This Page gazes into the Golden Cup, seeing his mirror image. He is transfixed and enchanted by the beauty of his reflection. Seated on the bank of the river, he appears to be harmoniously surrounded by abundant, lush greenery, and flowers, with trees that look like they are embracing and drinking in the water, representing the spiritual realm.
Cups are connected to emotions, relationships, friendships and romance.
The Page of Cups is living in what looks like Paradise, but he does not take notice, as he is completely absorbed in looking at his own image in the cup. This Page is the young nymph Narcissus, who has fallen in love with his own reflection. He has been unaware of his own identity until now.
Trees for me, always symbolize friendship, and like the trees the roots of friendship run deep, and are all connected deep within the earth. Humans have a direct relationship with nature, which transcends into a spiritual relationship, as we are all part of the earth. It is impossible to separate ourselves from this fact, though in today's world, there exists a big disconnect, as we humans see ourselves as superior to nature. We some how believe that our primary purpose is to use, abuse, and exploit the natural world, and the good earth in whatever ways that are expedient to us.
The Page of Cups embodies the gentle beginnings of self-love, as opposed to the vain love that Narcissus represents. It is true, we are not able to love another, nor fully participate in a loving relationship, if we cannot love and accept who we are. The other extreme is about our egos being so self-absorbed, thinking we are superior, which never allows for happiness, peace of mind, or living a life in harmony with nature, where we are caring for and being good stewards of the world we live in.
2 comments:
Well, yes. But we need to have an Ego first, in order to be able to know who we are, to do that which we must do as opposed to what others want us to do or to be, which may not have anything to do with who we truly are.. Enlightened Selfishness may have to begin with Narcissism.. as Jung' said, "The gods have become our dis-eases".. So called Selfishness or narcisism is also Divine.. but like anything, either so-called "good or bad" each thing is also dual in nature, also being subject to the law of enantiodromia, where something moves too far in one direction, either "good or bad" & then turns into into opposite. Hello, complexity theory indeed.. As James Hillman & many others before have said, "We sometimes have to go into the full messiness of our lives" in order to find out who we are etc.. And the word, love, like the word Ego, also hides a multitude of "Sins".. as well as aspects of the Divine..
It's all about finding a balance, and that takes time, experience, and not simply surviving, but thriving, not in spite of those life messes but because of them.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment Solastro.
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