Conquering The Court - Page Swords

Now on to the third in the 16 part series of Conquering the Court - Once and For All!

I hope we're all learning and becoming more confident in our interpretations.

We move onto the Page of Swords.

Pages are associated with Earth and this page is Air. So this page is the youthful and immature characteristics of air.

Pages typically are children or messages.

This page is an inquisitive child; the one that asks, "Why?"

As a messenger.... I have nothing for this one!

So if the Page of Swords comes up in a reading, it could be a child or a message associated with the air aspects.

Discuss..... I am so lacking for this one.

Page swords tends to bring unexpected or bad news, could be someone who is clever, a smart talker, a fast learner, blunt and to the point but tends to be troublesome and difficult to deal with, stubborn comes to mind

As far as the Page of Swords goes in the message category I feel he brings messages that are challenging, and/or thought provoking, he also brings upsetting news. He is the only page who if he feels the need can give messages of slander or even rumors.

So why is he seen in a more negative way than the others? The swords are my favorite suit because I am more logical and I tend to think that emotion clouds my judgment. But everything I read tends to romanticize the cups courts and the swords are always bad news. I don't get it.

The swords tend to be rather an unemotional lot, not that worried about upsetting the feelings of others with their sharp tongues and acid wit, they just tell you as it is, straight to the point and no messing around. So, this type of bluntness can really upset the meeker folk in life, they can percieve it as an attack.

They feel the truth as they perceive it outweighs your emotional response to it. They have a tendency towards superiority as they evolve too. These are traits we can respect,if deserved but not necessarily enjoy in others.

I am 50% sword.

Sinduction said:

So why is he seen in a more negative way than the others? The swords are my favorite suit because I am more logical and I tend to think that emotion clouds my judgment. But everything I read tends to romanticize the cups courts and the swords are always bad news. I don't get it.

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Perhaps it is just the association with the rest of the suit. Maybe it is just me, but cards like the 3, 9, 10 of swords especially (and some of the others to a lesser extent) just make me think OUCH! YUCK! whenever I see them. Then along comes the poor Page of Swords and it's just guilt by association.

First thoughts to get this started: Strong will, on guard,a ruthless intelligence growing. Of the pages he is both the easiest and toughest to describe I feel. A bit paradoxical or diametrically opposed to one single description. Sometimes I think he has the qualities of a bi-polar, well that thought leans towards knights or older pages, but still he does. This fellow is tenitively vigilant and trying to be prepared for any situation. He will provoke a challenge just to prove his mental courage and ability. He is sharp. He keeps his eyes open. He see’s the truth as his upbringing and perceptions have shaped him and at this level trys not let emotions cloud his sight. AN intresting ability of this page:he has an ability the other suites lack…he can triumph without violence even against the odds when stacked against the other pages, he is that sharp and devious if need be.

I do think at some point we need to look at this pages features. In the Rider-Waite he verges on both serene and beatific. His stance and holding of the sword shows very little if any physical aggression..he is thinking not swinging that sword.

This page seems to be a page that quite easily gets himself in a crisis but he is a very determined and dedicated person who cannot be easily discouraged probably a case of more energy than sense. He can see the deviousness in others but as he is still at the beginning, he is not competent to deal with it when it arises. But he does rush into situations when he thinks that he is right, it could be that he is being too defensive of his own position but then he is only a new student in the class of mental abilities.

As a child

I often see pages as real children. Not always - obviously - but in the right context.

This is how I would describe a page of Swords child:

He's as bright as a button. He learnt to speak before the age of one, and by 5 he was already reading and writing fluently - sometimes in more than one language. He is a whizz with computers, doing things his parents don't even understand. He is a whizz with words and facts, of course - and that cuts both ways. He can be both clever and cutting. He can even be a brat, but not in the boisterous way of the Page of Wands - rather - he's precocious and answers back, and can irritate the hell out of slower people, including adults. He has no respect for age, only for intelligence and cleverness. He invents words - if he and his brother the page of cups get together, they'll invent a new language complete with dictionary (their motivations will be different).

She always wins at pictionary and trivial pursuit. She is unlikely to be very sporty unless there's a good dose of Wands or Pents in her too. As a girl, she's not very girly, but not necessarily a tomboy either. As a boy, he'll be an early nerd. He knows facts nobody else knows, and juggles and plays with them for fun. He can lie just because he knows he'll get away with it and it makes him feel clever, but he is not a compulsive liar, and generally, he doesn't bother, because he's also not afraid of hurting people with the truth. With time he can learn diplomacy, without sacrificing the truth. She'll answer back in class - not for a dare, but if she thinks the teacher is wrong about something.

She has a strong sense of justice. Justice and idealism are embedded in the Swords court, and it shows up early in the Page. The Sword of Justice is both fair and cutting. He will rarely act unfairly. At his best, that child can be a mediator or an arbiter in other people's fights. His ideals are not like the page of cups dreamy idealism - they are much more abstract.

The young Dumbledore in Harry Potter is the epitome of the Page of Swords - whose early ideal was "the greater good" - which means, sometimes, sacrificing individuals. That is also their notion of justice.


Unless the deck specifically points to the Swords/Air correspondence, I tend to see Swords as fire - they are forged in fire, they are tools of war, hot and purifying. They are the symbols, since forever, of Justice - and Justice is purifying (fire is pur in Greek - a sad symbol at the moment , as Greece burns). Therefore in decks where air is not suggested, I also see the page of Swords as a purifying force in its infancy.

Swords also stand for Truth. But as we saw above, a real-life little swords page can lie for the sake of feeling clever. It is as she grows up and confronts idealism, the quest of the Knight, defeat and the meaning of Justice and Truth that he will stop lying and become a truthful man or woman. Neither the King nor the Queen of Swords (in their upright positions) are notorious liars.

So the page of Swords (if not a child) can also be the beginning of truth, the seed of truth. Also - a truthful message. Not always welcome, but truthful.