Page of Cups, the fish and Aion

Page of Cups, the fish, and Aion

by Brother Harmonius


I would like to speculate on the Page of Cups, and its connection to Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self, Bollingen Series XX (need we repeat this further?) Volume 9, ii of Jung's Collected Works.

That whole book (just call it Aion) is about the fish, the Piscean Age or Aion, and the Christ figure as an expression of complete self.

(B.T.W., to appreciate Jung, you needn't be a believer in the dogmatic, patristic form of Christianity. If anything, that makes for a more sensational Jung critic at the expense of plumbing Jungian theory's profound depth. Recognizing his heritage was neither Hindu nor Buddhist, Jung used Christianity as the logical allegory that contained all the elements within the scope of his theory. You might argue that, if that was the case, then why didn't he explain in terms of European paganism? Well, in fact he did, and often.)

Now, simply stated, the fish is an object of the unconscious. It is a thought, a problem, or an archetype that has its origins in the deep, where we can't see it, or are unaware of it. But, it's there alright.

The fish rises to the surface--that is, the unconscious object begins to materialize before our eyes. The Page is the contemplative self. We see this also with how the pages appear in the other suits, they look at, gaze, and are fascinated by the objects of their suit (but not the Page of Swords, who looks away, as toward an adversary).

It surfaces, we see it and recognize it, and thus is genius brought forth to the conscious awareness. The Page of Cups is the step just before integration of idea and ego takes place. The two objects are still polarized, not quite "hooked," but in a state that immediately precedes conjunction.

Carl Jung, Aion, p. 182:

In this respect the patristic allegory of the capture of Leviathan (with the cross as the hook, and the Crucified as the bait) is highly characteristic: a content (fish) of the unconscious (sea) has been caught and has attached itself to the Christ figure. Hence the expression used by St. Augustine: "de profundo levatus" (drawn from the deep).

I have idealistic fantasies of being with Jung in his study and showing him the Page of Cups, and discussing it with him. I would say, "don't you see? The Page is looking into the cup. Introspection, he sees the fish, an object of the unconscious rising to the surface, the Page sees the problem/solution."

I don't know how much Jung knew about the tarot, but I'm sure he would readily have picked up on the logical progression of the court cards, that the page symbolizes recognition or awareness, and the next card, the knight, carries the recognition of the idea (the fish) into action.

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