TAROTPage of Cups
Upright
Openness to change. Following your dreams. The emergence of creative ideas
Embracing the new and unexpected.
High intuition especially in creativity and emotional sensitivity.
Listening to the inner child
Intuition
Who better to represent the dreamer and idealist than the God of Dream himself; Morpheus.
Upright, he’s an angel who brings messages hidden in dreams. Reversed, you see the dark eyes of the addict disconnected from reality, and the poppies suddenly make sense!
Reversed
Escapism and childishness. Creative block. Inability to deal with life’s problems. Insecure
Unrealistic expectations or extreme idealism.
Creative block.
Inability to deal with the more mundane parts of life.
Childish behavior or insecurity.
Astrologia
Strong emotional intelligence, connections are at a deep level. Stability and intuitive decision making; relying on inner feelings and following dreams. Can become over emotional and burnout chasing dreams.
Page of Cups
The Page of cups represents an openness to new emotions, creative ideas and experiences.
It represents high emotional intelligence and creativity, which often comes along with a quirky sense of humor. It can also involve deep humanitarian or political convictions.
More than anything though, it is about emotional growth; understanding how you work emotionally and what makes you tick creatively. It can also create the superpower of understanding others via empathy.
The card can denote either a visionary or dreamer. The common ground between them is the ability to take both creative ideas and an understanding of what people want.
The visionary can take those abilities and create something new that has real demand because it fixes real problems or creates compelling words and images.
The dreamer likes the journey far better, and the thoughts stay close to their head, but often don’t escape out into the real world. In extreme cases, this can be an escape route from the real world, and can also point to darker escape routes such as addictions and regression to child-like behavior.
The image on the card is the God of Dream; Morpheus.
Description and Symbology
Morpheus shapes and forms the dreams of humans. He can appear in dreams as any person. He was initially associated with divine messages and prophecies through dreams (and therefore seen as a messenger rather than a God of dreams), but later Christian thought saw him as a more general God of dreams.
His actual appearance is not well described (possibly because of his abilities to shapeshift in dreams), but he is depicted as having wings in his physical form and lived in a cave full of poppies.
Morpheus is first seen in Ovid’s Metamorphosis but he probably existed well before given that many myths were handed down orally and not written down. An unnamed dream-messenger corresponding to Morpheus appears in far earlier myths and is either the source or closely related.
More recently, the opiate morphine (discovered around 1800) was named after Morpheus because of the vivid dreams and euphoria it can induce. The link between Morpheus and poppies existed well before. Morpheus was said to live in cave full of poppies, and the ancients knew of the poppy as a plant of joy and pain relief as far back as the first civilizations (Sumer) and probably pre-history.
The angel
There were very few angels (winged beings) in ancient Greek mythology but one of them was Morpheus, the winged God of Dream.
The fish
The fish is a symbol of the higher mind. Your subconscious and intuition are both full of creative ideas and liable to see connections that others don’t. Make use of this in relationships and idea-brainstorming.
The fish seems to be speaking into the man's ear, pointing to news and events coming unexpectedly and from strange sources.
Earth and water
The man is surrounded by water (and is in fact underwater) yet at the same time is stood on solid earth. The power of both elements together is strong - emotional creativity, dreams and intuition, coupled with the practical ability to bring them out of your head and into the real world. This is a powerful combination. Ideas and new visions that can make you wealthy or change the world!
The poppies
Certain poppies have always been known to have positive effects in medicine and the treatment of pain, as well as spiritual altered states, but too much euphoria leads to addiction and disconnection from the world.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
For existing relationships, this card brings out different perspectives. A new appreciation, new ideas or unexpected and happy news.
It can denote some spicing up anything that needs more flavor, or at least much more interesting conversation.
For those who are single, it can represent finding love in unexpected places: where you least expect and perhaps even who you least expect!
For all people, this is a time of emotional growth for your close relationships as your intuition and understanding of others is high.
Problems with expressing yourself may become a problem in existing relationships and this may be caused by your becoming withdrawn, or a general lack of direction and pensiveness. A feeling of needing change but no idea how to make it happen may be a problem.
For new relationships be careful of reticence to express yourself, high expectations, or immaturity in yourself or a new partner.
For all people, be wary of your intuition failing on other people’s motivations or needs. Your assumptions may be clouded by your dreams and wishful thinking.
There will be a focus on creativity and unexpected events or news within your career. These should be embraced. Going with the flow will yield positive results.
You may also be involved in fresh or creative business ideas and these should again be embraced as the signs are they will work out.
A feeling of being trapped in a situation where you want to express yourself but 'find no outlet in a dull work environment'. This may make you unusually emotional or precious about your work and may even cause arguments. Better to sit and wait for a while. Your intuition and emotions may not be the best judges at the moment!
