Door Number 23: The Magician

I thought I finished this latest portal “door” on the weekend; however, I noticed a need for two little touch ups this morning of the potent Black Moon in Cancer. (A Black Moon is the second New Moon in a sign, like a Blue Moon’s the second Full Moon in a sign.) I knew I would post the painting in alignment with the New Moon, but it turns out I also finished it three hours before the Sun and Moon conjunct at 28 degrees Cancer at 1:33 p.m. Eastern time today. (You can find more information on this alignment in the above link.)

I only point out the precise synchronizing of this portal and this astro event, because this portal’s been so very long in the making. It actually began back in 2018, when I felt led to paint a large Sidhe (pronounced “she”) glyph and hang it in my office for inspiration:

The Sidhe are an ancient and regal race of Faery beings who work with humans to help preserve the Earth and shift it to a more harmonious vibration. Similar spirals appear as signs of healing, and even in Reiki. This particular Sidhe glyph comes from an experience that author John Matthews wrote about in his book, The Sidhe: Wisdom from the Celtic Otherworld.

Door Number 21, The Hermit Portal, now hangs in this location. As part of the replacement process, I was “told” to paint a Magician portal on top of the Sidhe canvas, so that the magic and energy of the Sidhe would hold the background energy. I needed to wait until Door Number 23 to do that, though, because the Magician needed to be a “123 Portal.” In Tarot, the Magician is card Number 1, with the Fool as 0, so by creating the Magician as Door Number 23, I would unite the 1-23 into a kind of magical number sequence, the next logical step.

Lady Justice synchronously presented herself as an 11-11 commissioned piece, right at the time I needed a Door Number 22, and right on time for events in our collective world. This allowed the Magician to come through as the intended 123, and the “1” also amplifies the message of the portal quote by William Blake: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

As always, sorry for the photo quality. I have THE most difficult time photographing portal paintings! The brown forms the edge. The blue is the wall of my office, and this is a straight edged, rectangular canvas, 2′ x 3′, another 123 echo, despite the apparent angles of the canvas. The whole painting plays with perspective, with the table both in front of and behind the threshold.

The quote wraps around a threshold — the “door” of this painting — but with the 1 “address,” the quote subliminally reads, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, EVERYTHING ONE would appear to man as it is, infinite.” The infinity symbol of the Magician’s hat, as well as the infinity symbol floating above his hand, both amplify the “infinite” message.

The photos don’t quite show it, but I texturized the threshold to give it a rough wood-like effect. That’s why the print seems a little wiggly, since it goes over the rise and fall of the wood “grain.” I wanted contrast between precision in some areas and “messy” things that only make sense with the infinite perspective. The found object crushed bottle cap (more on this later) also echoes this idea.

I felt led to base this painting on the 15th century Marseilles Tarot deck, shown here in the book, Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey, by Sallie Nichols:

I added the threshold because this is a portal “door” series, but also because thresholds are liminal spaces where boundaries blur. Any hinge point or crossroads amplifies magical energy, much like today’s New Moon, that brings together Sun and Moon at the end of Cancer, opposing Saturn in Capricorn. Sun-Moon, Mother-Father, opposites reverberate at this time and in this painting.

In addition to adding the threshold and the William Blake quote, I shifted the table contents to the more traditional Tarot representation of all Four Elements: pentacle (Earth), sword (Air), wand (Fire) and cup (Water).

I also added the full 18-Armanen Rune sequence to the front of the table, representing another creative sequence. The sequence begins to repeat itself at the far right, suggesting another “infinity” echo:

The 18-Rune Armanen sequence appears in Door Number 15: The World Tree and the Norns, as well as Door Number 16: UR ~ “Not all who wander are lost.” The shared sequence links these portals, as does the William Blake quote, which ties into my very first in this series: Door Number 1: Payurteel. The quote on that (actual) door reads:

“There are things known and things unknown, and in between are the doors.” ~ Jim Morrison.

The group The Doors was named for William Blake’s “doors of perception,” so having that quote appear on this 123 portal feels extra powerful. Another 123, linking Door Number 1 with Door Number 23.

If it sounds like I’m marveling at the creative process, I am, because I don’t control it. Even commissioned pieces come to me through dreams, visions and synchronicities. When I get a Dream-Guy-commissioned piece begun 2.5. years ago and yet perfectly aligned with the now, that gets my attention. I don’t know what it all means, but to me, it does feel magical. 🙂

Speaking of magic, the wand in his hand comes from the three weeping cherry trees outside our house. Years ago, I was “told” I’d make a magic wand from these trees, but I always found the fallen branches too thin. When I began to paint The Magician, I realized it was his wand I’d make. One reason I felt led to mimic the Marseilles deck version of this card was because it lent itself well to turning the Magician into a kind of Renaissance artist figure. Magic is a creative act, and art can be magical — especially painting portals! I kept his clothing in primary colors as another tie-in to primal elements. His hat in red and green echoes the red oroborus formed in an infinity symbol on the green Door Number 1. Yet another tie-in to that door.

Finally, this portal features a found bottle cap from Bell’s Brewery — a Kalamazoo institution. I happened to see it in our garage on Saturday and realized it needed to go under William Blake. Somehow this image feels very William Blake to me, but it also ties into the Sidhe glyph and other portals.

This cap is from Oberon Ale, one of Bell’s more famous brews, and I have no idea how it wound up in our garage. I think David found it somewhere and liked the worn edge contrasting with the fiery Sun. Oberon is the Fairy King in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, providing a kind of Sidhe echo. (I just glanced at the clock and it happens to be my birth time just as I typed “Sidhe echo.”)

This is not the first time that a Bell’s Brewery bottle cap mysteriously appeared and grabbed my attention for a portal door. Something similar happened with Door Number 20: Oak, Ash and Thorn, aka The Isis Portal. Notably, that’s also a VERY Faery portal, since oak, ash and thorn trees are sacred to the Fae and tend to mark liminal spaces where they live. In the case of Door Number 20, it was a Bell’s Brown Ale cap that I found sitting by the pottery bowl where I keep my keys and sunglasses, right next to where I happened to be painting that door — which had also mysteriously disappeared and then reappeared for painting right at the perfect moment. That bottle cap is a great horned owl, and whenever an owl appears, I take notice:

But back to Oberon and the Sun logo. This also links it to Door Number 19: The Sun, which, in retrospect, amplified the crazy synchro over the top precognitive dreams and dream bleedthrough I’ve been having since September 2019. The dreams actually began in preparation for that portal painted as my 46th birthday gift to myself, back in May 2019. The quote on that portal?

“Take a small step in the direction of a dream and watch the synchronous doors flying open.” ~ Julia Cameron

Both Door Number 19 (The Sun) and Door Number 23 (The Magician) focus on creativity — unleashing the creative process into something joyful and shining. Synchronously, one translation of the Sidhe is “The Shining Ones,” and they often work with artists and writers to inspire creativity — all of which brings me full circle to the Sidhe spiral underlying the Magician.

Where does it all lead? I don’t know. I just dream and paint, but I like that the Magician seems playful and happy. He’ll look nice on the other side of the Sun portal in our exercise “room” downstairs. I love zoning out on the exercise bike and letting the portals do their thing.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for joining me on another portal painting adventure. Happy New Moon blessings and beyond!