Element
Zodiac
Number
Key Themes
Air
Gemini
The Twins
6
Union, Unity, Soul-contract, mutual Understanding, balance.
“Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.”
Carl Jung
soulmate connections, balance, choosing love
Overview
The Lovers represent the authority you choose to yield to in your life. This card speaks of someone—or something—you have allowed to become your vulnerability. When two weaknesses unite consciously, they become strength, forming a shared power source. In love, business, or spiritual pursuit, this union creates a force capable of achieving what neither could alone.
Symbology
Behind two nude figures stands an angel with gray robes, yellow skin, red and blue hair, and crimson wings. Their palms face forward, fingers extended upward. The sun blazes behind them as they rest upon a cloud. Below, a valley separates a man and woman standing beneath different trees. The woman’s tree bears fruit and is entwined with a serpent, while the man’s tree is barren and aflame.
Meaning
While often associated with romantic relationships, The Lovers speak more broadly of partnership and integration. At its simplest, it represents two forces merging to become something more powerful than either alone. These forces may exist within you, between you and another person, or between you and a purpose.
Partnerships / Long Term unions
These people may not stay in our lives for long, or they may stay forever. Regardless, The Lovers marks a relationship with someone which you feel at home with. They are someone who you resonate with in perfect sync. When you are near each other, your frequencies resonate in a way that can make an orchestra deaf with envy. These people can be friends, lovers, or business partnerships. There is something deeply impactful felt within these unions, and they are made to change us.
Soul Contracts
While traditional partnerships are definitely a key feature of this card, when there are other cards at play such as The Two of Cups and The Wheel of Fortune you may find yourself entangled with someone destiny intended you to. This can be someone of a soul-mate, karmic or twin flame nature.
(Note: I personally like to look at this like people made from the same stardust as you.)
Internal Balance
Internally, you are one. Your masculine (anima) and feminine (animus) natures are working together in perfect tandem. Your heart and mind in sync. The shadow feels integrated with the lights of your personality.
At this time you are perfectly in tune with everything you are, and everything is resonating at the perfect frequency. Use this time to do something powerful and monumental in your life. You’ll be sure to make shockwaves.
Influence on the Suits
With a Lot of Cups present in a reading with The Lovers a relationship is blossoming with someone who shares the same cosmic essence as you. This may indicate a soulmate connection or deep spiritual bond.
With Wands, the Lovers indicates that someone in your life has become your muse, igniting creative inspiration.
Pentacles
Pentacles can indicate a partnership—romantic or professional—will bring material gain or long-term stability.
Swords with The Lovers is a warning that logic is interfering with emotional truth. Communicate openly and let vulnerability lead.
The Lovers Reversed
“”So they will not love, for love is the bane of honor, the death of duty”
George RR Martin
disharmony, poor choices, codependency, internal imbalance
In the Reversed position, you can turn the meaning of The Lovers upside down and inside out, or it can be perceived as something else. Reversed cards can be read a few different ways. If you want to know the source of the concept of why this card is defined the way it is, check out the article “Reading Reversals” in Chapter 6 of this knowledge base.
If you simply want to know the reason and not the method of deciphering, here are some possible ways to read the card in reversed.
Meaning
Break ups
As you would expect, the Lovers reversed can be symbolic of a break up. This break up can be permanent, temporary or natural. They are the dissolving of a union of some sort of another.
Natural ending
People fall out of love, this is a fact of life that is unavoidable. If the Death Card is present that is indicative of this fact. Conversely, the Death Reversed and The Wheel of Fortune Reversed indicates that while the union is very much dead in the ground, the conclusion is being resisted by one or more of the parties. They are dragging around the corpse of something that used to be, and refusing to end the cycle and move forward.
Affairs
If there is currently in a committed relationship, union or marriage that has no definitive signs of ending, this could be indicating that there is a third party interfering (or attempting to) with your relationship. This could be physically, sexually or emotionally.
Wandering Eyes
If not a definitive end, someone in the union maybe entertaining the thought of other option, or flirting with other people as if they are single. There maybe wandering eyes in the relationship, which could end up being problematic in the future.
Missed connections
There was an opportunity to feel that deep transformative connection with someone, but you missed the chance. This could be out of fear or insecurity, or simply not feeling ready to dive deep with someone new. The timing may have been off, or there could be a plethora of other factors at play that caused the missed opportunity.
There shouldn’t be much pain in this situation, as you would have never seen the depth of what you missed in the first place. The biggest draw back is that you lost the opportunity to be changed by another person. If you ‘re someone who is accustomed to only being influenced by The Tower’s transformative power, missing this connection is truly unfortunate.
Power struggles
If you’re playing king of the hill with your union, this card would come into play. Each of you are trying to drive the bus, but the bus only has one wheel. It’s a good time to practice compromise within the partnership and finding common ground.
Not willing to commit
Someone in this union is causing the tires to spin endlessly. While you see the potential in this relationship, the other party is not as invested or they aren’t in the position to make things serious.
As stated above, this could also be a situation where you are dealing with someone who is already committed to someone else. Whether you are aware of this or not, there is no room for commitment in this full house.
Deal breaking Ideals
One party wants to go left, and the other wants to go right. There could be conflict in ideas, ideals, or beliefs that can cause an irreparable rift in a situation. Maybe one party has different political views than the other, or the spiritual views of one family refuses to allow things to naturally progress the way it needs to.
Lesser of Two evils
There is a major decision you need to make between two comparable things. Whether these things are overwhelming positive or (more likely) negative, there is a time to choose between the lesser of two evils.. Weigh the pro’s and cons of both situations before you make your final decision.
