--By Hyperion Night of Beanblossom's Tea and Tarot
Page of Swords
Analyzing problems. Mental turmoil. Figuring things out.
An author friend of mine once explained to me a part of classic story structure from films and novels. After the “all is lost” moment, when things seem at their darkest, the hero takes stock. He takes a breath and realizes where he’s been screwing up, then pulls from the depths of his soul the inspiration to move forward.
I’ve had plenty of bad moments. We all have. When I was younger, during those dark times I’d go up on the roof to figure things out. Being above the world, seeing things from a different point of view, helped clear my mind.
Or at least it used to. After a certain nighttime incident on my parents’ roof, I stopped.
Now, I turn to my Tarot deck. When I’m reading the cards, the real world falls away. It’s just me and a pack of archetypal images, symbols jogging my brain, making me face my life and my beliefs from a different perspective.
Those moments of seeking, of trying to figure stuff out, are what the Page of Swords is all about.
The page’s hair and tunic are being blown sideways. The grass is being flattened by the wind, as are the palms in the background. This rushing of air can symbolize either a burst of ideas or mental turbulence. There are, of course, more air signs in the card, like the puffy cartoon clouds filling a sky sprinkled with birds. But you get the picture.
All that mental energy and in the hands of a youth.
Though he’s stepping forward, the Page of Swords looks backward, over one shoulder. He hasn’t reached clarity yet. He’s poised at an in-between stage, in a pause, a break. And he needs to be careful with that oversized sword. (Did he pinch it from the knight?).
But all of the Tarot’s pages are of the earth. And there are earth symbols in the card as well, like the grassy knoll he stands upon. The Page of Swords is on the cusp of bringing the mental power of the Swords into real-world, practical use.
Where can you get a fresh perspective?
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