The pages of the court

Some time ago I began an overview of the Tarot de Marseille pips, which can also be seen as playing card pips. This overview shared my way of seeing the pips, how I read them in a spread, and how they interact with other cards. I have also done something similar with The Trumps but in poetry form, which can be found here. I have yet to complete the exploration of the wands or batons suit, that is still forthcoming. Now I begin my survey of the court cards, starting with the knaves, pages.

Briefly, before I dive in, I want to add that the foundation for my view of the pips is heavily influenced by Camelia Elias’s approach, which is as follows:

“Kings: symbols of power; Queens: emblems of truth; Pages: symbols of initiation; Knights: emblems of development.”*

Now, I approach the courts in an oracular fashion, as if they themselves were speaking to me. I begin with the Pages which are the symbols for beginnings, initiation, and innocence (excepting the page of swords).

Page of Batons:

“I hold an unrefined skill in my hands, searching for someone or something to help me use and refine it. I admit I am slightly clueless. I announce possibilities on the horizon, a message of work on some new endeavor.”

Page of Coins:

Haphazardly arrayed in finery, “I hold a coin of potential. I seek gain in all its manifestations, cunning and the desire for knowledge drives me. I am a student, or perhaps a new enterprise.”

Page of Swords:

“What others consider cunning have nothing on me. With cape and hat, in subtle raiment, I hold sneaky thoughts disguised. My sword is a tool of power, one I wield maliciously and carelessly, and I wield it unsheathed. I am the hidden that seeks to harm, the shadowy and undisclosed. On occasions I am a message from the dead.”

Page of Cups:

“I brim with possibilities, my cup spilling outward. I am youth and vitality, a message of love or a compliment.”

I should reiterate, my entire approach is visual and contextual. What I see, and how what I see speaks of the question at hand. It is interesting to approach divination in this manner as it forces you to be sharp in your seeing and in your words.

~~~

*Marseille Tarot: Towards the Art of Reading, Camelia Elias, Eyecorner Press, January 2015.