Page of Cups
The page of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a studious page looking at a fish rising from a cup. A. E. Waite read it as a studious young man, news and reflection.
Meaning
Waite's description of the picture: "A fair, pleasing, somewhat effeminate page, of studious and intent aspect, contemplates a fish rising from a cup to look at him. It is the pictures of the mind taking form."
What does the Page of Cups mean?
Waite's meanings are "fair young man, one impelled to render service and with whom the Querent will be connected; a studious youth; news, message; application, reflection, meditation"; reversed, "taste, inclination, attachment, seduction, deception, artifice". His list of additional meanings adds "good augury; also a young man who is unfortunate in love", and reversed, "obstacles of all kinds".
In older decks
The Italian suit is coppe, cups, among the marks of the earliest cards in the British Museum's catalogue of 1876. Papus, who calls it the Knave of Cups, reads it as "A fair child. A messenger. Birth."
Read next
- Next in Tarot cardsKnight of CupsThe knight of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a graceful rider in a winged helmet, riding quietly with a cup. A. E. Waite read it as arrival, approach, advances and invitation.
- The same shape in Andean and Inca symbolsTumi (ceremonial knife)A ceremonial knife with a half-moon blade from the north coast of ancient Peru. The gold tumis of the Sicán (Lambayeque) culture carry a god on the handle, often identified as Naylamp, the dynasty’s mythical founder. The Tumi de Oro was declared a pre-Columbian symbol of Peru in 1981.
See also
The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant.
Sources
- The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, by A. E. Waite, William Rider & Son, London, 1910 (the sacred-texts.com transcription, on the Internet Archive), The Lesser Arcana; Some Additional Meanings of the Lesser Arcana
- The Tarot of the Bohemians, by Papus, Chapman & Hall, London, 1896, translated by A. P. Morton (scan on the Internet Archive), The Divining Tarot, second lesson: the minor arcana
- A Descriptive Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum, by W. H. Willshire, Trustees of the British Museum, London, 1876 (scan on the Internet Archive), General history: the marks of the suits
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves, letters and numbers or squares and rectangles.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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