The Lovers (VI)

Meanings according to Rider-Waite:

ASTROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Venus/Jupiter as an expression of great love.

THE LOVERS This card unites two storylines. It promises profound love experiences, but shows that such a step presupposes a choice: the renunciation of the previous way of life (the parental home, freedom, and easy flings) and the transition to a new level, the level of the consciousness of Love. Only a genuine awareness of it opens the powerful informational field that the card of the Lovers contains. That is why it was formerly called "Choice." It can also signify some other situation of choice, not necessarily connected with love. In that case, it means that we will, in one way or another, have to make a choice, decisively and irrevocably, leaving ourselves no loopholes. Which of the two storylines comes to the fore in the given case depends on the meaning of the question posed. However, in any event, this is a loud and definite "Yes."

From the book: Hajo Banzhaf. THE TAROT HANDBOOK. Translated from the German by E. Kolesov. Publisher: Center for Astrological Research, 1999.

5 - THE LOVERS Gemini The sixth card of the MAJOR ARCANA is called THE LOVERS and depicts a wedding ceremony in which a priest binds a youth and a maiden in sacred bonds (Adam and Eve?). Sometimes a winged figure above pierces the lover with its arrow. The second variant of the card depicts a youth standing between the figures of two women, one of whom is in Bacchic garments and wears a wreath of grape leaves. The women symbolize the duality of the human soul (the spiritual and animal parts), the first of which is an angel, the guardian of man, and the second — an ever-present demon. The youth stands at the beginning of mature life before a "Crossroads," where he must choose between virtue and vice, the eternal and the transient. At the top of the card, in a circle of light, is the Genius of Destiny (his star), mistakenly taken by the uninformed for Cupid. If youth makes the wrong choice — the arrow of Fate will strike it. The "Crossroads" reminds man that the price of free will, or more correctly, the power of choice, is responsibility. The classic TAROT card "THE LOVERS" is sometimes called "The Two Paths": it depicts a man and an angel — the man stands at the parting of the ways, and the angel takes aim with a bow at a woman standing on a flowery plain, as if proposing that the man withdraw to the mountains. Beneath his image, the medieval artist meant that two paths lie before man: to give himself to the world, to woman, to flowers — and die in the spiritual sense; or, withdrawing from the worldly, to depart into the mountains toward death, in order to free himself for spiritual life in other worlds, and then to be reborn anew as an Angel — a purely spiritual being, devoid of the errors of his own free will. The mountains are a symbol of the completed realization of the personality, astrologically symbolized by the planet Saturn. Whereas the EMPEROR and the HIEROPHANT are spurred to action by unrestrained energy, Gemini reflects, above all, the perfection of perception, its precision, subtlety, and sensitivity, for in order to discern the highest channels and choose, amid the bustle of life, the true path to them, a very fine perception is required. Our rational constructions circle around the truth, which remains between two opposing answers. Cognition occurs only at the moment of a dual representation of things, on neither of which the mind can settle: two opposing thoughts are two mirrors facing each other, manifesting an infinity of reflections of what lies between them. And that is why the youth on the card stands at the parting of the ways. The bifurcation of consciousness into the inner and outer worlds, into life and death, into man and woman — and all the contradictions arising from this — are bound up with the sign of Gemini.

In the upright position the card means the inevitability of a choice that must be made, guided by intuition rather than reason. It is the inspiration of feelings, of intuitions. A strong position may speak of great emotional freedom and a disregard for the consequences of one's actions when dictated by feeling. But in this (sometimes) one may find a certain harmony, beauty, and even perfection. Let us recall the famous Athenian hetaera who, in response to reproaches for immoral conduct, simply displayed her beautiful naked body to the sages, and thereby refuted all their arguments. In real life, the Sixth ARCANUM means an emotional bond of the heart, as well as the appearance in life of someone who will become your complement. Together with "favorable" cards, it may mean a good partnership, charming and friendly meetings, and bonds full of mutual joy. The astrological correspondence of the Sixth ARCANUM to the sign of Gemini imparts to this card yet another meaning: hatred, a struggle to the death. For enmity, like its reverse side — love, is a mutual affair.

In the reversed position the card says that you have become aware of your selfhood (have separated yourself from your twin). Understanding and love have come to you. If the spread concerned the possibility (or impossibility) of contracting a marriage, then such a position of the ARCANUM portends the failure of your matrimonial intentions. The same applies to a test — you most likely will not be able to pass it successfully. Your plans are unrealistic. The card may also symbolize an inner bifurcation, a conflict with oneself. It can also be a signal of chaos, confusion, a lack of stability of feelings. It can foretell separation, the collapse of love plans. Beware of the decisions you make. Obstacles will block your path to happiness and to your aspirations, for opposing forces are influencing you, and your will wavers between them. Indecision in any matter is more pernicious still than a poor choice.

"Go forward or retreat, but do not stand stamping in indecision; know that a chain of flowers is harder to break than a chain of iron." Papus