An Enchanting Child: The Page of Cups

To me, the Page (or Princess) of Cups is the Magical Child archetype Caroline Myss speaks about. She’s ethereal, loving, and imaginative.
If the Page/Princess of Cups represents a person (as the Court cards are wont to do), that person will have Water characteristics: intuition, sensitivity, creativity, nurturing, emotional, and loving. Because it is the Page/Princess, this person will probably be a young girl, a child even, though that is not set in stone.

The Princess of Cups for the Celtic Deck seems fragile and sensitive. She bears a Cup–what that cup might metaphorically hold depends entirely upon your intuition and any surrounding cards–and holds it aloft with a guileless demeanor. What’s interesting about this card, to me, is that the Princess of Cups is clad in gold and red, colors associated with the fiery suit of Wands. I read this to mean that the passion and desire of the Wands are not mutually exclusive with the intuition and nurturing of the Cups. Fire and Water are both very emotional elements, and these opposite elements, metaphorically, marry quite well, just like night and day.
I also love the Impressionistic background on this card. It’s so lush and green.

The Goddess Deck’s Princess of Cups is sipping from her own Cup. Right now, the message I’m feeling from this card is Jungian–that one’s own subconscious is a limitless resource of inspiration, joy, and/or knowledge. The suit of Cups and Water are aligned with the subconscious.
Kris Waldherr chose the goddess Venus to be the Cup goddess. Cups is the suit for relationships, so the goddess of love was a good choice. Since the Page of Cups is young, the kind of love this card speaks of is first time love, or a freshly blooming love. If reversed, this love may be a little immature, a crushing infatuation or an inconsequential crush.
The lavender of Venus’ gown is a soft, healing color. Mixed with water, it becomes a cleansing tea. It’s threaded with innocent white and intuitive silver. The hopeful innocence and imagination of the Cups is very healing.

Barbara G. Walker’s Princess of Cups is Elaine of Arthurian fame. She wears the snow white associated with purity. Her robe and cup are red to signify the power of menstrual blood and the womb as are the two crescent moons on the pillars. The cauldron is a symbol of regeneration, rebirth and immortality. The upside down triangle that pins Elaine’s cloak is also a symbol of rebirth and the womb. The interesting scene on the cauldron is a depiction of a sacrifice and apotheosis (being made into a deity) (Barbara Walker Tarot, 23). The image also reminds me of Achilles being dipped into the River Styx by Thetis to gain immortality–though it’s certainly not an exact likeness. The water sign Pisces is the sign of martyrdom and sacrifice, so it’s no wonder that my most esoteric deck uses the Cups to show the theme.
Elaine also looks like an initiate into a great mystery. Mysteries and spirituality are very Watery areas, as seen in Pisces (the sign of mystics) and Scorpio (the sign of Hecate and the Phoenix), so it’s another apropos subject for the Watery Cups to drop.

Robin Wood’s Page of Cups is an artist–she has a palette hanging from her belt. Making art is about perception. What does she see coming out of her cup? What do you see? Is it a bird, or a fish?
Although she is young, the Page of Cups is quite intuitive. She is also resilient and adaptive, like the lotuses on the hem of her skirt and sleeve. Lotuses grow out of disgusting muck, and balanced people can take emotional mayhem and make it into something lovely, like a poem, or at least something useful, like a life lesson.
Page of Cups people have a soft, nurturing moon-like glow. They are gentle and sensitive, yet very strong and self-assured when they are feeling happy and secure. The Page of Cups gazes confidently at her cup and what is flying out of it–the fish that swims in the subconscious and finds treasure, or the silver bird that soars high and flies far, seeing all the possibilities. Her mouth curves into an assessing smile. She seems to be thinking–what can I make real today? Her imagination is as pure as her heart. Creating is still fun, and feelings, both hers and other people’s, are not scary, but opportunities for learning, helping, and healing.

If you see the upright Page of Cups regarding a situation, it is a good sign, especially if it is regards
People associated with the Page of Cups:
A nurturing child
A playful, creative person
An affectionate, trusting person
Someone who is sensitive and intuitive beyond her years
A person undergoing a spiritual initiation, like First Holy Communion or Confirmation
Children who are Luna, Scorpio, and Pisces

Reversed (Shadowy Pages):
Whiners
People who take themselves way too seriously
People who are throw tantrumy and weepy

Reversed Situations:
A creative block
High anxiety
A loss of empathy
Relying too much on the brain and not enough on emotion when making a decision

The World

The World is the 21st and last card of the Major Arcana.  It is a card of accomplishment, completion, success, and joy.

