Tarot_quest and Thirteen, I guess I should have clarified that by “immature” I didn’t mean it in a negative way. More like not matured, i.e. in a larval stage. New and undeveloped.
I think that we should make an important distinction between the person and the stage of an idea, when getting pages.
I agree that in most cases, pages represent a form of immaturity. However, is it the person that is intrinsically immature with their feelings or that their feelings are at a primitive stage (i.e. starting to be formed)?
Yes, primitive is more of what I meant.
I don't think that we should automatically think page = immaturity. So if we are purely talking about A's feeling towards B, I would think that they don't feel overly emotional about the person. A is starting to think about B and if some feelings appear once in a while, A will analyze them as something new.
No, swords definitely don’t suggest anything overly emotional. Analytical is a good word.
If something has to develop between A and B, the feelings will not stay for a long time in a ''page of swords'' state
[/QUOTE] Presumably, they would grow to the next stage, a.k.a. the Knight?
I view the page of swords as the least page to have feelings, simply put he doesn't not in a romantic way at least. His feelings are more so he wants to keep you away from him and he's on defense regarding you. He doesn't have much experience with the sword but the one thing he's sure of is that he knows it will keep anyone and anything away from him as no one would willingly confront someone with a big sword in their hand. Being able to defend himself and keep things from getting close to him is going to be his first thought in how he should use the sword.
I view swords as the least “feel-y” of the suits but I don’t believe person A is trying to keep person B away from them at all. A might not be overly fond of feeling vulnerable there may be some guards up but no one’s being standoffish. For feelings, Pages usually represent newness, so feelings are present. If they weren’t, I’d think it would be a different card altogether.
We might also want to remember that Swords = communications as well as thoughts. And instead of immaturity, let's say that the person is a "student" of their suit. They're inclined towards it (to be a thinker and a talker in the case of the Swords), but they have no finesse, no expertise in it. And, yes, I'd read it as a "beginning" or "start" kind of card, too.
Yes, “student” is a good word. Like I said above, in the very early stages of development.
Which is all to say, I don't think they're defensive. Like a kid with a new toy sword, they actually want to race out and show it off. Even though they've no idea what they're doing yet. Which is why I'd say that person A is feeling that they want to tell B all that is on their mind. No, they're not inclined towards sentimental feelings, nor do they want to discuss romance—but they have all kinds of ideas and thoughts. And though they may not have done so yet, or know how to do it just yet (they're a student, and still figuring it out), the inclination to communicate is there.
So A is feeling the need to communicate what is on their mind? The other thing is that this Page is very eager to learn and is intellectually curious. Maybe A feels stimulated intellectually when talking to B?
We should also remember that all suits involve emotions. That Cups are the only suit involving "emotions" is a misconception. Cups are about moody/mushy emotions. But there are all kinds of other emotions that belong to the other suits, like passion and temper for the Wands, pride and shame for the Pents. Swords can stand for anxiety and worries, on the one hand, but also feeling sharp and clear and acute. So, our Page/Sword (person A) may feel, when they're with B, sharpened, like this is a person who be great to fence with (discuss things with)—but they may also feel B is more skilled at fencing, and thus, have some anxiety about going forward with it.
You think this Page (Person A) might feel a bit intimidated by B? (I’m going by the assumption that Person A is represented by the Page here.)
In my readings, I've definitely seen the Page of Swords to certainly represent someone who is a bit defensive and distrustful of the other -- sort of like, "What's THIS guy about? STEP BACK! I don't know you yet!"
I've also seen the Page of Swords as a need to "vet" the person before feeling fully comfortable with them. They need to do their research, ask a few more questions, and once they are satisfied with the answers, then they will proceed to lower their sword.
This is quite an interesting interpretation. I agree this Page’s face and stance suggest an air of being “on guard” but distrust doesn’t really fit here. Maybe person A trusts person B but doesn’t quite trust himself? I can see a need to “vet” the other, to feel them out and analyze them a bit more before they let their guard down.
In terms of feelings, for me, the page of swords has most often come up as self protective, oppressed feelings - that is, the beginning of them.
Self-protective is good. I’m not sure about oppressed exactly because, IMO, that may come up as something in reverse (a.k.a. “blocked”). Pages’ feelings are just beginning but they don’t seem to want to oppress them, I don’t think.
This person is begging to feel the itch to express their feelings and get some interaction in but they are holding back - mostly because they are over thinkers and self doubters the type to think "I'm sure he/she was flirting back ...but maybe I was wrong, I don't want to be humiliated'
Swords are definitely over-thinkers. So, this may be true, although I think of that more as the 9 of Swords (possibly 10 of Swords for “overkill”). That part about self-doubt is interesting. In other words, they are unsure if what they think is happening actually is so they’re reluctant to do/say anything about it.
I really appreciate all of the comments. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this card come up for feelings before and judging by the lack of search results, it doesn’t seem to be a common one for that, either. As I said, this is the card I understand the least of all 78. Being a water sign (although with an air sign rising), I find it hard to understand the cold hard logic of the swords archetypes. It’s something I can’t easily wrap my mind around and I tend to butt heads a lot with air signs since I can’t understand why they do some of the things they do. If the tarot was looking for a way to challenge me, it certainly did that here.
