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, accompanied by a quirky sense of humor. It involves 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. This creates empathy, allowing a profound understanding of others.
The card denotes either a visionary or a dreamer. Their common ground is the ability to generate creative ideas with a deep understanding of human desire.
The visionary takes those abilities and creates something new, satisfying genuine demand by fixing problems or creating something compelling.
The dreamer prefers the journey itself. These thoughts stay locked in the mind, failing to escape into the physical world. In extreme cases, this serves as an escape route from reality, pointing toward darker paths like addiction and regression to child-like behavior.
Description and Symbology
The image on the card is the God of Dreams: Morpheus.
Morpheus shapes and forms human dreams. He can appear in dreams as any person. He was initially associated with divine messages and prophecies (viewed as a messenger rather than a god), but later Christian thought reframed him as a general deity of dreams.
His physical appearance lacks definitive description (due to his shapeshifting abilities), but myth depicts him with wings, living in a cave full of poppies.
Morpheus first appears in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. He existed long before this written record, as many myths were handed down orally. An unnamed dream-messenger corresponding to Morpheus appears in earlier myths, acting as the source or a close relation.
The opiate morphine (discovered around 1800) was named after Morpheus due to the vivid dreams and euphoria it induces. The link between Morpheus and poppies is ancient. Morpheus lived in a cave full of poppies, and the ancients recognized the poppy as a plant of joy and pain relief as far back as Sumer, extending into prehistory.
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 of 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 represents people or things outside yourself.
It can signify a creative project, such as art, design, writing, or political work. This represents a deep, lifelong passion rather than a recent goal.
It can predict unexpected news involving new ideas or emotional events.
The card might indicate a student learning a creative field, or a young, highly individualistic person.
On a personal level it introduces someone new to your life bringing visionary ideas: a technologist, artist, or writer. It denotes a new person sharing your interests in a romantic or business context.
When reading the Upright and Reversal sections below, note that the text applies to you or any of the figures mentioned above. The question asked, or your first instinct upon seeing the card, dictates who or what the card signifies.
The Upright Card
The Upright Page of Cups relates to the emergence of creative solutions born from dreams, intuition, and the inner mind. Emotions and thoughts arise from this same source. Without dreams, there is nothing.
Without dreams there is nothing.
These ideas transcend mere thoughts. This card combines the elements of Earth and Water. Earth imparts practicality. These emotion-tinged ideas drive tangible change, manifesting as humanitarian action, political discourse, or creative output like literature and design.
At its most positive, this card creates a visionary mindset through novel ideas and deep intuition, fostering a profound understanding of people and their problems. A sense of the other surrounds the Page: dreams, altered vision, trance, and reaching toward the divine.
The card asks you to expect the unexpected or the novel. Consider doing things differently to reach a new place, connection, or idea.
The Reversal
The Reversed Page of Cups represents retreating too far into the inner mind and falling into its traps. It confines you within your own head.
Intuition sees what the eyes miss, but its broad view obscures detail. This causes you to see only what you desire, including expectations that contradict reality, unrealistic ideals, and a retreat into a dream world.
This state brings out the inner child, triggering emotional outbursts or total disengagement when the world becomes difficult or plans fail.
The Reversed card can signify a block to the Upright message. This manifests as writer’s block, a lack of creativity, or a feeling of pointlessness and zero vision. In extreme cases, it points to a collapse of self-confidence and a complete retreat into your own world.
Card Design Process
The standard Tarot card with a fish jumping out of a cup always seemed odd. It felt less like a Cups card concerning emotion and more like a Page of Swords 'surreal thought idea', even though the fish clearly represents the inner Self.
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’.
The solution required setting 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/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.