Although not specifically related to health, the message of this card relates to creative self-expression and creative intuition. Such expression used as an outlet will be useful for creating a calmer and more contented self, and almost certainly have the side effect of creating something to be proud of!
You will go through a period much like a writer’s block; no ideas and a listless self because you want ideas to come. In particular be very wary withdrawing or following dreams instead of facing reality. You are prone to quack health products and expensive placebos right now!
Better to put off any major health decisions or seek expert help and definitely stay clear of new alternative medicine theories or products and left-field experts!
This is a time to embrace your ideas and new directions. Not only will you be full of ideas, but your subconscious will be at the fore. Self-exploration via self-expression will work particularly well so pick up that book, paintbrush or follow up on unexpected invitations or journeys. They will lead to new horizons and unexpected new pathways.
This may also be a good time for charity and humanitarian work, which you will find satisfying.
Be wary of making major decisions, as your senses may lead you to become over-idealistic or a dreamer. Avoid retreating to a fantasy world and avoid any spiritual system that promotes a version of ‘Nirvana on earth’ as you are susceptible to them right now!
Not only will your own ideas be good right now, but unexpected news may lead to financial success. This is a time when good things will happen by following unrelated leads. Follow them all with an open mind and wide eyes - there may be opportunities hidden to everyone except you!
A lack of vision or ideas, coupled with a propensity for becoming emotionally attached to your ideas is a bad place to be when it comes to business. Unfortunately you are susceptible to them all right now!
It may be time to wait for a month or two or seek an expert.
Yes through ideas and creativity.
No through poor intuition, blocked creativity and driving through poor solutions by becoming emotionally attached to them.
Reading the Card
Like all court cards, the Page of Cups can represent people or things other than yourself:
- Something creative that you are working on: art, design, creative writing or perhaps political. This may be something you have always cared deeply about or dreamed of for years rather than a recent goal.
- Unexpected news, especially involving new ideas or emotional events.
- A person who is studying or learning, especially in a creative field.
- A young person (often creative or a dreamer). This person may be full of quirky ideas or emotional and intuitive.
- Someone new to your life with deeply creative ideas: a technologist, artist, writer or someone involved in the humanities.
- A new person with very similar interests to you, especially in an artistic or political context.
When reading the ‘upright card’ and ‘reversal’ sections below, note that although the text refers to you it could actually be any of the above. The question being asked (or your first thoughts when you see the card) will suggest who or what the card refers to.
The upright card
The upright Page of Cups relates to the emergence of creative solutions caused by dreams, intuition and the inner mind, as well as emotions and thoughts coming from the same place. Without dreams there is nothing.
Without dreams there is nothing.
These ideas are not just thoughts though. This card is about the elements of Earth and Water, and the Earth imparts practicality. These are ideas tinged with emotion that can make real change, such as humanitarian and political thoughts as well as real creative output such as literature or design.
At the extreme positive end this card can create a visionary mindset via novel ideas but also intuition that deeply understands people and how to solve their problems.
There is also a sense of the other about the Page: dreams and altered vision, trance and reaching out to the divine.
The message of this card is to expect the unexpected and novel. Consider doing things differently. You might reach a totally new and enjoyable place, connection, or idea!
The reversal
The reverse Page of Cups represents going too far towards the inner mind and the traps it can place us in. It can confine us within our own head.
Intuition sees things our eyes cannot but its view is broad and the detail can be indistinct, causing us to see what we want, including expectations that don’t match reality, unrealistic ideals, or retreating to a dream world.
It can also bring out the inner child, causing emotional outbursts or disengaging when the world gets difficult, or things don’t pan out exactly your way.
The reversed card can also denote a block to the upright card’s message via writer’s block, lack of creativity or a feeling of pointlessness and zero vision. In extreme cases it can point to lack of self-confidence or self-worth and a retreat into your own world.
Card Design Process
The standard Tarot card with a fish jumping out of a cup always seemed odd. Not in a ‘that doesn’t normally happen’ odd, but in a ‘this is a Cups card about emotion, and although the fish clearly represents the inner self, this still looks like a Page of Swords ‘surreal thought idea’.
The Page of Cups is more about passionate ideas and artistic creativity. Having thought about it for an evening with no luck, it was time to sleep on it. Sure enough, the answer came during a dream. An inner voice said ‘You need more water’.
Of course; set the scene underwater! The fish is now literally swimming in emotion. And then, ‘but who told me I needed more water?’. Again, of course. The God of Dream himself; Morpheus. It all made sense.
After that, the card came together very quickly. It went like a dream.
Final Words
The Page of Wands is where practicality meets emotion when it comes to new ideas. Expect the unexpected and novel to entertain and enrich your world, and a burst of creative intuition to see through problems via new solutions.
The reversed card can point to living in a dream or a lack of creative thoughts, or pointlessness through lack of vision.
