Meaning of the Lovers Tarot card

A couple in love, who are about to have their union blessed.

The blessing is complete. It is in fact imparted by a worldly minister on earth, and by a heavenly minister (Cupid) in heaven.

Among the Pythagoreans, 6 (the number of the Lovers card) is a sexual number. The Lovers card therefore represents marriage.

Further symbolism of union in marriage is the “coniunctio manuum” (the union of hands) of the two lovers, to further sanction this union.

General interpretation of the card

It symbolizes a deep bond, and above all love.

It is a positive card, very auspicious for all readings related to love.

It represents love in all its nuances. Of course, it also represents marriage, since that is what is depicted on the card. But it can also represent all the “perversions” that love can generate. It can represent intrusive family members who, although driven by sound principles, end up becoming overbearing. Likewise it can represent the Oedipus complex, that is, love of one’s mother, at various levels of gravity (from the most trivial to the most problematic cases).

Be aware, however, that love and the marriage union is not the only possible interpretation of this card. The handholding between the two lovers, in fact, also has another symbolism: the goodbye.

We find this image in several funerary monuments of the Roman era, and even in pre-Roman times. It was symbolically linked to the goodbye (and not only to the bond that remains in the afterlife).

It is also for this reason, but not only, that most esotericists perceived a choice in this card: the choice between vice and virtue, and the choice between two paths in general.

On ancient Tarot cards, two women are depicted, further representing this element of choice.

It is a depiction of man put to the test, who must choose between good and evil.

Specific examples of possible meanings:

• A fork in the road, a choice that we must make.
• A particular choice, which offers us an easier path, and a path that appears more tortuous, difficult at the start, but which offers serenity at the end.
• A person with a complex personality (even going as far as cases of dual personality), which causes us great frustration because this is certainly not easy to manage.
• Excellent passionate “union”, excellent sexual chemistry.
• An “unofficial” relationship that will take significant steps in coming out into the open. It may be the unofficial formalizing of a bond, the decision to have a child together, the decision to live together, marriage.
• You have to decide what you really want.
• It symbolizes freedom: being able to decide is the maximum expression of free will. Be aware, however, that a word as beautiful as “freedom” can involve many technical difficulties when the time comes to put it into practice.
• There is a third party involved in a love relationship. It might be nothing serious. This is not a card that represents infidelity. However, there may be someone who wants to “tempt” our partner (however innocent or partially complicit the partner may be).