Neuzeit Tarot - Page of Swords

Neuzeit Tarot 

The Page of Swords from Neuzeit Tarot (AG Muller 1982) seems to show a man rescuing his family from the torments of industrialisation. At least I hope he's leading them to the sunlit beauties of nature, having taken this last look over the cliff at it. His children seem to be imploring him to move on, while his wife has already turned her face toward the future and and is moving happily in that direction. I hope he isn't about to drag himself and them off the cliff to certain doom! The scene could be either of those (or neither!).

The LWB says that swords represent the power of consciousness and intelligence, but also that they point to 'the ways of our ancestors and the wars they fought.' They are a 'tool of consciousness which we use to defend and conquer our dreams.' Hm. Goes on to say that Page of Swords is the 'keeper of the values of his people' and he can do either a good or bad job at that. Well, that is sort of the story I saw in the card, too. He might be leading them to freedom or dragging them over the edge to destruction, depending on how you look at it. There doesn't seem to be a hint of the usual 'adolescent' nature of the page -- unless you count viewing things as this black and white as an adolescent viewpoint, which I suppose it is.

There is surely something between the Garden of Eden and the Dark Satanic Mills. We have to strike a balance in the world. We have to live in the world, so we are going to leave our mark on the earth. That's just the way our species has always been. It's what has helped us to survive as a species, and to become the dominant species of the earth. We didn't set out to do it, but it was just our problem-solving skills, our ability to conceptualise, symbolised by the swords suit, that has both made us a success and that could well lead to our self-destruction. Perhaps it is this realisation, an adolescent stage of self-awareness, that is represented by this card.

Okay, an adolescent stage of self-awareness that sees things in black or white, right or wrong, good or evil, beautiful or repulsive. I will take today's card as a warning to use discernment today, but not to go too far with it.