Page of Swords
Valet of Épées (Tarot de Marseille) · Princess of the Rushing Winds, Lotus of the Palace of Air (Golden Dawn) · Princess of Swords (Thoth)
The Page of Swords, a young figure holding a blade aloft on a windy hill, is read as alert curiosity: the student, the watcher, the bearer of sharp news.
Upright curiosity · vigilance · new ideas · eagerness to learn · speaking up · watchfulness · news
Reversed gossip · rashness · defensiveness · all talk · scattered thoughts · spying
- Astrology
- No zodiacal span; rules the quarter of the heavens around Aquarius
- Element
- Earth of Air
- Golden Dawn title
- Princess of the Rushing Winds, Lotus of the Palace of Air
- Yes or no
- Maybe
Upright
Upright, the Page of Swords stands for the mind waking up. In the Waite–Smith tradition the card describes vigilance, inquisitiveness and the first, slightly untested use of intelligence. As a person it is often a young, quick-witted figure who asks many questions; as a situation it may be news, a message or a new subject of study.
In relationships, the Page can indicate a frank conversation, a flirtation of the wits, or someone who is watchful and perhaps slow to trust. It may advise listening carefully before committing.
At work and in finances the card favours research, learning, writing and planning. It may announce the beginning of a course, a new role that requires sharp observation, or information that changes the picture.
The advice of the Page is to stay curious and alert, check facts, and speak truthfully, while remembering that a sharp tongue can cut as well as clarify.
Reversed
When reversed, the Page of Swords is often read as intelligence misused: gossip, sarcasm, snooping or a habit of arguing for its own sake. Plans may be all talk and no follow-through, or a person may be defensive and quick to take offence. Some readers see a young person who is anxious or scattered.
Not all readers reverse cards, and the upright meaning can be read in every position. When reversals are used, this Page usually warns against hasty words and unverified news.
The image
Pamela Colman Smith's Page of Swords stands on a rise of rough ground, holding a sword upright in both hands. His body faces one way and his head turns another, as if he is watching for something. His hair and clothes are blown by the wind, the clouds behind him are piled and broken, and a flight of birds crosses the sky. Trees below bend in the wind. The overall impression is of youthful alertness.
History
The court cards were the one part of the minor arcana that had always been illustrated. The Tarot de Marseille has a Valet (knave) of Swords, a standing youth with a sword and scabbard, and Italian decks of the fifteenth century show a similar page. Smith's open-air figure, set in a windy landscape, is a new interpretation of that old type. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key lists authority, overseeing, secret service, vigilance, spying and examination; reversed, the more evil side of these qualities and an unprepared state. The Golden Dawn did not use pages: its fourth court figure was a Princess, and Crowley kept that title in the Thoth deck.
Symbolism
The windy landscape signals the element of Air at every level: clouds, birds and bending trees. The page's alert stance suggests watchfulness, and his position on high ground gives him a wide view. The raised sword is held but not used, the tool of a learner not yet tested in battle.
In the Golden Dawn scheme the pages, as princesses, represent the earthy part of their suit, so the Page of Swords is "Earth of Air": ideas taking practical form. The princesses do not rule a span of the zodiac like the other courts; instead each governs a quarter of the heavens, and the Princess of Swords shares the quarter of the Ace of Swords. Like all princesses she is linked to Malkuth, the tenth sefirah, and to the final He of the divine name. The Golden Dawn title is "Princess of the Rushing Winds, Lotus of the Palace of Air".
In a reading
Court cards can stand for people, aspects of the querent or the tone of a situation. Readers often read the Page of Swords as a message when it falls next to cards like the Eight of Wands, and as study or exams when it falls near the Hierophant or the Eight of Pentacles. Beside the Seven of Swords it can suggest secrecy or surveillance. In an advice position it often recommends gathering information before acting. For the court cards in general, see the minor arcana.
Sources and further reading
- The Pictorial Key to the Tarot — A. E. Waite, 1910
- The Book of Thoth — Aleister Crowley, 1944
- The Golden Dawn — Israel Regardie, 1937
- The Qabalistic Tarot: A Textbook of Mystical Philosophy — Robert Wang, 1983