LexTalk

Have you ever had an idea pop into your head and immediately thought:

Well… that’s ridiculous.

Maybe it was starting a new hobby.

Writing something completely outside your comfort zone.

Creating a YouTube channel.

Starting a blog.

Picking up a tarot deck and deciding you’re going to learn all 78 cards one at a time.

Or maybe it was an idea so random that you genuinely wondered where your brain even came up with it.

Well, today’s tarot card has something to say about that.

And fittingly enough, it involves a fish popping out of a cup.

Yes.

A fish.

Welcome back to LexTalk Tarot: One Card at a Time, where we’re slowing tarot down, learning the cards together, exploring the symbolism hidden within the artwork, and figuring out what these cards can teach us about ourselves along the way.

Today we’re exploring the Page of Cups.

And honestly?

I think this might be one of the most delightfully weird cards we’ve encountered so far.

Meet the Page of Cups

The Page of Cups belongs to the Minor Arcana and, unsurprisingly, the suit of Cups.

Cups are traditionally connected with our emotions, relationships, intuition, creativity, and inner emotional world.

Pages, meanwhile, often bring the energy of a beginner.

They’re learning.

Exploring.

Asking questions.

Experiencing things with fresh eyes.

They can also traditionally be associated with messages or news.

Put those two things together and the Page of Cups becomes this wonderfully curious card about emotional openness, creativity, imagination, intuition, and unexpected inspiration.

There’s something almost childlike about the energy of this card — not necessarily childish, but that sense of curiosity we tend to have when we’re young.

Before we start worrying about whether something is productive.

Or profitable.

Or impressive.

Or whether other people are going to think it’s weird.

Remember when we used to just…make things?

We drew pictures.

Made up stories.

Built things.

Pretended.

Asked approximately 4,782 questions a day.

We weren’t thinking:

But is this going to perform well with the algorithm?

We were curious.

And I think the Page of Cups asks us to reconnect with a little bit of that.

Okay…Why Is There a Fish in the Cup?

Because obviously we need to discuss this first.

If you’re looking at the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith version of the Page of Cups, you’ll see a young person standing near the water holding a cup.

Normal tarot stuff.

Until you notice…

THERE IS A FISH LOOKING OUT OF THE CUP.

And the Page is just casually looking back at it like this happens every Tuesday.

But this strange little fish is actually one of the reasons I love the symbolism of this card.

The fish can represent unexpected inspiration, imagination, intuition, or something emerging from the subconscious.

Something has appeared that the Page wasn’t necessarily expecting.

And instead of immediately throwing the cup across the beach because THERE’S A FISH IN IT…

the Page looks curious.

That’s the part I want to remember.

Something unexpected appears.

And instead of rejecting it because it doesn’t make sense, we get curious about it.

The Symbolism of the Page of Cups

There are several details worth noticing when you’re studying the traditional imagery.

The Cup

Cups represent our emotional world — feelings, relationships, intuition, and emotional experiences.

But here, the cup also becomes the place where something surprising appears.

Sometimes creativity works exactly like that.

You think you’re doing one thing and suddenly your brain goes:

WAIT. WHAT ABOUT THIS?!

And now you’ve started an entirely different project.

At least that’s how my brain works.

The Fish

The fish is probably the star of the show.

It can symbolize unexpected ideas, intuitive messages, imagination, and something emerging from beneath the surface.

It reminds me that inspiration doesn’t always arrive neatly packaged.

Sometimes it’s weird.

Sometimes it’s inconvenient.

Sometimes it makes absolutely no sense.

And sometimes that’s exactly why it’s worth paying attention to.

The Water

Behind the Page, we see waves.

Water is deeply connected to the suit of Cups and can symbolize our emotions, intuition, and subconscious.

Our emotional world is always moving.

Sometimes gently.

Sometimes…not so gently.

The Clothing

In the traditional artwork, the Page’s clothing includes floral imagery.

Flowers can reinforce themes of creativity, beauty, growth, and openness.

The Page

And finally, there’s the Page themself.

Pages are students.

They’re explorers.

They’re not standing there pretending they already know everything.

And I really love that energy for this series.

Because LexTalk Tarot isn’t about pretending we know everything.

We’re learning.

We’re noticing.

We’re asking questions.

One card at a time.

Page of Cups Upright Meaning

When the Page of Cups appears upright, it traditionally carries themes like:

Creativity • Curiosity • Intuition • Imagination • Emotional openness • Inspiration • New feelings

This card might invite you to approach something with a little more openness.

Maybe you’re feeling inspired to create something.

Maybe you’re exploring a new interest.

Maybe you’re learning something about yourself emotionally.

Or maybe an idea keeps popping into your head that you haven’t taken seriously yet.

The Page of Cups doesn’t necessarily tell you:

THIS IDEA WILL BE AMAZING AND SUCCESSFUL.

That’s not really how I want to approach tarot.

Instead, it might ask:

What would happen if you allowed yourself to explore it?

You don’t have to quit your job.

Spend $4,000.

Move across the country.

Or dramatically announce your new life direction on Instagram.

You can just be curious.

Sometimes that’s enough to begin.

Page of Cups Reversed Meaning

Time for our recurring LexTalk Tarot announcement:

Reversed does not automatically mean BAD.

I feel like I’m going to say this approximately 78 times during this series.

When the Page of Cups appears reversed, it can point toward themes like:

Creative blocks • Emotional insecurity • Difficulty expressing feelings • Unrealistic expectations • Emotional immaturity • Self-doubt

And there’s one interpretation I especially like for this card:

Being afraid to look silly.

