Are you tying the knot? Or is it less formal between you two on the social plane, but as emotionally binding as you can possibly imagine? Is a physical attraction becoming an obsession, weakening your decision-making powers and other boundaries you ordinarily have in place? Is this struggle with temptation bringing about a transformation in who you have been in the world and who you are becoming in the universe? Have you attached yourself to the philosophy of some interesting belief system that satisfies your quest for knowledge on the way life works and where its meaning can be found? If your Tarot reading reveals The Lovers card, some of these scenarios are already well in place in your day-to-day life.
This card is divided into a top and bottom. On the bottom half stand a man and a woman. They are naked before the world. A tree of flames stands behind the man, while a fruit tree with a snake around it is behind the woman. The ground is a bright spring green and a mountain rises in the distance between them under a blue sky. In the middle of the card, aligned with their heads, is a billowing cloud, upon which rests the top half of an angel. The angel wears a purple cloak and lifts its hands in the air, but not as high as its crimson wings. The flames that make up its hair light its face a golden yellow to match the endless rays of sunlight encircling it from above.
The couple illustrated here are Adam and Eve. It is the moment that they are being told about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They now know not to eat its fruit. All is perfect as the radiant energy of the angel gives this card a glowing color throughout; we know that the snake will strike and that the couple will be shamed into putting on some clothes. They will be cast out of the Garden of Eden and propagate the human race. This serves as a metaphor for all relationships – the moment that we decide to enter into a union with someone else, all seems perfect. Eventually we will discover flaws that might have been unacceptable were we to have seen them prior to getting together with this person. Adam and Eve are the metaphor for every couple – the relationship starts off pure, falters and then the best must be made out of it after the initial bliss is gone.
Meaning in Past, Present and Future Positions
When a Tarot reading commences, the cards are dealt out into specific places. Each location in a reading covers your past, your present or your future. A card in the past means something different than it does were it to land in the present or future spot.
When The Lovers card lands in the past position, the foundation of your current situation can be found in a love relationship. If you are very young, this could be your parents. Usually it represents a past love or for long-married couples, a confirmation that the union is a definition of your identity.
If the location of The Lovers card in your reading is the present, you are palpitating with passion over a budding partnership. If you are alone or lonely, this card in this position will end that in a hurry. You might already know this partner, but regardless, the power and influence you will have on each other shall be transformative over all aspects of your life. You will be able to look back on the present day as a before and after scenario.
If you are single and The Lovers card is in the future position, now is the time to approach dating with a clear idea of what you want. The Lovers card signals the intense affection that will blind a new couple to reality. While you still have your sight, think long and hard about what you want in a relationship and send that energy out into the universe. If you are prone to becoming lost in the billowing fog of love’s spell, the plans you make now to focus on the type of lover and relationship you really want can be invaluable to your future. The presence of The Lovers card in this position gives you time to make that checklist and start looking for those specifications in every man you meet.
Card Combinations
When the cards are dealt in your Tarot reading, they are laid out near each other. The proximity of any one card to another influences the meaning of each card and the overall tone of the reading. Some combinations of cards are quite powerful.
The Lovers is closely linked to three other cards from the Tarot’s Major Arcana: The Hierophant (card #5), The Devil (card #15) and The Tower (card #16). As this card is about partnership, it is only natural that there are two other cards in the deck that reflect this partnering up. The Hierophant and The Devil are both cards that, like The Lovers card, feature two people in the lower half under a powerful archetype in the upper center of the card. In The Hierophant card, the two acolytes are monks with shaved heads, bowing before the leader of the cause to which they have devoted themselves. In The Devil card, the winged devil replaces the angel from The Lovers card, and the naked couple is unashamedly nude and chained to that thing which gives them so much pleasure that it has become a destructive addiction. When either The Devil or The Hierophant cards are paired with The Lovers, intense and transformative commitment can take a relationship to a deeper place, although it might be a darker one as well.
The Tower card shows people being cast out of a tower that is being destroyed by lightning. This is akin to Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden when it is in the same reading as The Lovers. A breakup or other separation is inevitable, and the permanence of this chasm is not under your immediate control.
