pages versus knights for communication

Pages and Knights confuse the hell out of me concerning messages and communications.

Most tarot books will say that Pages are letters/messages being sent. Some books will say that the knights are the same thing.

I thought Pages were only for messages and knights are only for actions. So what is the difference between these two court cards as for sending or receiving communication?

BLFO, this is just the way I see them. It´s very personal so for a more solid explanation, you may wait for input of other members. Ask, Thriteen. To me, though, I see the Page, the Knight and the King as the same person but in a continuum. As if the attitudes, the feelings were going through stages of development. The Page is still probing, has the will and the "childish" motivation to do things but may not start anything really. So, I would see a Page as someone who would be very willing to say something but may not actually do it for fear of blunders. Or, who may do it anyway and make a complete mess. The Knight, on the other hand is cocky and does not doubt himself too much. He´ll do things or not (pentacles are more to avoiding things, in my experience) but will gladly suffer the consequences because, "they did what they wanted to do and believed that was right!". Full stop. The King will do things but his actions will be thought about, considered and will normally be successful and or reasonable because he has "conquered" his impulses a bit more.

The disagreement about who carries messages could be down to the tradition being followed. In general, the RWS tradition says pages carry messages while in the Marseilles tradition it's the knights. In the Marseilles, some of the knights even have saddle bags that look like they're meant to carry messages.

I tend to see both as capable of carrying messages but then you need to think about pages and knights at court. A page might be given a message to carry somewhere in the castle on foot. A knight might be given a message to carry to the next kingdom by horseback.

I'd be wary of saying "only" about any of the courts.

I like the concept of a continuum. Pages as Apprentices. They do things, but with no independence. Knights as Journeymen. They already know how to do the work, and they do a lot of things on their own, but they are still learning. Kings as the Master. They are the ones giving the orders. If they do things, they are totally independent. They have the deepest knowledge.

So if a message is being delivered, the Page might bring it, the Knight might take it further distances, but the King initiated the idea behind the message.

Queens are Masters in their own way, but there is always a nurturing side to them, and a teaching side that the Kings don't have.

(And what is really odd here is that I was figuring all this out as I was writing it. Re-learning stuff for the third time means that I've got all kinds of info locked up that I don't know I know from the last two times I did Tarot.)

to me the knights are about making things happen....

knight of cups possibly making plans to get together where the page would be more of an incline to commuicate via email, phone, etc.

knight of pentacles to me is a stubborn person who does not give up and won't budge from their position

page of pentacles 0 is a message to you use common sense, trust a little more

knight of wands - making a bold move and daring to go for it, where the page of wands is someone who has similar attributes, but much more irrational and careless

page of wands - this is more of a message being delivered telling you to go for the opportunity at hand

knight of swords - moving fast, getting to the point and getting it done now, not caring who gets in the way

page of swords - is a message that is telling you to be thinking it thru, to keep preservering

Excellent posts. I suppose the only thing left to mention is that knights are armored and ready to fight. Pages are menials and lackeys who have to be respectful and aren't going to be trusted with super-important messages (maybe a few "meet me at the north tower!" or flirtatious flowers, but nothing like "the enemy is invading!").

So, if a page has a message, he'll run up to you, kneel and say, "Message sir/madam...." and eagerly tender it to you. Anyone at court, after all, can shout, "Page! Take this message!" So, very much, a letter, email, phone call just telling you some quickie information or something fun/flirtatious. Nothing someone would be afraid to have read or intercepted. And pages are ready to take back a response as well.

But a knight arrives there on horseback (speed across a great distance) and in armor. This is a commanding message or an urgent message--like the enemy is attacking from the north!--and you'd better respond nicely/quickly, because the knight means business. You offer an insult and the knight, the king's own messenger, might run you through. You refuse and there might be mortal combat or disaster. This message is important, and the knight makes sure that no one intercepts it, because if it is intercepted, if the knight dies and the message is read by someone else...that's the end. He'll also take back a message to his master, but it better be equally important. He hasn't time for anything frivolous.