Because isn’t that one of the biggest creativity killers?

We have an idea.

We get excited.

And then immediately:

What if nobody likes it?

What if I’m terrible at it?

What if people think it’s weird?

What if it doesn’t go anywhere?

And suddenly the thing that sounded exciting five minutes ago gets shoved into the imaginary closet with all the other things we were going to try someday.

The reversed Page of Cups can give us an opportunity to examine whether fear, insecurity, or unrealistic expectations are getting in the way.

Page of Cups in Love & Relationships

In love and relationship readings, the Page of Cups can bring themes of emotional openness, affection, vulnerability, curiosity, and heartfelt communication.

Upright, it can encourage us to be open to our feelings and communicate them honestly.

It can also represent exploring a new emotional connection or experiencing a relationship with a sense of openness and curiosity.

And no, that doesn’t automatically mean:

YOUR SOULMATE IS TEXTING YOU TOMORROW AT 8:17 A.M.

Tarot interpretations aren’t guaranteed predictions.

I find it much more helpful to use the card as a reflection tool.

For example:

Am I being honest about how I feel?

Am I allowing myself to be vulnerable?

Am I listening when someone else shares their feelings?

Reversed, the Page of Cups might encourage us to look at emotional insecurity, misunderstandings, difficulty expressing feelings, or unrealistic expectations.

Sometimes we expect people to magically know what we’re feeling.

Unfortunately, humans have yet to develop reliable telepathy.

So occasionally we actually have to…talk.

Rude, honestly.

Page of Cups in Career & Money

The Page of Cups isn’t one of the cards I’d immediately associate with money.

Instead, its career message often centers around creativity, inspiration, emotional fulfillment, and exploring new possibilities.

Upright, it might encourage you to explore:

A creative project.

A new interest.

A different way of approaching a problem.

An idea you’ve been sitting on.

A skill you’ve always wanted to learn.

Or something that simply makes you feel excited again.

Reversed, it can encourage you to examine creative frustration, lack of follow-through, self-doubt, or making decisions entirely based on emotion.

Because while I love intuition…

I also love a spreadsheet.

Creativity and practicality don’t have to compete with each other.

Sometimes the best ideas happen when we allow ourselves to dream and then figure out how to make those dreams realistic.

What If Your Weirdest Idea Is Worth Exploring?

This is the question I keep coming back to with the Page of Cups.

Because I think adults become incredibly talented at talking ourselves out of things.

We’re very efficient.

We can kill a perfectly good idea in approximately 45 seconds.

Too expensive.

Too hard.

Someone already does it better.

I’m too old.

I’m not experienced enough.

Nobody will care.

What if I fail?

And sometimes those concerns are completely reasonable.

Not every idea needs to become reality.

But what if we didn’t immediately demand that every idea prove its worth?

What if creativity was allowed to just be…fun?

What if you painted something badly?

Started learning tarot.

Tried photography.

Made a ridiculous Halloween decoration.

Started writing.

Learned how to bake bread.

Created a YouTube channel with approximately zero idea what you’re doing.

What if the goal wasn’t immediately becoming successful at it?

What if the goal was simply:

Let’s see where this goes.

There’s something wonderfully freeing about that.

Today’s LexTalk Tarot Reflection

Today’s question is:

What’s one creative idea I’ve been dismissing because it seems silly, unrealistic, or outside my comfort zone?

And I want to add another one:

When was the last time I allowed myself to enjoy something without worrying whether I was good at it?

That second question really gets me.

Because somewhere along the way, hobbies started becoming side hustles.

Creativity started becoming content.

And everything started needing an outcome.

Views.

Followers.

Money.

Recognition.

Progress.

But maybe some things are allowed to exist simply because they make us happy.

And ironically?

Sometimes the things we start purely because we love them end up taking us somewhere we never expected.

Kind of like finding a fish in your cup.

Three Cards Into LexTalk Tarot

We’re officially three cards into this little adventure!

And I’m already loving how differently each card speaks.

The High Priestess

Trust your intuition.

Quiet the outside noise long enough to hear yourself.

Ace of Pentacles

Plant the seed.

Big things can begin with incredibly small steps.

Page of Cups

Stay curious.

Don’t dismiss an idea simply because it’s unexpected, unusual, or outside your comfort zone.

And when you put those messages together?

Listen to yourself. Plant something. Stay curious about where it might lead.

I kind of love that.

Learning Tarot One Card at a Time

If you’re learning tarot with me, remember:

You do not need to memorize everything in this post.

Today, remember the fish.

Seriously.

When you see the Page of Cups, think about that unexpected little fish popping its head out of the cup.

Curiosity.

Creativity.

Imagination.

Emotional openness.

Unexpected inspiration.

That’s enough.

Over time, we’ll keep adding layers.

And eventually these cards won’t feel like 78 completely random pictures you’re desperately trying to memorize.

They’ll start feeling like stories.

And that’s exactly why I’m doing LexTalk Tarot: One Card at a Time.

We’re not rushing.

We’re not pretending to be experts.

We’re just learning together.

One symbol.

One story.

One slightly ridiculous fish.

And one card at a time.

— Lex

Tarot interpretations are subjective and are shared here for personal reflection, education, and entertainment. Tarot should not replace professional medical, legal, mental health, or financial advice.

The Tarot Deck I’m Using

If you’re following along with my LexTalk Tarot: One Card at a Time series and wondering which deck I’m referencing, this is the tarot deck I’m using throughout the series (paid link).