Pages, don't get'em

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Nov 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

kelpy	18 Nov 2003
My friend gave me a beginners guide to tarot by Juliet Sharman-Burke for my birthday (this is my 4th day of study) I am following the books suggestion of only studing one suit at a time Cups is first. I have been studing them and I cant get the Pages meaning. mental block I guess, I have been doing 5 card reading in just the suit of cup and when the page comes into play I have to refer to the book. and still dont understand can some please explain it to me Kelansta

HudsonGray	18 Nov 2003
Thirteen's got some nice info on Pages over here, this may help: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/basics/pages.html

kelpy	18 Nov 2003
Thank you Hudson Gray, I did check that out, starting to make sense now thank you

Star Spirit	19 Nov 2003
Thirteen's Tarot Basics are great help. Just think of the pages as children, or childish people. Get to know the 4 different personalities and relate them to people you know, to help you remember. This goes for all the court cards. When not read as people, the Pages are messengers.

anjocoxo	19 Nov 2003
Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who relates pages to childish people. The first time I did a reading with court cards, one page came up. I knew the person I was doing the reading to very well, so I immediately connected the card to "childish behaviour" - which she was having, a lot indeed. Sometimes it can mean a child, but you try to study a bit more and see what you feel more confortable with (in what comes to meanings). Anjo

Kiama	19 Nov 2003
Hello Kelensta, You've got some great responses to this so far, but I thought I'd add my own view into the mix... I see each 'type' of Court Card (when I say type I mean Queen, or Knight for instance) as embodying some quality, which I have taken mostly from the elemental associations for each type of Court given by Crowley. In this, the Kings are Fire, (and therefore associated with action, etc) the Queens are Water (and tehrefore associated with flow, communication, and channels) the Knights are Air (and therefore associated with rapid movement) and the Pages are Earth (and tehrefore associated with fertilization.) To expand on this... The Pages are Earth, and in the earth we find new seeds sprouting. The earth fertilizes everything in one way or another, and gives rise to new things. So from this, I have come to see all the Pages as 'First Stirrings', just as seeds find their first stirrings in the fertile earth. Now, I get my meanings for teh Pages by adding the 'First Stirrings' part to the general meaning of the suit. This may be different for you, but to me the suits represent: Cups: Emotions, inspiration, love. Air: Intellect Earth: Hard work, learning, and material possessions. Fire: Spirituality, passion, action. So, to me the Page of Cups represents the 'First Stirrings of Cups', or the first stirring, the realisation of, the new ideas for... love, inspiration, emotions, ideas. (Because of this I often see the Page of Cups as the artist looking for new inspiration, or the person on the brink of finding new emotions within themselves.) I found this a very useful way to look at the Pages, and it is very fun to explore it with your own ideas of the elements, etc. (Which is why I won't tell you anymore about what I think, and will instead let you think about what you think. ;)) Hope this helps! Kiama

SongDeva	19 Nov 2003
Loved Kiama's response, was a help to me. I also see them as the novice/apprenctice (before the knight) who is first beginning to learn or embody (page = physical) the qualities of the suit. So, to follow Kiama's lead a bit, page of wands (assuming wands = fire/spirituality) would indicate the the beginning of the *experience* of spirituality. Whereas, Knight = action of spirituality Queen = feeling/emotion of spirituality Kind = knowledge of spirituality. A good exercise might be to look at your pages with the suit of pentacles (earth, physical). And queens with cups, etc. Lara

Majecot	19 Nov 2003
I too see them as childish type people, and as messengers of news. Kiama has some very insightful advise. "Cups: Emotions, inspiration, love. Air: Intellect Earth: Hard work, learning, and material possessions. Fire: Spirituality, passion, action. " If you look at the suits as a whole for the basic feeling, then study as groups, not by suit, but by numbers... that might help. Meaning.. look at them in groups of 4 .. Kings, Queens, Prince, Pages.. etc I think if you try to learn the entire suit at once it will be too over whelming. Hope that helps :D

Inana	19 Nov 2003
I dont fully agree with pages being childish people. It may be sometimes, but some others they are representing young women. This is more clear to relate in the decks where the pages are called Princesses.

Chronata	19 Nov 2003
Wow ! I love all the different ideas about Pages! I may have to remember some of these when a Page pokes his or her head into my next reading. I will add my view (or should I say..."one of my views"!) about Pages to the big mix... Sometimes, for me, the Pages are children who are just learning thier element... And sometimes Pages represent adults who have been hurt and are just re-learning thier element...or adults who never had the opportunity to learn about this or that element, and now has to face it and how to deal with it. Sometimes this makes them childish...sometimes not...) For instance...the Page of Cups...the element of Water...I see as a child, that this is a young person just understanding thier complicated emotions. But water is also beauty and art...and so I often see this child as someone who is very expressive...maybe not vocally, but often artistically, musically, or in the way they care about others... as an adult, I see the Page come up often as someone who has just grieved over the loss of a relationship. Usually at the end of a breakup, a person starts to release emotions like a tidal wave, and I see this card as a validation to someone...that yes, they can throw a tantrum if they wanna...those closest to them will understand... The one Page that comes up so often for me, as meaning an adult who has never learned thier element in the first place is the Page of Pents... I can't tell ya how often this comes up in a reading for someone who in thier late 20s or 30s is just now discovering how Money,finances, loans, taxes, banks, savings, annuities, stocks etc...really work! I myself, still have not learned!

kelpy	19 Nov 2003
I would like to thank everyone who replied to my thread on the pages, You all have given my insight on them in very useful ways I have printed up all of you explainations for future reference Thanks Kelansta

The Pages, don't get'em thread was originally posted on 18 Nov 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.