This card represents the task set forth by the wise elder whom the hero meets in the depths of the forest when she first sets off on her quest - a struggle or challenge that the hero must face and overcome using what assets she has brought along with her. (As a result of facing this first challenge, the hero is afterwards given two gifts, represented by cards 5 and 6 later in the spread.)
The card I drew for this position was the Page of Pentacles. This card is a fairly positive one, representing new opportunities and possibilities coming into manifestation, and a sense of stability and security in the physical world. The Page of Pentacles is one who has self-discipline, diligence and commitment, but still retains that sense of youth and curiosity that makes her unafraid of moving forward to try new things.
I'm not quite certain exactly how this card fits into the spread at this point, and it may become clearer as I move on and draw more cards.
I was going to skip drawing supporting cards, since tonight is another late night and I'm very tired, but I just felt like I should do so while I'm in the moment, even if a deeper exploration of the cards' meanings has to wait for tomorrow.
The two supporting cards I drew were: the Fool and the Hierophant. These are powerful cards, especially to be supporting the Task card representing the initial challenge on my journey. Each card faces in towards the center, the Fool and Hierophant both looking towards each other and towards the center, primary card of the Page of Pentacles (who faces forward). The energy of this three card spread of primary and supporting cards definitely seems to be concentrated on the center card, with intense energies from the major arcana supporting cards acting as balance to each other and quite literal support of the center card. The Fool, on the one hand, seems to reflect the youth and eagerness of the Page, the willingness to jump in and get started, to take a risk and begin. The Hierophant, on the other hand, reflects the grounded, more material or physical nature of the Pentacles suit - he is concerned with the rules that govern the spiritual life and the laws of nature which all things follow in order to maintain harmony.
So it seems that these three cards suggest, maybe, that my first challenge will be a new opportunity on the material plane - a new job, for instance - that will require both youthful enthusiasm and risk, and self-discipline and steady work. Luckily, it seems like these energies are helping and mutually supporting each other, all working towards the same goal, rather than pulling in opposite directions (as they might have been, if I'd drawn them in a slightly different order in the three-card spread). The suggestion or advice seems to be to take the plunge into hard work, to make the leap into a task that will require commitment and study.
In a lot of ways, this seems to represent pretty clearly what I'm involved in right now, both with my volunteer work and with my efforts with podcasting as a serious career shift. In both situations, I face a new job or task that demands both committed effort and the courage to take a leap into the unknown. And in both case, the long-term goals are not as important as the willingness to just take that first leap, that first jump into the work. (The two major arcana cards certainly seem to suggest that this challenge, right in this moment, is momentous enough that putting my full weight into facing that challenge and taking on that task will have profound effects rippling out, no matter what the specific consequences are.)
That's about all I have in me for tonight, though. I hope to take some time (tomorrow, maybe) to look at the spread that I've drawn so far and look at these four cards - Nine of Cups, Ace of Cups, Eight of Swords and Page of Pentacles - all together in the same spread, in relation to each other instead of in isolation or in the context of the supporting cards. I'll see how much energy I have tomorrow for that kind of work....