Barbara G. Walker

Most cards for the World traditionally show a woman in the center of a wreath.  The woman is Gaia, the archetypal Earth Mother. She is usually nude or draped in a robe to show a return to the natural state, the purity of the womb (which is associated with the Earth; think of Mother Earth and the Shamanic ritual of burial that ends with  symbolic rebirth).  The wands she holds indicate mastery, strength, and energy–she is a balance of male and female.  The position of her legs form a backward four, a symbol of magical power.

Flanking her are a lion, a bull, an eagle, and a pixie-like creature. Traditionally, these stood for the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and also to the beasts referred to in Revelation. The pixie was a man.  Now, they can still stand for those things, indicating community with God and a higher purpose.  However, they can also stand for the four elements.  The lion, the symbol for Leo, is fire; the bull is Taurus, earth; the man is Aquarius, air–which makes the pixie a sylph; and the Eagle is Scorpio, water.  This again illustrates the balance the questioner has achieved; they are at home in all four elements and the qualities associated with each.  Thus, the World card is a card of wisdom, mastery, and balance.

Robin Wood’s World.

Robin Wood’s tarot deck shows the woman draped in a white sheet. It is white for purity, and she is draped in it to show she has achieved great honor.  Her wreath is made of fresh flowers and fruit, for she is fruitful and accomplished and surrounded by beauty.  Ribbons form the infinity symbol at the top and bottom.  The four elements are represented in the four corners, again indicating balance and mastery of the qualities of those energies, and she’s holding two wands in a blessing. Stars sparkle behind her in a blue sky–her thoughts are clear, she has foresight and knowledge, and she is a “star.”

Kris Waldherr’s Gaia

Kris Waldherr’s goddess for the World is, of course, Gaia, the ancient Greek personification of the Earth. The sun and the moon are in position above the Earth, showing, again, a balance of masculine and feminine energy.  At the top of the card is a winter scene, and at the bottom a spring scene.  This shows a knowledge of and respect for the Earth’s cycles, which is apropos to The World being an end of the cycle of the Major Arcana, a cycle began by The Fool.

The two women supporting the Earth are symbolic, I believe, of both Western and Eastern philosophies, and the harmonious marriage of these ideas.

Julian De Burgh and Mary Guinan’s Celtic deck is reminiscent of the stunning Book of Kells. It, like the others, shows the mastery of the four elements and their qualities. The Cup is Water, the Pentacle is Earth,  the Sword is Air, and the Wand is Fire.  The two figures in the center, if you look closely, are a man and a woman bound together in an intricate knot. Their legs are crossed, and the bottoms of their feet are touching, forming the shape of a heart.  They are whole and fulfilled.

If The World shows up in a reading, it is very auspicious and joyous. It may indicate that the questioner’s entire life is going well, or that at least one aspect of the person’s life is booming–pay attention to the question and any other cards.  Reversed, The World may portend postponement of this fulfillment, mastery, and joy.  There may be more steps needed in the cycle before it reaches the completion of The World.

Scorpio

Scorpio is the sign of people born between October 22 and November 22, but anyone can access Scorpio energy. The animals associated with Scorpio are the Scorpion, the Eagle, and the Phoenix.

Oh, I love Scorpio. I am a Jupiter in Scorpio. Jupiter is the planet of luck, so my luck comes from Scorpio energy. Plus, five of my most favorite people are Scorpios. They are all loving, vibrant people, which is interesting when you think that they are born under the sign that rules death. And sex. Lots of hot sex.

That is because, I think, people misunderstand the archetype of death, and its multiple meanings.  Think of your friendly neighborhood rotting tree stump. It is home to myriad life forms of flora and fauna. They also misunderstand Scorpio. Scorpios are not all sociopathic sex maniacs. They are creative, hilarious, and have great taste in literature. At least, the ones I know and love do. If it helps, John Cleese is a Scorpio.

