, and only my desire and determination will get me through to the final chapter. 

To better understand this fundamental creative process, let’s turn to Tarot, my favorite symbolic language. The Magician has a lot to tell us about how to get what we want in life.  He knows what he desires, and is the process of creating it.  The Magicians red cape signifies Desire that drives Will. He is asking us what we want to grow in the beautiful garden of our life.  The first step is knowing what we want!  Be clear about that.  Be specific.

The wings on his headband are a nod to the Roman god Mercury, who was the messenger between the world of gods, and the world of men. Likewise, the Magician within us brings ideas from the world of thought to the world of action and manifestation. The Magician is the part of our psyche that makes things happen. He holds a hollow wand, pointed up, while pointing down with his other hand, directing energy.  He knows he can direct power and energy, but is not the source of that power. He is connecting with his muse, his higher self, Life itself.  All the power that ever was or ever will be is here now, all we have to do is tap into that source and direct it into our life’s work. 

The table in front of the Magician holds the tools of his trade. They show us that in order to manifest or create anything, we must journey through four worlds; the Archetypal World, the Creative World, the Formative World, and the World of Results, represented by the wand, cup, sword and pentacle.  

We begin our journey through the four worlds by picking up our wand, which stands for our will, our intention, our fire.  We are in the Archetypal world.  In this first world we identify our desire, what we want, deciding what we will pursue. WE WILL.  We wave our wand and direct our attention to the object of our desire. Keywords associated with the Magician include attention, concentration, singleness of purpose.  Here, we might decide to write a historical fiction novel.  The Idea or Archetype of a book exists, and we pull upon those patterns to know how to proceed. 

Then we raise our cup, full of emotion, feeling, imagination, and water and drink deeply.  We are standing in the Creative World, where we let our wonderful imagination do its magic.  What period of history will the story take place in?  Who are the characters?  What do they look like?  What are their problems? What kind of world do they live in?   What will happen to them?  What is the story about?  We create many things in this world, and allow our imagination to run wild, but as we begin to narrow it down, we step into the Formative World and pick up our sword.

In this world, our sword flies through the air cutting away what it not necessary, forming a solid plan out of our many ideas.  We work out the story in detail, we sit down every day and write, we move post it notes around on our wall, we cut away things that don’t work.  We make the story come alive.  We edit.  We make choices. The sword is our inspired action.  At last, after months, or years, we have a final draft in hand, the result of desire, will, inspired thought, creative endeavor, hard work, dedication, and perseverance.

We have arrived in the World of Results.  The Pentacle is our  book, published. Our historical fiction novel makes its debut into the world.  We feel proud of our accomplishment, hoping it provides enjoyment, food for thought and makes someone’s life a bit better.

Everything we create in our world, all that we grow the garden of our life, applies these principles.  The Magician might be a great image to post on your desk, reminding you that you are the Magician of your own life, and you have all the tools you need to create something wonderful. 

Wishing you many inspired journeys through the four worlds, and results that fill you with satisfaction and joy.