Magma

Interpretation & Meaning

The Earth is our rock, literally and figuratively.

It holds up bridges, skyscrapers and your hustling feet when the rain starts pouring and you better run home. We rely on its stability without realizing that the ground is the peel to an orange that we never get to squeeze.

If you think deep, though, things are not as sturdy. Deeper than the sewers and the metro lines, the gold and the oil, something keeps the heart of the planet pounding.

With its one thousand degrees Celsius, magma is a fiery fluid as real as the roads we drive on. It hides under the surface until it can’t hide anymore then spills out of mountains in order to be seen.

When this card shows up, it’s time to gather all the burning things within your soul and wave them like a flag.

Your exterior may be sturdy and reliable like the one of our planet, but the world needs a glimpse of your vulnerable side, too. If your public persona and your identity don’t match, it’s time to come clean about what makes you tick as a person, as a lover, as a professional. Making information and emotions available is the first step towards living as your authentic self.

If you’re not getting what you want, maybe you’re not making your goals and needs heard. If you’re excessively inhibited, you need to fight the feeling that you’re inwardly flawed and convince yourself that you can and will be loved exactly for what you are. Nobody is inherently defective and we’re all deserving of love.

The thing that’s burning inside might be uncomfortable to show, but hiding it isn’t helping anyone. The faster you dig it out, the sooner you can progress in your journey to become the person you’re supposed to be.

Keywords: coming clean • coming out • let it out • authenticity • honesty • genuine • transparency • frankness • vulnerability • secrecy • inhibition • playing a role • imposter syndrome • shyness • private personality

Practical References

Work	Surgeon, Radiologist, Singer, Fashion Designer, Actor, Performer, Writer and all jobs having to do with bringing the inside out
Situations & Life Events	Coming Out, Impostor Syndrome, Halloween, Carnival
Activities	Acting, Journaling, Confessing
Archetypes	The Truth-Teller, The Straight Shooter

Interpretation within the Game of Cracks

The Soil

In the Soil position, this card suggests an environment or situation that encourages wearing a mask, not being your true self, saving face. Whether that's a dysfunctional family or a deranged company culture, the consultant might be keeping a secret or living in fear of being exposed.

The Knot

As the Knot, this card symbolizes the tension between the identity we perform (our public persona) and the one we recognize when we look inside. In order to advance in your journey, you need to bring to the surface the deep, authentic self that you've been hiding

The Eye

When this card shows up as the Eye, it can represent someone who values authenticity and tends to speak their mind. It could be a genuine person who wears their heart on their sleeve or someone who's able to disclose difficult truths

The Fall

As the Fall, this card warns you against being completely transparent in the current situation. The problem at hand may require a filtered, more delicate approach than the one you would naturally adopt. "This is me, take it or leave it" should not be an excuse to hurt other people. As an alternative interpretation, it could also be a warning against showing your vulnerable side to the wrong people: they might take advantage of it and use it to their benefit

The Hook

When this card appears as the Hook, it's an invitation to access that deep, vulnerable side of your personality and show it to the world. Transparency and authenticity are the way to solve the problem at hand

The Fruit

In the Fruit position, this card suggests an outcome that manifests itself through a more transparent, authentic and honest way of living.

Homework & Practice

In order to embody this card, you can:

Reflect on your day and find the moments in which you purposely or subconsciously kept your true self from coming out. What would have happened if you hadn’t? What things would you have said? And how will you feel if you’re never able to get those opinions and information out?
Do something every day that reflects the person you think you are inside
Try to be mindful of the things you say and do throughout the day, as if you were observing yourself from the outside. Make a list of all the behaviors that feel authentic and the ones that feel performative. Ask yourself what you gained from acting disingenuously and how important that win is.
Host an imaginary debate between your inner self and your public persona. Listen to the back and forth and acknowledge that both are helping you in some capacity. If your performative self seems too dominant, try to negotiate a compromise between the two like you were mediating an international crisis.
At the end of the day, go back to your interactions and try to list the little white lies you told about yourself. Even though they might seem harmless, each of them hurts your authentic self by implicitly deeming it unworthy, flawed.
Try to embrace feeling uncomfortable. Exposing your true self to other people always comes with a certain amount of risk and fear. Even though your natural reaction might be to avoid this discomfort altogether, the payoff of feeling seen by the people in your world is eventually much more rewarding. Give yourself permission to feel anything you need to feel in order to get there.
Remember that there’s a power in vulnerability. By hiding your true self behind a wall, you internalize the feeling of not being worthy of love and that’s exactly what gives other people the power to hurt you. Living as your authentic self, on the other hand, is what builds the kind of self-love and confidence that make you indestructible.
Identify the people in your life who show their vulnerability and learn from them. How do they do it? How does it make you feel?

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