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The Lovers (Tarot card)

The Lovers (VI) is the sixth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.

In some traditions, the Lovers represent relationships and choices. Its appearance in a spread indicates some decision about an existing relationship, a temptation of the heart, or a choice of potential partners. Often an aspect of the Querent's life will have to be sacrificed; a bachelor(ette)'s lifestyle may be sacrificed and a relationship gained (or vice versa), or one potential partner may be chosen while another is turned down. Whatever the choice, it should not be made lightly, as the ramifications will be lasting.

The Lovers is associated with the star sign Gemini, and indeed is also known as The Twins in some decks. Other associations are with Air, Mercury, and the Hebrew letter ז (Zayin).

A. E. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretations. (Wood, 1998) However not all interpretations follow his theology. All Tarot decks may have slightly different meanings, and different interpretations of cards may be presented by different users of the cards.

Some frequent keywords used by tarot readers are:

Love relationship ----- Union ----- Passion ----- Sexuality

Pleasure ----- Humanism ----- Desire ----- Personal beliefs

Individual values ----- Physical attraction ----- Connection

Affinity ----- Bonding ----- Romance ----- Heart

Following the Marseilles Tradition, also there are:

Choice ----- Doubt ----- ----- Dilemma ----- Temptation

Mythopoetic approach

The Lovers represent the impulse that drives us out of the Garden, towards adulthood. Sometimes, that impulse manifests as curiosity (Eve, Pandora, Psyche); sometimes it manifests as sexual desire (the basis of much great literature, as well as ordinary romances, most teen movies, and even horror films); sometimes it manifests as duty (a soldier heeding the call). Whatever it is, once we have stepped past the threshold, there is no returning to the garden.

The Lovers is associated through its cross sum (the sum of the digits) with The Devil, Key 15. He is often the source of the impulse, or that thing inside of us that responds to it. The Devil's energy is absolutely necessary, absolutely deadly.

The Lovers also represent raw desire.

Hajo Banzhaf suggests that if the Major Arcana is seen as a map of the Sun's circuit of the Sky, The Lovers is high noon. Consciousness is at its fullest. Frequently, cards show the Sun in the position of noon. Two trees, bearing fruit and flame, represent the intoxication of the material world.

When The Lovers appear in a spread, it typically draws the Querent's attention to whatever impulse drove her from home, to whatever impulse made him move out, reject the faith of his fathers, made him accept the call. That original impulse should be honored, but if it dominates the Querent's life, it will grow tiresome. The call must be renewed.

It can signal that an examination of the Querent's relationship with the garden is needed, be it exile or absence. Sometimes, it can be useful to go beyond Eden and talk about other gardens: the bittersweet Kingdom of Logres built by Arthur to keep back the rising dark for a generation, the idyllic Hobbits' Shire in The Lord of the Rings, or just a happy childhood. Look for misty eyes of memory, or bitterness at the lack of a past paradise.

The Lovers are also a reminder that we need others to become fully human. Lovers, friends, adversaries - each one teaches us, each one stretches us.

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The Magician (Tarot card)

The Magician, The Magus, or The Juggler (I) is the first trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination. In divination it is considered by some to succeed The Fool card, often numbered 0.

When the Magician appears in a spread, it points to the talents, capabilities and resources at the querent's disposal. Depending on the card's placement in relation to other cards, the message is to tap into one's full potential rather than holding back, especially when there is a need to transform something. There are choices and directions to take. Guidance can arrive through one's own intuition or in the form of someone who brings about change or transformation.

The card can mean that a manipulator is floating around, usually if it's reversed. He may be a beneficent guide, but he does not necessarily have our best interests in mind. He may also represent the querent’s ego or self awareness. He can also represent the intoxication of power, both good and bad

In French, the Magician is called Le Bateleur, "the mountebank" or the "sleight of hand artist", a practitioner of stage magic. The Italian tradition calls him Il Bagatto or Il Bagatello, which has similar connotations to the French term according to old dictionaries. The Mantegna Tarocchi image that would seem to correspond with the Magician is labeled Artixano, the Artisan; he is the second lowest in the series, outranking only the Beggar. Visually the 18th-century woodcuts reflect earlier iconic representations, and can be compared to the free artistic renditions in the 15th-century hand-painted tarots made for the Visconti and Sforza families. In the painted cards attributed to Bonifacio Bembo, the Magician appears to be playing with cups and balls.

In esoteric decks, occultists, starting with Oswald Wirth, turned Le Bateleur from a mountebank into a magus. The curves of the magician's hat brim in the Marseilles image are similar to the esoteric deck's mathematical sign of infinity. Similarly, other symbols were added. The essentials are that the magician has set up a temporary table outdoors, to display items that represent the suits of the Minor Arcana: Cups, Coins, Swords (as knives). The fourth, the baton (Clubs) he holds in his hand. The baton later stands for a literal magician's "wand".

The illustration of the Tarot card "The Magician" from the Rider-Waite tarot deck was developed by A. E. Waite for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1910. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretation, though not all interpretations follow his theology.

Some frequent keywords are:

Action — Consciousness — Concentration — Personal power

Practicality — Energy — Creativity — Movement

Precision — Conviction — Manipulation — Self confidence

Being objective — Focusing — Determination — Initiative

A youthful figure in the robe of a magician has the face of the divine Apollo, the sun god, with a confident smile and shining eyes. Above his head is the mysterious sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like an endless cord, forming the lemniscate of infinity. About his waist is a serpent-cincture or girdle, the ouroboros, the serpent devouring its own tail. The ouroboros is an ancient symbol of eternity, eternal becoming, or transmutation and transformation, but in this case it indicates more especially the eternity of attainment in the spirit.[citation needed] In the Magician's right hand is a wand raised towards heaven, the sky or the element æther, while his left hand is pointing to the earth. This iconographic gesture has multiple meanings, but is endemic to the Mysteries, symbolizing divine immanence, the ability of the magician to bridge the gap between heaven and earth. On the table in front of the Magician the symbols of the four Tarot suits signify the Classical elements of earth, air, fire and water. Beneath are roses and lilies, the flos campi and lilium convallium, changed into garden flowers, to show the culture of aspiration

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Death (Tarot card)

Death (XIII) is the thirteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in Tarot, tarock and tarocchi games as well as in divination.

Description

The Death card commonly depicts a skeleton riding a horse. Surrounding it are dead and dying people from all classes, including kings, bishops and commoners. The skeleton carries a black standard emblazoned with a white flower. Some decks depict the Crashing Towers from The Moon with The Sun rising behind them in the background. Some decks, such as the Tarot of Marseilles, omit the name from the card.

Interpretation

A. E. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretations. However, not all interpretations follow his model.[2]

Some frequent keywords used by tarot readers for the interpretation of Death are:

Ending of a cycle——Loss——Conclusion——Sadness

Transition into a new state——Psychological transformation

Finishing up——Regeneration——Elimination of old patterns

Being caught in the inescapable——Good-byes——Deep change

According to Eden Gray and other authors on the subject, it is unlikely that this card actually represents a physical death. Typically it implies an end, possibly of a relationship or interest, and therefore implies an increased sense of self-awareness—not to be confused with self-consciousness or any kind of self-diminishment

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The Lovers (Tarot card)

The Magician (Tarot card)

Death (Tarot card)

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