The Page of Swords

My next card from the "Mythic Tarot" approach is the Page of Swords.

Tricia Newell paints this card as the young blue eyed god Zephyrus. He is the winged god of the West Wind; the gentlest of the winds. Dressed in the calm pale blue , and riding a cloud this youth carries the double edged sword. Like all of the cards in the suit of Swords there is a another side to Zephyrus. He is the Wind that brings fear to the sailors out on the sea. When he pairs with his brother Boreas the North Wind they become a savage and baleful force of nature. In his youth Zephyrus is depicted a a possessive and spiteful. Some depictions are of the blue eyed jealous god, shown in lusting after Hyacinth the prince of Sparta. Hyacinth smiles at Apollo during a dicus competition; Zephyrus blows on the discus and accidentally kills Hyacinth. When Hyacinth dies Apollo transforms him into the Hyacintha flower.

Zephyrus' first union is with the Harpy, Podarge - a creature with claws, goggling eyes, and protruding tongue and fangs. This union produces two wild horses that will draw Achilles chariot in the Trojan War.

In his last union he is married to Iris. Iris is the goddess of Temperance. This union transforms the unbridled force of nature into into the sweet-scented wind that blows over the souls resting in eternal tranquility in the Greek equivalent of Heaven. He is the protector of plants and the symbol of regeneration and is the sweet warm spring air that blows down on the flowers. Known for his sexual prowess he serves as the god of fertility, and is depicted on black pottery as holding a giant phallus shaped plant. .