page of swords

Translation by Kitos Digiovanni from smallcabin.org

synthetic meaning

The Page of Swords, through his figure turned to the left, through the use of his left hand to hold the sword, through his firmly-planted pose emphasizing immobility, expresses his passivity.[1] The large yellow sword which he holds vertically, while holding its red scabbard, indicates a strong mental action, disengaging itself from matter in order to orient itself towards the Above. The combination of all these things synthesizes the preparation of Man to detach his mental activities from matter and organize his spiritual powers on a higher plane.

analytic meaning

The sword symbolizing the extension of a base (the pommel), in a specific direction (the blade), indicates the prolonging of an action whose origin is rooted in matter (the red scabbard).

The passivity of the Page does not allow this extension to be effective and bring about a realization; it makes him accomplish a task standing in place, that is to say, a preparation in view of a future concrete action.

specific analogies

The yellow lining of the cape indicates the potential of the powers of intelligence, all potential being latent and constituting a kind of envelope of forces, just as the cape envelops the man. This yellow also represents a mental action, protected by a spiritual force, designated by the blue, which will acquire its power of manifestation from physical force which, located on his shoulders, is indicated by the flesh color.

The blade of the sword has at its base a double black line, extending into a single about two-thirds along its length, underlining thus the potential of strength [2]; its double edge and impressive pommel indicate that the man has, at the origin of his actions, a mental power with a double action, which is to say, the ability to be directed towards the good or the bad.

The seven buttons on his tunic signify his affinity with the first seven cards and, most of all, with the 7th card.

His hat with its large red brim, lined with blue, shows that it is being weighed down by matter, this not being able to act without the vibration of spirituality, but his yellow hair indicates that the intelligence which will motivate him and emerge from this state will come from Above.

His head, inclined to the left, underscores his passivity as well, and his white hair his impersonality; it neither directs nor influences his undertaking, but it prepares him. The white trim of his collar, on his wrist and on the wrist guard of is sword, reinforces this notion, indicating a volitional absence of action, a negation of the personality.

His blue legs, ending in feet shod in red posed in opposite directions, are the indication of a future progression by means of the spiritual, but now in a latent state.

The two tufts of grass, one green and the other yellow, emerging from the rough yellow ground, offer vital and mental energy.

meanings as they relate to the three planes

MENTAL. Events on the move, close by.

ANIMISTIC and PHYSICAL. This card is inoperativein the physical, the blue legs and the red feet indicating a weak contact with the physical.

INVERTED. Obstruction. Powerlessness in the face of superior forces. The inability to organize mental activities

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In sum, in its Elementary Sense, the Page of Swords represents the mental elaborations which are produced in the mental world of Man, when he is deciding to act.

[1] The reader will want to refer to [p. 231]: the Page of Cups, the second paragraph of the Analytic Meaning and n. 1.

[2] With reference to this subject see the explication given for the Seven of Swords, as well as those for the Three and Five of Swords.