Tarot Post – The Lovers

 

VI-The Lovers (Gemini ♊︎)

 

The Lovers The Lovers by G A Rosenberg

 

Two Streams combine, one
Opposites brought together
Love beckons refreshed

 

In a glade I met the other
and my dormant soul came alive
The differences between us were so clear
Here was a being
who might fill my empty spaces
and whom I could fill
in wonder, in prayer, in delight.
I didn’t understand
and could spend my existence trying
as we sought to combine in every way possible.
Yet doing this meant leaving the life I knew behind.
What did the child’s home matter
when I could find fulfilment
in the being of another?
Yet I was needed there.
Duty and comfort drew me back
Her being drew me forward.
To go to her would mean
losing my self, my blood, my life
yet gain meaning
in something larger.
i froze, caught between possibilities
I saw in her eyes
the same dilemma.
Moving forward, I made my choice
— G A Rosenberg

 

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 to these influences. Then one day we meet the 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 who’s 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 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.

 

Runic Attribution – Ehwaz (‘Horse’)EhwazThe horse stands in unique partnership to man. At its best a horse and his rider become in tune with each other moving as one. Ehwaz represents partnership, communication and swift movement forward. It also represents harmony in relationships. Other runes connected with the Lovers are Kenaz and Gebo.

 

Path on the tree of Life – Path 18-Zayin-The Meaning of Zayin is (‘sword’). A sword is used to separate and analyze determining how two things differ from each other. A sword can be used to separate or to unite (as in kingdoms). It can also represent the penis which also has the ability to separate or unite. Path 18 is the path that connects the sephiroth of Binah (“understanding”) and Tiphareth (“beauty”). It is referred to as the Disposing Intelligence. It is a path that crosses the abyss linking the lower seven sephiroth with the upper three. In order to bring understanding from beauty, one must analyze and then later synthesize the understanding.

 

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 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 chose confidently knowing that their decision will be the correct one. The card may indicate that the question is one of trusting in one’s partner.

 

Reversed, 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.

Tarot Post – Queen of Cups

Queen of Cups (Water of Water)

 

Queen of Cups (N)Queen of Cups (Reimagined) by G A Rosenberg

 

 

She knows how I feel
Not touched by hand nor heart she
takes away my pain

 

Receive me O Queen
I know you understand
you take my pain and my pleasure
my words and my deeds
I may never fathom you
here in your beauty
yet you have found my depths
and shown me your silvered fineness
in return

 

“I walked with her to her apartment, She invited me in. We waked to her living room. She guided my steps as she followed close behind, her hand gently motioning the way.
It seemed she could listen for hours and understand my entire being as each part was accepted and absorbed into those deep grey eyes of hers.
Even tho I felt her comprehension, I had no knowledge of what she felt about it all, only that there were dephs there I could never fathom. Gazing at her was like looking into a mirror of my soul but who knew what lay behind that silvered glass.”
— G A Rosenberg

 

The suite of Cups deal with our emotional nature including love, both that as in a relationship between two (and rarely more) people and that of friends and companions.Queens are the receptive and nurturing form of the energy. As Water of Water in an elemental sense they take everything in giving the feeling that it is all received, understood and appreciated in full. Somehow the Queen of Cups conveys this without showing any outward sign of being affected by it at all. She has an amazing sense of aesthetics and will surround herself with beauty and yet this is as much a sense that she carries around with her more than acting from any need. She is a dreamer of beautiful dreams and she reflects back everything we show her with a sense of love. Her depths are not easily fathomed and very few if any will get to see what’s beneath the surface. She is fair and generous towards all.
At her most negative tho, the the love and honest reflection of what we show her is lost given way to distortion and manipulation.

 

Astrological Correspondence: 21° Gemini – 20° Cancer Elemental: Water of Water – The combination of the omnidirectional interest of Gemini and the sensitive intuitive home builder of Cancer shows someone who wishes everyone to be comfortable around them even at the expense of a mask of the deepest neutrality. They love to feel that they are helping and providing for others and make wonderful tho at times dictatorial hosts / hostesses. They may have an element of moodiness tho they will seldom show it except to those with whom they feel close.

 

I Ching Correspondence: 58)Tui – Joyfulness

___ ___
_______
_______
___ ___
_______
_______

 

The trigram of the lake is doubled over itself. While the surface appears to be yielding, there is great strength within. Twice the strength of the lower two lines of the trigram express themselves in the gentleness of the yin line. There is a lot of reflection within this hexagram and the two lakes together can act much like two mirrors facing each other to reflect itself in an infinite picture of a still lake.

 

When the Queen of Cups shows up in a reading, there may be a call to be open and receptive to who or whatever comes your way. Remember being open to someone does not mean being in agreement or even siding with them as it is to hearing them out. The card may also refer to someone in our environment who is there for us in a maternal way, generous, caring and social tho possibly quite remote. This person feels like someone who will listen and make it all better or at least who will or can understand. This card may also represent ourselves and may be telling us to be as open to what goes on beneath our surface as we are to the voices and cares of those around us.

 

When the Queen of Cups turns up reversed, it may be referring to someone who has become out of touch with the needs of others (consider the story commonly told about Marie Antoinette who when told that the Peasants had no bread was believed to reply “Let them eat cake.”) This person may have let ambition get ahead of compassion and may be manipulative and dishonest while portraying a gentle hearted generous facade.

 

Like me on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WakingSpirals

Tarot Card of the Day — November 10 2010

Eight of Swords – Interference

“I never told a victim story about my imprisonment. Instead, I told a transformation story – about how prison changed my outlook, about how I saw that communication, truth, and trust are at the heart of power.
–Fernando Flores

Click on image to see full-size

Eight of Swords- Interference by G A Rosenberg

Card of the Day – December 4 2009 – Queen of Cups

I walked with her to her apartment, She invited me in. We waked to her living room. She guided my steps as she followed close behind, her hand gently motioning the way.
It seemed she could listen for hours and understand my entire being as each part was accepted and absorbed into those deep grey eyes of hers.
Even tho I felt her comprehension, I had no knowledge of what she felt about it all, only that there were dephs there I could never fathom. Gazing at her was like looking into a mirror of my soul but who knew what lay behind that silvered glass.

Water of Water
21° Gemini – 20° Cancet

Queen of Cups-Vertigo Tarot

I Ching Hexagram 58 – TUI
The Joyous Lake
____ ____
_________
_________
____ ____
_________
_________

True joy rests on strength within — the top lines (this is a doubled trigram Tui, the lake on top of Tui the lake) yields to the inner stronger lines. Outward joy and gentleness must be based on steadfastness outwardly

Queen of Cups. So many different interpretations of that card and that fits because by her nature she mirrors what is in front of her at least on the surface. She will give you back what you show her and rarely let you see the depths below. Make no mistake they are there. She carries everything that she ever encountered. If she has been wounded she holds that beneath her surface and that may erupt. If she has known love, that is what you will find. Enormous strength almost always held in reserve, it is nearly impossible to deplete her tho she can feel used up.
Reversed you see someone as fickle as the sea and as potentially tempestuous, she has seen pain and returns it, she can be vindictive and relentless

The third decan of Gemini gives a socially innovative and trusting element to the card. Also one of purpose. The first two decans of Cancer add a strong touch of both Empathy and Unpredictability. Thus again going back to water, as there is a very fluid quality to all three of these decans, someone who can move socially within all circles, being able to pick up on other’s emotions often with unpredictable results.