One meaning for Death is change–a cleansing away of the old for the new, or using the old to nourish new life. Scorpio energy is adept at changing the old and dead into something new and flourishing.

Scorpio is charged with the heavy elements of sex, death, and rebirth. This is why the Phoenix is associated with Scorpio–it dies, but then rises again, from the ashes of the fire that killed it.  Scorpios can take pain and transmute it into something beautiful.

As for sex, the French nicknamed the orgasm “le petite mort” or “the little death.” While Virgo rules the intestines, and cleans up the body, and Libra runs the lower back, keeping the body in balance, Scorpio rules the genitals. Scorpio’s colors are crimson–for blood and passion, and black, for death and the deep mysteries of the subconscious. After all, Scorpio is a water sign, the element associated with the subconscious. Unlike Pisces, however, who rules spiritual secrets about the meaning of life, Scorpio knows all our dirty, sexy little secrets.

Scorpio energy is stereotypically all brooding and aristocratic and eccentric, like famous Scorpios Pablo Picasso, John Keats, and Sylvia Plath. And it can be that way, but it can also be hysterically funny. Come on people, Scorpio energy has to deal with death and rotting and squeamish sex. It’s important to laugh.

Scorpios can be very convincing. This is because the energy, if handled right, can be seductive and magnetic. I find myself telling my Scorpio loved one’s my life’s secrets, while they listen patiently. I have no compunction about this. Healthy Scorpio energy leads to trustworthiness. In myth, people and animals with Scorpio vibes were entrusted to protect and guide the dead. Pluto, the planet that rules Scorpio, is named for the Roman god Pluto, known in Greece as Hades, the King of the Dead. He watched over his people in Elysium (Heaven), Asphodel Meadows (Greek purgatory) and Tarturus (Greek Hell).  Scorpio energy is good to have presiding over you during a soul crisis, or a “Dark Night of the Soul,” as St. Thomas Moore wrote.  This energy can give you courage and strength during scary, painful, and uncertain times. It’s also good to use when your psyche is withholding secrets from you. Since Scorpio rules secrets, it’s pretty good at ferreting them out. Scorpios are known as the Private Eyes and 007s of the zodiac. They also make excellent therapists, because they are naturals as spelunking the subconscious. Sounds fun, huh?

Scorpios are also shamans. They are the shamans who are willing to experience life-in-death for a spiritual vision and awakening. This passion and dedication is an earmark of Scorpio, who doesn’t like anything half-assed, whether it’s sadomasochism, spending, or surprising their friends.

Out of balance Scorpio energy, on the other hand, leads to Charles Manson. It can also flail that tail around and sting people all willy-nilly when it’s pissed. Poison Scorpio energy also tends to use people for sex.

Scorpio associations: Scorpions in Egypt, guarding the tombs of the pharoahs.

The Phoenix

Shamans

Shiva, Hindu god of Destruction, who paves the way for new things

Hecate, goddess of the New Moon, Queen of Witches and Warlocks, specializing in the enchanting of others and channeling the dead.

The Morrigan, the death facet of the Celtic three-faced goddess, and her crows and ravens–traditional messengers of the underworld and harbingers of Death

Anubis, Egyptian god of embalming, who had the head of the Jackal, another animal associated with death and corpses

therapists

spies

compost heaps

How to bring Scorpio energy into your life:

Wear deep red and/or black, especially red and black silk or satin.

Throw out the stuff in your house that you’re not using. Let it die, for God’s sake.

Write down things you want to manifest in your life on a piece of paper, then safely burn it. Trust that these intentions are not released to God or the Universe, and something will rise from the ashes.

Visualize fire and deep, still water

Turn something that angers or terrifies you into something tangible in your mind’s eye. Then, destroy it. Imagine you are Shiva or Hecate. Just obliterate it, and then imagine something you want growing from the carcass, ashes, or empty space. You can also do this by writing things down on dishes and breaking them, or tearing up paper, or burning it (again, do this SAFELY, people) if you’re kinesthetic like that. I find I do my best destroying and regenerating in my own brain. I can really let loose that way. But, if you like to crush and rip, you might want to consider making something artistic, like a collage, from your dead stuff.  You can also take an image of something that causes these negative emotions and paint or color over it. Turn the ugly into something beautiful and passionate.

Okay, I’ll say it: have sex. Either solo or with another/others.