New Paradigms and the Archetype of the Page

The Page of Pentacles 
explores issues of self-
worth, and how to value
the world around him.

 Introducing, The Page

        The Page, in contrast to the “older” members of the royal court (king, queen, etc.) is the  archetype of the newbie, the upstart, the person just starting out on his journey of life, with many lessons ahead to learn.  Energetic young people holding servant-like positions in Congress are actually still called “pages,” and they do the bidding of the older, elected members.  White House interns choose to be interns at the nation's capitol because they aspire to have political careers one day.  They want to learn what exactly goes on behind the scenes there, the stuff they’re not taught at school.  Such is the fearless thirst for knowledge of the Page. 

Pros and Cons of Being the Page

The Page has a whimsical, charismatic element of open-mindedness about him.  He can say the most outlandish things, and with his gleeming, youthful smile, totally get away with it.  People often view his naivete as "charming," maybe even a little inspiring, the invigorating "wisdom of youth."  I think that's the attraction of May/December relationships; the older parties feel flattered by the seeming

admiration of the younger ones.  The younger ones are usually just using the older ones to get ahead in life, to adorn themselves with the experience they lack, at the older ones' expense.  But the dynamic, nevertheless, gives the older ones a sense of immortality which soothes their growing fear of aging.  Pages are our Fountains of Youth.

The Page of Wands has a
fiery will to succeed, but
lacks wisdom in how to di-
rect that will productively.

        For the most part, the Page can fully afford to make mistakes (depending upon the magnitude of the mistake, of course).  In contrast to the other members of the court, he isn't yet committed to any particular role in life.  His only job is to learn, to be the quintessential Student.   At the same time, however, the Page tends to suffer from the dangers of vulnerability.  These dangers are often avoidable if the Page knows when to keep his wreckless ego in check, and humbly heed the wisdom of his elders.  He needs to learn when to hedge that wisdom to protect himself.  More often than not, however, he ends up flat on his ass, wondering how exactly he ended up there.  Such is the bane of the Page archetype.

Lesson of the Page: 

Welcome New Paradigms into Your Life!

The Page of Cups "feels too

much," which is great for 
pursuing a career as a poet, 
but horrible for pursuing 
mature, adult relationships.

        But while he must discern when to heed to wisdom, it's equally important he learns to discern when to respectfully ignore it, and to instead take the risk of charting his own path, of introducing brand new paradigms into the complacent, stagnant world around him.  The creators of Google and Facebook are examples of this.  They had nothing to lose, and so much to gain by introducing new ways to use the internet.  They took an existing definition, and not just revised it, but rewrote it entirely.  "Why not try it this way?" is the Page's perennial mantra. 

        The journey of the Page is a scary, but exciting one!  No matter how well-versed we are at some things, there will always be other things with which we are very, if not completely, ignorant.  No matter how "old" we are chronologically, as long as we are living and breathing on the Earth plane (and, some would argue, in other planes as well) we will always find ourselves assuming the archetype of the Page in regard to one thing or another.

The Page of Swords has 
a boatload of great ideas.
Few, if any, are ground-
ed in reality, and most 
never come to fruition.

        But that's good!  It means there's still room for growth in our lives --preferably growth in concert with wisdom, and we should welcome that growth whenever and through whatever means it presents itself ...I know, I know, that's easier said than done.  How many times have I passed up the opportunity to grow, in order to maintain some kooky perception of safety?  The ego is there to protect us.  But there are times we must respectfully ignore it in order to grow.  Growth is always kind of uncomfortable, sometimes painful, and often downright scary.  But the payoff is so worth it!




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Images from:
The Gilded Tarot, a modern classic
created by artist Ciro Marchetti