Notes on The Lovers (Angelic Folly)
Four Pillars Society Tarot by Gary Rosenberg (GAR) and Nyxsaurius Fallsong
Artist’s Notes:
Yang and Yin, Positive Space and Negative Space. The traits we exhibit and the Traits that we keep hidden within. What is the key to achieving the full manifestation of our potential? Can we indeed confront that shadowy being that is our compliment, our other self, the player on the other side?
Some of the oldest versions of this card show a man torn between two women. An older woman, representing the mother and the bubble of existence many of us find ourselves in our early years where we become formed and defined and a younger woman representing that attractive being who represents everything outside of the world we have known. It has been theorized that the end goal of the rest of the Fool’s Journey is a reconciliation of these two opposites, introduced here.
As decks have evolved and changed, the cards are likely now to show some kind of union of these two opposites under the watchful gaze of an angel. The Rider-Waite-Smith deck shows Adam and Eve in the garden under the watchful eyes of the angel. Why not? Many of us who have married have found out that we have not begun to meet the stranger whom we have chosen until after the ceremony.
At any rate, growth continues and is accelerated through relationships particularly if they are healthy ones with both parties developing and evolving. Thus in the picture, I show a wedding of a kind, with both participants only partially formed and the angel presiding it a bit more literal in shape. This is the key to the alchemical joining and only through time will both evolve.
–GAR
About the Archetype:
As children, we are governed mainly by those around us whether it be our parents or the society in which we are raised. These are represented in the tarot by The Empress, The Emperor, and the Hierophant. These influences act on us and give us a particular lens on the world. They tell us what is expected of us and almost everything we do is either in concordance or rebellion with these influences. Then one day we meet each other. We feel an intense attraction towards them. It may be either a sexual attraction towards someone of the opposite (or same) sex or just an intense interest. They were raised under a different lens than us with different influences. They are built differently and have different expectations of life. That can make everything we have believed up to this point come into question. Do we continue to endorse the viewpoints of our family and the society that raised us or do we embrace these new points of view? How can we continue to live in the manner that we are used to when we know that there is another, maybe a better way? We start to see the flaws in our parents’ outlooks and methods and challenge those whose authority we have never challenged before. We have come to a point where we recognize the need to make our own choices. Ultimately this may mean leaving home and going out to the other. It may mean finding a way to encompass both.
This time of choice is represented by The Lovers card. In older versions of the tarot, the card showed a young man choosing between an older darker-haired woman and a fair-haired younger woman. This represented the choice between his family and his lover. In Waite’s deck, as well as the picture here, this card was shown to represent a mature man and woman standing together (suggesting Eden). Aleister Crowley’s Thoth deck depicts an alchemical wedding which is also at its simplest, a joining together with the other.
Astrological Correspondence:
Astrological Attribution – Gemini (♊︎) – The Gemini influence is that of intellect and analysis. It loves to take things apart and discover what makes them work. Part of this is distinguishing one thing from another and Gemini is a very analytical sign. Gemini’s symbol is the twins and it can easily see both sides of a question and can vacillate between the two sides. Gemini’s Mercurial nature is shown by how quickly it moves from one subject to another, ever probing and learning more before it moves on to another. This may make it appear superficial tho with time Gemini’s understanding deepens. Gemini is quick to act and quick to react but no reaction no matter how infuriating is ever the last one.
In a Reading:
When the Lovers card shows up in a reading it can definitely indicate a strong romance that is either ongoing or on the horizon. This relationship goes well beyond the physical and can mean the type of lessons in understanding and harmonizing with one another that only such a relationship can give. It can also indicate a time of choice between two paths that are both compelling. This may be due to the prospect of such a relationship and can often mean choosing between the life that the querent is living now and a path totally new to them. The Lovers can indicate how important and essential your current relationship is to your life. The Lovers card may also represent any major choice that involves several layers of the querent’s life. Upright this often means they can choose confidently knowing that their decision will be the correct one. The card may indicate that the question is one of trust in one’s partner.
Reversed or badly aspected, the Lovers can mean that the querent is doubting the choices that they have made or is being tempted to make a choice that will ultimately prove challenging if not damaging. It may mean disharmony and temptations to split up. This may be due to trust issues. It may mean that a partnership is splitting up because the people involved have lost sight of the things that have brought them together in the first place. In a position in the reading indicating the past, the Lovers may refer to bitterness over past relationships that are hurting the querent now.
Fate’s Whisper:
The first thing one can see is a key. Is this one of the keys to the greater future or is it to an inevitable demise. Above it is easy to see the eyes of angels shrouded by lighting.
Loyal the the Dragon of Reality, their pride is only matched by their need to guard what they define as order. Originally they served the dragons used to carry out important messages, they served dragons till they would vanish from existence. With nothing to suppress them their ego became an insurmountable wall of virtue and pride. Thus becoming a true representation of choice.
Growing up we all hold that same key but we are suppressed by those above us, whether they mean to or not. Only when we stand for ourselves is when can use that key to form that future. So how will you use your key? Will you stay suppressed or will you let your colors out for all to see.