It is an emotional message from " the card of reason, intellect and action" ?
My apologies for being so obtuse. The Page of Cups is not a card of "reason,intellect and action". I did not say that about the card but am obviously not expressing that very well. The Card is one of emotions as it is associated with water. Water is associated with the feminine. The Feminine is associated with the intuition, submission, the internal. The Masculine is associated with action, the external,the rational. The Left hand side is associated with the Feminine. The Right hand is associated with the Masculine. The Page is male and therefore associated with the masculine. Action is associated with the Masculine and the Page's right hand holds a chalice. We can assume therefore that there is going to be action due to the use of the Right hand which is associated with action and movement. The body posture is associated with movement and Pages are traditional Messengers. The Message therefore is emotional which is associated with the Feminine as Water is associated with the Feminine. Is the card Masculine? No the card is Water as it is Cups and therefore Feminine.
Yes, obviously since I just posted ; " Freemasons (as well as numerous others in various locations and times all over the world) may use the vesica ... due to its symbolic geometric properties " ... but not its realtion via fish to the RW tarot
My apologies for assuming you saw the relation which seems obvious to me. The chalice and fish appear to be a reference to the Vesica Piscis or Vessel of the Fish. The Chalice being the Vessel and the Fish the Fish. Perhaps Fletcher can say it better than me:
"The vesica piscis signifies the mediation of two distinct entities; the complementariness of polar opposites, as when two extremes complete and depend upon one another to exist. One circle may signify the breath of spirit, which is eternal; the other may signify the body physical, which is forever changing and adapting. The vesica piscis itself symbolizes that which mediates spirit; or the psyche or soul.”
Fletcher, Rachel (2004) Musings on the Vesica Piscis. Nexus Network Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2 pp. 95 – 98
The root three triangle (Square Root of Three to One) was used by the Freemasons especially in medieveal architecture and to build their temples. In fact Stirling wrote (William Stirling who wrote The Canon):
"It is known both to freemasons and architects that the mystical figure called the Vesica Piscis, so popular in the Middle Ages, and generally placed as the first proposition of Euclid, was a symbol applied by the masons in planning their temples."
And Dr Oliver,
"This mysterious figure Vesica Piscis possessed an unbounded influence on the details of sacred architecture; and it constituted the great and enduring secret of our ancient brethren. The plans of religious buildings were determined by its use; and the proportions of length and height were dependent on it..."
So what clues do we have here?
Vesica Pisces can be translated as Vessel of the Fish. The Page holds a Chalice (associated with the Holy Grail and the Vesica) with a fish popping out. We know that Waite was a Freemason and the Vesica was used in Freemason temples. The Chalice is a Circle and a Square (the ancient unity of heaven and earth).
In Fish and Water Symbols (1912), Norwood says:
http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2705&context=ocj
"Expressed mathematically the sea represented the whole and the fish or serpent the part—of divine intelligence. For a fish or serpent to emerge from the waters in the form of one of the numerous fish and serpent gods of antiquity, was equivalent to saying that individual intelligence proceeded and was evolved from the universal".
We can see this theme in the Cups, the Ace for example has an M (Mem - the sea) and perhaps a hieroglyphic wave or watermark. Again in the 5 of Pentacles another symbol is the Anchor (associated with the ark) in the stained glass window. We have a dolphin in the King of Cups an ancient symbol of the Soul.
