“My willingness to be intimate with my own deep feelings creates the space for intimacy with another.”

Shakti Gawain

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TAROT CARD meanings AND OVERVIEW of ‘the Lovers’

When reading Tarot cards, “The Lovers,” represents the high road in love: divine, pure, healthy, and good for all parties. The 6th card of the Major Arcana, when it shows up, we ask the question if that is our reality or whether we are settling for less than that. This card is about showing up with your whole heart and being willing to take that leap of faith and be vulnerable.   

This card, in varying decks, is known as Love, The Lovers, The choice, Trust.  It is a card that is about love, but also about the choice to love and about the choice to trust.  It could be trusting yourself and your intuition, or it could be about trusting another. 

Common Meanings of the Lovers tarot card

This card is about love and connection, but it can be a love of self (do not confuse this with conceit) and the kind of love that is willing to be open and vulnerable.  There is an honesty there that is scary but can also make a love transcend mere physical attraction and start to attain a connection that is spiritual.  It is the true union of mind, body, soul that we all, in our secret hearts, yearn for, but may have given up as something that is only in romance novels or is somehow unattainable.  This card is also a call to define and establish what our needs and beliefs are, and staying true to them, because it is only through this journey and self-knowledge that we can truly know love. 

The Many Faces of The Lovers

The shadow – or reversal – side of The Lovers indicates a need for self-love before you can give love to another.  It can also be indicative of an imbalance in a relationship – be it co-dependence, deceit, giving one’s power away, or some other sort of disharmony.  It reminds us of the importance of keeping a relationship in balance, and that – much like the caution in an airplane to “put your own oxygen mask on before helping others” – you can not give yourself to love unless you first find that place of self-love and self-worth. 

The Journey of The Lovers of the tarot

In the journey of the fool through the major arcana, the lovers show up right after the hierophant urges us to deeper understanding of the need for spiritual traditions.  The Lovers say that now that you understand the foundation, it is time for you to pick what works for you.   This is the time for you to figure out for yourself what your credo in life is and how you can love with your whole heart in that process. This is about choice, one that is made independent of parents or church, or even peer groups.  This is choice made for yourself. 

Description of the tarot card The Lovers

Two naked people (clothed in innocence) – In Christianity this would represent Adam and Eve – a man and woman, stand together, separated by storm clouds and a mountain peak in the distance.  The sun shines down on them and over them is a winged figure, that of Archangel Raphael, above them.  There are trees behind both.  Behind the man is the tree of life and behind the woman is a tree with fruit – the tree of knowledge – that has a serpent in it.

Themes of The Lovers

• Duality -male & female, light & dark; the joining of both making us whole. 
• Choice –relationship/love, or about spiritual practices that feed us
• Commitment
• Harmony
• Soul mates/Twin Flames
• Love/Lovers
• Relationships
• Connection
• Desire

The Number 6

The embodiment of the heart and love.   Emotional relationships, compassion, empathy, and support. 

Elements of the Card and Associated Symbolism

• Angel – archangel Raphael; angel of love and healing
• Man & Woman, Adam & Eve – the innocence of the new relationship energy, naked indicating both innocence and open vulnerability.
• Tree of Knowledge – The risk in knowing the full truth and no longer being able to retreat to the innocence of ignorance.
• Tree of Life – passion, strength, personal growth
• Serpent – risk in knowledge – innocence is bliss; temptation; sex
• Storm Clouds between them – metaphor for the challenges that must be overcome after the initial honeymoon phase to give the relationship a solid foundation in reality
• Sun – happiness, vitality, self-confidence, and success

Herbs for The Lovers

• Lavender -attract love & devotion, eternal love, inner peace
• Bay leaves -faithfulness and the splendor of passion
• Damiana– healthy libido; connect with ourselves and others
• Saffron – encourage sexuality and boost fruitfulness
• cinnamon – love, passion, the power and strength of love

Questions that the Lovers asks us

• Are you showing up in your relationships – be it professional, friendships, or in love – wholeheartedly, or are you hiding part of yourself out of fear?
• What choice are you ready to make – love, career, spiritual path – that is right for you regardless of what anyone else says?

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That is the Lovers; a journey towards loving with eyes and heart wide open in a way that is supportive and healthy.  Wishing you a week of heart-opening experiences as you walk your path.  Please leave comments or ask questions.

Navigate back here next week for: The  Chariot!