The Pages: “Hesitation Blues”
“How long do I have to wait?
Can I get it now
Or must I hesitate?”
(“Hesitation Blues,” early 1900s, attributed to various songwriters)
I just came across a description of the tarot Pages as “hesitation between doing and not doing” according to the nature of their suit (Alejandro Jodorowsky in The Way of Tarot). The implication is one of “dilettantism” or dabbling in life beyond the point that circumstances would normally demand stepping out into the world as a self-sufficient adult. The stated cause is a combination of insecurity, immaturity and feelings of inferiority akin to “imposter syndrome,” such that there is an inability to try for fear of failure. The ideal analogy is the “perennial undergraduate” who refuses to take a degree because it would mean having to depart the sheltered halls of academia and do something useful with the education. The concept of “adulting” is entirely foreign to them, and the “under 25” age group seems to be the right placement for their dilatory demographic, which obviously considers post-pubescence to be an idyllic state of grace, an invitation to an “endless party.”
I have always viewed the Pages as an “unfinished” expression of their elemental dynamic, a clear case of arrested development. The Page of Wands strikes me as the breezy “joker” who can never be entirely serious; the Page of Cups as the shy wallflower with “cold feet;” the Page of Swords as the mouthy, “all-talk-and-no-action” brat who can’t shut up; and the Page of Pentacles as the tongue-tied rustic who sulks in the background with nothing important to say. All of them are incomplete works of human evolution lacking the sophistication to take control of any activity in which they find themselves. We might think of them as “probationary” members of the tarot court who have yet to prove their mettle. Jodorowsky characterized them as “standing outside the gate of the palace,” waiting for admittance to the “club.” They are described by some writers as “squires” to the Knights, intent on “earning their spurs.”
In a reading I sometimes find it difficult to pin the Pages down with any degree of predictive certainty: the depiction of a “young person” involved in the matter may not make sense given the circumstances; telling the querent to be more casual and flexible in their approach could be unhelpful; and simply saying that the Universe is dissembling in its reluctance to deliver concrete, actionable advice amounts to dodging the issue. Most often I will default to saying that a learning opportunity might present itself with some immediacy or urgency; in light of the fluidity and changeability of day-to-day conditions this is almost always a safe bet. On a more frivolous note, their lightweight, insubstantial nature can denote a “passing fancy” or idle notion with no lasting consequences; they can be empty-headed like “Big Boy” Caprice in the Dick Tracy film: “I’m having a thought! It’s coming . . . It’s coming . . . It’s gone . . . !” In such cases, hesitation in reacting could be exactly the right response.
I’ve mentioned before that the Pages of the Waite-Smith tarot are standing stock-still, perhaps thinking about taking a step forward but never quite committing. In that sense they have something in common with the Aces and the Fool as implying a preparatory state of suspended animation that can remain dormant until galvanized by the “starting gun” of external stimulus (in other words, they don’t show the initiation of an action but rather the incipient urge to take it). For most practical purposes they can reflect unripe developments in either character or prospect, and definitely not a person or promise one should rely on to come through when the “chips are down.” Youthful energy and enthusiasm will be wasted if it can’t find a foothold in some pragmatic form of accomplishment, and without follow-through indolence and enervation can be the result. In the Golden Dawn’s “abstract” of the powers of the court cards, the Pages (their “Princesses”) are assigned the role of “Reception and Transmission,” but it could be argued that they don’t have much of their own to say that is vital to the querent’s situation; perhaps — in keeping with the persona of a Medieval herald — it is best to treat them as a conduit for the wisdom of their betters and look elsewhere in a reading for the substance of their message.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on January 8, 2023.
