The Page of Cups

Several weeks ago, I created a diagram linking the sixteen court cards to the sixteen personalities of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I am now comparing what I know about each of the Pages to the Myers-Briggs types I've assigned to them.

The Page of Cups wears a painter's pallet hanging from her belt. She is dressed in a white tunic that is trimmed with a pattern of water lilies reminding me of eastern meditation. Like all the pages, her hair is long and luxuriant; this page wears a tiara of pearls. Her sandals are sturdy. In her right hand is a glowing, golden cup that has a silver mermaid on it. (There ought to be a word for metal-on-metal work. Perhaps there is?) A flying fish appears half out of the cup. The page's left hand is on her hip and she stands casually while watching the fish.

Sometimes this figure seems to be the same person as the figure on The Fool card of the Major Arcana.

The Page of Cups standing on a boardwalk above the ocean, and the sky behind her, according to artist Robin Wood, is upside down. "The gradient suggests the evening sky, but in reverse... it's far more ordinary for the pink to be at the bottom. So this person may stand your expectations on end."

Pages represent innocence and Cups represent joyful emotions. Receiving this card may indicate that a young person (or person who is young at heart) will enter the seeker's like, and that her trusting, sunny personality will renew the seeker's love of life. The person represented by this page is very different than anyone else and offers mental or spiritual stimulation that may lead others to express themselves artistically.

Robin Wood gave this page a crown of pearls "to show her affinity with the ocean." The ocean symbolizes so much: life itself, change, turbulence and calm, emotions, obstacles, the subconscious, depths, the unknown, the power and mystery of nature, something primal that existed before creation, and the feminine divine.  

Water represents intuition. Intuition is an essential characteristic for human beings, it helps us make good decisions, protects us from danger, and if cultivated, can make us supremely expressive artists. This adolescent is listening to her heart's intuition, allowing her inner voice to develop. 

Water symbolizes emotions. Remember, pages are young inexperienced; this card can represent emotional immaturity or being too absorbed in an emotional situation, caught up in it and loosing herself. It may also represent someone who is unable to express or even understand her emotions.

In the book, Tarot Wisdom, Rachel Pollack refers to the expression "still waters run deep,' in connection with the Page of Cups, but in most decks, the page is looking into a cup, not a great depth. When this card appears in romantic readings, I sometimes remind the Seeker that there are other sharks in the sea.

Water also symbolizes the subconscious. Rachel Pollack's meaning for the reversed Page of Pentacles is "troubled by things that come from the imagination or the subconscious."

The intuitive abilities of Wand court cards may be expressed in mysticism, while the intuitive abilities of the Cup court cards, may lead them to become psychics.

This card may represent a spiritual quest or an attempt to make things right, as in the period of introspection before the High Holy Days. Robin Wood gave the page a white tunic "to show her purity." The lilies at the hem of the tunic make me think of Hindu philosophies and meditation.

When this card represents a person, it may be a spiritual person, someone with "beginner's mind." I wish I remembered who taught me the following insightful interpretation of this card: the Page of Cups is not surprised or horrified by the fish in her cup; she is open to all new experiences because she has not expectation of what ought to be. 

The suit of cups often suggests that someone is being unrealistic or, more seriously, that someone is out of touch with reality. While the Page of Cups does seem dreamy, I don't feel she's as far gone into illusion or delusion as the Queen of Cups sometimes seems to be.

Occasionally, I get the impression that the page is studying her emotions intently. In some situation and with a wise therapist or guide, analyzing emotions might sometimes be a necessary exercise. However, generally, emotions should be felt and expressed in some way. Joanna Powell Colbert writes of this card, "She needs to embrace her emotions, dreams, and imagination, and let her heart be filled."

Water and cups can represent the womb. The development of a single embryo, parallels the evolution of its species. We were once sea creatures. So perhaps this card indicates the early stages of a pregnancy, a literal or a metaphorical fertilization.

There is a spectrum of meanings in each card; Sometime her cup will be Josef's cup of vision, and at other times, it may represent alcoholism. This card indicates absorption of some kind; the fish in her cup is her entire world at this moment. The Gaian image is sunnier; the child's gentle eyes gaze into the future and in her eyes, we can almost see the wise old woman she may become. 

In my chart of MBTI and tarot court card correspondences, the Page of Cups is aligned with ENFJ. Wikipedia describes this type as "caring, enthusiastic, idealistic, organized, diplomatic, responsible" and asserts that they are "skilled communicators who value connection with people."

Could this tarot image reflect the ENFJ type? Perhaps this child could grow into a skilled communicator, but I think this correspondence is a fail.