“So what do I need to know today for my heart’s health and happiness?”
While the Page of Cups (or in the Jane Austen Tarot, the Maiden of Teacups) is a young woman ruled by her emotions (think Marianne Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility, a young woman who throws herself into love and commits her heart completely before knowing if the feelings are returned), the Lady of Teacups is mature enough to be in touch with her emotions but is not ruled by them, an important distinction. The Lady depicted on this card in the Jane Austen Tarot is Jane Bennett, the beautiful elder sister of Elizabeth Bennett in the novel, Pride and Prejudice. She does not know her own loveliness and her humility is not a pose, but part and parcel of her nature.
She admires Charles Bingley, has actually fallen in love with him, but doesn’t make her feelings known. She is so careful, in fact, that there is some doubt of her feelings, and Mr. Darcy urges his friend, Bingley, to move on.
When the Lady of Teacups comes up in a reading, the questioner is a woman of deep feeling who has learned to control her emotions as opposed to having them control her. She may be too feeling and, believing the best of people, may find herself fooled, or worse, her heart committed before she knows whether the feelings are returned in kind. (Yes, this sounds too familiar.) Still, I’m wondering what I need to learn from this card, the “how” of the reading. And then I read on.
The Maiden of cups tends to emotionally self-absorbed. The Lady has moved past this, to empathy. She often knows what those around her feel, better than they do, and she often can be quite psychic. I have been pretty self-absorbed with my pain and loss. I’ve cut myself off from what I know about others and am just now returning to offering that gift of understanding to those I care about. Despite her maturity she can be moody. That sounds familiar. And she can wallow in heartache. That’s me too. Resilience is not her strong suit. So this is where I need to be.
As for the card often representing a woman of significant physical beauty, well, let’s just say that isn’t me. My beauty is of the inside kind, not the outside although, as I age, I find myself wishing to know what it might be like to be beautiful, for heads to turn, for eyes to follow. Not this life.
What Would Jane Do?
“Inner beauty may be rarer than physical appeal, that that does not always increase its worth to the average person in society. However, wise observers will value a loving heart beyond measure when it is coupled with compassionate discernment and a controlled manner. The first quality protects one from being a fool, the second saves one from being extremely wearing.” P. 99
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