Mythic Study - Page of Pentacles

wizzle

Well....I see a lot of folks are willing to participate in a study group but are hanging back. Someone has to be The Fool and get things started. I volunteer.

I shuffled my Mystic deck and drew the Page of Pentacles. I think that's a great omen for this group. Here's a guy (Triptolemus) who wants to learn about this-world stuff. He's young, he's open.

My booklet tells me that

"When the Page of Pentacles appears in a spread, it marks the gathering together of energy which can eventually be used for building things in the world and for fulfilling the needs of the body...."

I dragged out my "Bullfinche's Mythology" and it has this to say about the character Triptolemus:

Son of Celeus and Metanira, whose kindness to Ceres, bewailing the loss of her daughter, Proserpine, was rewarded by the goddess through a gift to Triptolemus who became the teacher of men in the use of the plough. He founded her worship in Eleusis.

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Thoughts

Very little is more important to modern society than the ability to produce crops via the plow. It is inevitable that hunting/gathering societies can only go so far. Thus, this card portends and tells us how the very foundations of civilization, wealth, etc can be laid.

When looking at the card, I see all of the plowed fields behind Trip. But his crops are just sprouting. He has a good start. But fruition will need to wait until another card.
 

Free Flight

Hi Wizzle

I often see the Page as a very calm soul who is beginning to connect with all ie appreciating the interconnectedness of all things.

He stands in a lush meadow under a blue sky (which looks windy - perhaps his world is not entirely calm) but he stands strong with his eyes almost closed, head bowed just appreciating the moment. He is in touch with the physical realm ie body whilst still maintaining a place within the world.
His looks serene but I sense a naivity about him. He holds a pentacle in his hands almost reverentially.


Your take on the crops is interesting. I had not really noted them in depth. :)
 

Emeraldgirl

wizzle said:
I dragged out my "Bullfinche's Mythology" and it has this to say about the character Triptolemus:

Son of Celeus and Metanira, whose kindness to Ceres, bewailing the loss of her daughter, Proserpine, was rewarded by the goddess through a gift to Triptolemus who became the teacher of men in the use of the plough. He founded her worship in Eleusis.

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.

Was he supposed to be made immortal for his kindness but the mother caught Ceres and yelled and interrupted the ceremony so she taght him the arts of agriculture instead or have I got the wrong person?
 

aja

It depends on the version of the myth that you read.
There's a lot of good background infomation on him at http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Triptolemus.html
where one version notes that his family sheltered Demeter(Ceres) (diguised as a nurse) during her wanderings. She fed him divine milk by day and began burning away his mortality at night.

Demeter later teaches him the art of agriculture and he travels the world sowing seed.

From such an inauspicous beginning to establishing one of the most revered mysteries of the ancient world and broadcasting (so to speak) the art of agriculture to man. Part luck of happenstance, part the willing to accept that which one may not completely understand (unlike his mother....), part the gathering of knowledge and the despensing of knowledge.

Truly a good omen indeed.
 

Daizdy

I love the Mythic Tarot and wanted to join the study group but was
hesitant and nervous about it thinking, what could I possibly have to
contribute? I have no knowledge of mythology or tarot but I guess
this is why it's called "study" group :) So, I'm taking the plunge!
Please everyone, if I say something incorrect, don't hesitate to set me
straight. :) Sooo, with that said...

My thoughts: What comes to mind when I think of the Page of Pentacles is good honest hard work and diligence. The kind of character that is handed down from generation to generation. I think Demeter passed on her knowledge of agriculture but also she passed on to him the right characteristics to make something great out of nothing. The journey wasn’t smooth but perseverance means success. And so, the page in his field, gazing down on his beginning crop realizes what it will take to make it grow and prosper, just as he learned from his parents and their parents before them and what his children and their children will learn after them…
 

theredfox

Well, I started this group and then did nothing for a while, so maybe I should explain that a little. Basically, I realised I dont have the time to really initiate stuff. My participation is more likely to be based on reading what others say, with the Mythic Tarot.

But I'm glad a large number of people are interested in this lovely deck.

Page of P:

Yes it is reverential, isn't it? I wondered if it might be self-protective - one of the rider-Waite cards is like that (forget which one) - holding an object over the chest, for self-protection. But I think this is reverential - and interesting, that we can detect this kind of body language in cartoon-type art.

Interesting that historically and culturally, agriculture is one of the core parts of human survival. And as part of Nature, we've been abusing it with chemicals, land-clearance and GM technology. So maybe this is a 'green' card.

I agree that country values tend to be generational.
 

wizzle

more links

Thanks Redfox for initiating this study group. Already I've gotten a lot out of sharing thoughts on this card.

And many thanks to Daizdy, Free Flight and all who shared their personal insights about the card. For me, your personal touch adds real richness to the material in books and articles. Tender and reverential are great words to describe the figure on the card. I don't think personal interpretations can ever be wrong and I hope more people will post their views.

Here are a few more links for those who want to know more about the myth itself or see some ancient images of the myth:

http://www.san.beck.org/Eleusis-2.html
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/triptolemus.html
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/vor?group=typecat&lookup=Triptolemus
http://www.theoi.com/Okeanos/Triptolemos.html

Isn't the web just great?
 

Sophie

theredfox said:
Well, I started this group and then did nothing for a while, so maybe I should explain that a little. Basically, I realised I dont have the time to really initiate stuff. My participation is more likely to be based on reading what others say, with the Mythic Tarot.
But you did initiate! You were the Ace that got the group going :) It will have a life of its own and you can enjoy seeing your idea take shape.

Page of Pentacles - one of my favourites when I need to calm down! He looks like he is meditating - making his salads grow with loving attention, having worked to plant them...

It's nice to see a Page of Pentacles that gets away from the image of the student (much as I am fond of that student); that really looks connected to the earth.

I think, though, this card hints at internal, as well as external, agriculture: the mysteries of Eleusis, which Triptolemus is said to have initiated, were said to plumb depths in humanity...we shall never know for sure, for they were secret (we have the odd story, that is all) - but this card is also telling us - find your own mystery in contact with the earth, your mother.

I feel that these days, surrounded as I am with the garden I planted on my terrace. Everytime I look at a rose, a juniper, a spray of lavender or mint growing half wild, I think that there is a mystery there - and probably I shall never understand it intellectually, only physically, by a strange transmission from plant to human whenever I tend my garden. Just as, when I was planting, my hands deep in loam, I transmitted my attention and mystery to the plant I was placing into the earth.

Is that what our Page of Pentacles is doing? Communing with the fruit of his earthy labour?

There is also this: that Pentacle is like the sun needed to ripen the crops. It is also there to ripen us, but we must give it time.
 

theredfox

I guess so.
Well yes, of course: I did start this group.
Think I felt a bit repsonsible for it, like I should do a lot of work for it.

I agree that you have to translate the apparently external symbol into a reflection for or aspect of the internal psyche. Personally I really enjoy nature, being outdoors and far away from cities.
 

annik

He had done a lot! And he seems pretty satisfied with what he had done. He is enjoying his reward.