The Sugar-Figure Man

Tarot: Week of Monday, September 21

A card drawn from one of three decks

This is an archived reading, kept as it was published.

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The Sugar-Figure Man

The Tarot of Beijing
The Sugar-Figure Man

At the temple fair the Sugar-Figure Man blows molten sugar into a translucent dragon in front of astonished children. From breath, heat and practised hands, a thing appears that was not there. This is the Magician in the deck's own clothes, and its whole point is the temperature of the sugar. The material of this week is still warm. Whatever situation you are in has not set yet, and everything you need to shape it is in your hands, and the hands know what to do. Shape it now. The card's warning is the one every sugar-worker knows: wait, and the sugar hardens into whatever shape it was in when you stopped, and no amount of skill reopens it. This week, breathe into the thing while it is still soft.

Read the full card

For your star sign

The same reading, taken through each sign of the zodiac.

Aries

The sugar is hot and you will grab it. Blow, do not grab. This week the shaping is breath and turning, and force cracks the dragon before it is a dragon.

Taurus

You will wait for the sugar to cool so you can handle it safely. Cool sugar is finished sugar. This week shape it while it is uncomfortable to hold, which is the only time it can be shaped.

Gemini

You will start three dragons and finish none before the sugar sets. One dragon this week, blown all the way to its tail. The Magician makes one thing at a time.

Cancer

You will shape the sugar into what someone else asked for. This week make your own figure. The children are astonished by what appears, not by what was ordered.

Leo

The astonished children are your audience and the sugar does not care about them. This week work the material, not the crowd. The dragon that impresses is the one made with attention on the sugar.

Virgo

You will refine the dragon after the sugar has set and wonder why it cracks. This week the refinement happens while it is soft, in the same motion as the shaping. There is no second pass.

Libra

You will weigh whether to make a dragon or a phoenix until the sugar hardens into a lump. Choose this week, early, and blow. The material is the deadline.

Scorpio

You will shape the sugar where nobody can see. This week do it at the fair. The Magician's power is real whether watched or not, but the children are part of the card.

Sagittarius

You will blow the dragon and leave before it cools. Stay this week. The last turn of the figure, while it sets, is what makes it stand rather than sag.

Capricorn

You have a plan for a dragon and the sugar will not wait for the plan. This week improvise with hot material. Everything you need is in your hands; the schedule is not one of the tools.

Aquarius

You will explain the technique to the children and let the sugar set. This week shape first. The dragon is the explanation, and it only exists if you make it while the material is warm.

Pisces

You feel the shape the sugar wants and hesitate to impose it. Impose it this week. The Magician's will is the tool, and the sugar has no opinion of its own.

For your Chinese animal

The same reading, taken through each animal of the Chinese zodiac.

Rat

You will sell the dragon before it is blown. Blow it first. This week the material is warm and the market is not the point; the figure is.

Ox

You have the practised hands and the patience, and this week you have the heat. Do not let the heat go to waste on caution. Shape it while the sugar allows, then be patient with the cooling.

Tiger

You will blow too hard and burst the dragon. This week, breath and turning, measured. The Magician's power is control of the material, not force applied to it.

Rabbit

You will make a small careful figure and the sugar had room for a dragon. Make the dragon this week. The material is warm and generous, and small is not the same as safe.

Dragon

This is your figure, made in sugar in front of children. The week is the making of it. Do not wait for a better fair; the sugar is hot now and the hands are yours.

Snake

You will shape the sugar slowly and precisely and it will set halfway. This week work at the material's pace, not yours. The dragon is finished in one warm breath or not at all.

Horse

You will blow a dragon and run to the next stall before it stands. Stay this week until the figure sets. The Magician finishes what appears.

Goat

You will ask the children what shape they want. Make the one in your hands. This week the will is yours, and the astonishment comes from what you chose.

Monkey

You will blow a dragon, a phoenix and a fish from one lump and end up with a lump. One figure this week. Skill is the cleverness, not the variety.

Rooster

You will correct the dragon's wing after the sugar has hardened. This week the correction is in the making. Get the wing right while it is soft or accept the wing.

Dog

You will make the dragon for someone and give it away before it cools. This week make one and keep it. The Magician's work is his before it is a gift.

Pig

You will enjoy the warm sugar and forget to shape it. This week shape it. The pleasure of the material is real, and the dragon is what the pleasure was for.

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