The Lovers
Major arcanumAlso: Major Arcanum 6
Upright
A choice where staying neutral isn't available
Choice, union, values, attraction, agreement, a fork
Reversed
Putting off the choice means someone else makes it
A deferred choice, discord, temptation, somebody else deciding
What the card means
Upright
The card is less about love than about a choice you cannot stand aside from: every option cancels something. It is not between good and bad but between two things that are both yours. Hence the union: real closeness starts where something was chosen.
Reversed
The choice is put off - and then made for you, usually by circumstances. Or it was made with somebody else's mind: on advice, out of fear, to go along. Sometimes discord in a couple whose values parted and who have only now noticed.
Love and relationships
Upright
Attraction with agreement behind it, not only chemistry. Two people facing the same way. Often the moment when it is time to decide.
Reversed
A triangle, or a temptation that is testing something. Or a couple who discuss everything except the thing itself.
Work and business
Upright
A partnership where matching on rules matters more than matching on terms. Or a choice between two offers, one of which is nearer to you than the other.
Reversed
Agreed to something that is not yours. Or held off deciding until both options closed.
Money
Upright
Shared money, a joint agreement, a decision made by two people. Good for anything where trust is the substance.
Reversed
A financial decision taken for you. Or spending in order to be liked.
The card's advice
Choose. Not both and not later. Test the option not by what it gains you but by who you will be once you have taken it.
As the card of the day
A day for decisions and for conversations that are overdue. Good for saying it plainly. Poor for thinking about it some more.
What is depicted
Two figures under an angel, a tree in flame behind the man, a tree with a serpent behind the woman. He looks at her, she looks up: what chooses is neither of them but what they both consent to.
Zodiac sign and correspondences
Gemini - two, and the conversation between them.
Yes or no
Yes
Yes if you already know what you want; the card does not choose for you.
With other cards
- The Lovers + Two of Cups — agreement with both the feeling and the terms in it.
- The Lovers + The Devil — an attraction that is not a choice at all.
- The Lovers + The Hierophant — choosing between how it is done and what you want.
- Arcana
- Major arcanum
- Number
- VI
A three-card reading in ten seconds, no sign-up.