Once upon a time, in an old tale from the British Isles, a young man was turned down by the girl he liked and by the employer for whom he had hoped to work on the very same day that the seam in his shoe had broken fully open to finally expose his big toe entirely to the elements.
The young man, having both a great deal of energy and plenty of curiosity about the nature of how the world worked, packed a bindle and announced his intention to journey to meet God and inquire as to why his luck was so bad and how he might improve it.
he meets a crying, young woman who tells him that her loneliness has gotten the better of her, and the young man promises to return with an answer to cure her worries.
On his way, the young man meets a skinny wolf. She claims she is hungry because an injured paw prevents her from properly hunting. The young man promises he will ask God about the wolf’s problem and return with the answer on his way home. Further along his path, he meets a small, sad tree who tells him that despite her years, she is unable to become round and tall, reaching into the skies like the others or to feel her roots getting strong as they grow deeper into the earth. The young man promises he will ask God what is wrong and report back to the tree. As he continues, he meets a crying, young woman who tells him that her loneliness has gotten the better of her, and the young man promises to return with an answer to cure her worries.
The young man gets his meeting with God, and God says it is not luck or the lack of it that is the cause of the troubles. But rather a tendency to miss opportunities in the course of chasing larger pursuits. “Take your time and think through your actions, my son. Your vision is set so far out on the horizon that you do not pay attention to what is right in front of you.” The young man thanks God for his time and wisdom and presents the questions of those he met during his travels.
But, so caught up in his excitement to get home to tell everyone what God said, the young man refuses her marriage proposal.
Once on his way, he stops to deliver the messages. He tells the lonely young woman that God said the perfect husband would come along the path to kindly offer her the answer she requires. But, so caught up in his excitement to get home to tell everyone what God said, the young man refuses her marriage proposal. He continues on to report to the tree that she does not grow because she was planted to mark a vast treasure buried at her roots which are now stunted by the enormous size of the bounty itself. But the young man does not free the tree from her fate by digging up the treasure for himself, instead, he continues onward to happily report to the wolf that her hunger will soon be cured by a heedless soul who will put themselves nearly directly into her jaws. The wolf, of course, promptly eats the young man.
Making success with the energy this page offers means centering desire in goal setting and in the process of reaching the goal. It is a powerful awareness for the Page of Wands to stay tuned to what he wants. The practice of keeping conscious of wants and desires is the practice by which this type of personality remains grounded and finds fulfillment through an active series of choices rather than coming up empty-handed.
What might have happened to the young man in the story if he had noticed his dream fulfillment unfold before his eyes? The Page was so far ahead of himself, he was lost in the dream of himself as he would never, it turned out, end up becoming, at all. He missed the opportunities that appeared through the cause of his actions.
May we enjoy exuberance and a sense of direction simultaneously.
Michelle Embree
About Author
