THE PAGE OF SWORDS

Esoteric Title: Princess of the Rushing Winds, Lotus of the Place of Air
Elemental Attributions: Earth (cold, dry) of Air (hot, moist)

   Your ally is turning to look behind her. Her sleeves and leggings are yellow, and her frock is brown. Yellow in the suit of Swords is a symbol of mental energy, and brown represents Earth. Her mental energy is focused in her arms and legs; she is, in other words, focused on action, and she is strongly influenced (since she represents Earth of Air) by physical experience. Of all the Pages in the court cards, she is the only one who is not looking directly at the symbol of her element--as though she is distracted. Her head is literally in the clouds, “clouded” by the senses. She suggests the most basic use of the intellect: learning how to use the body to survive in the material realm. Her sword is tilted to the left--opposite the direction of the sword of the King, who represents the influence of spiritual will on the intellect--suggesting that the influence of the physical senses for the Page causes a lack of balance to the other extreme. (Only the sword of the Queen, whose intellect is tempered by emotions, is balanced straight up and down.) Her physical senses motivate her to be vigilant, but there is another reason she looks over her shoulder. Her senses are engaged, but she, at this stage, is not wielding the sword of mental power with any strength, and her inexperience results in uneasiness about people and situations. Unlike the Knight, her response to conflict is to keep a watchful eye and stay on defense. Butterflies, symbolic of the transformative power of mental energy, are nowhere near her (unlike the King, Queen and Knight of Swords.) She can’t focus on the sword and therefore can’t realize its potential for dealing with problems, and she remains attentive but uneasy.

Reversed: mature, focused, experienced, knowledgable