Tag: The Lovers

The Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana: SunFest 2016: The Lovers

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

A Man and a Woman stand at two intersecting paths. Woman: (addressing the seekers) We’re trying to decide if we should get married. Man: She doesn’t think I really love her even though I tell her all the time. Woman: Yes, you keep telling me that, but it doesn’t feel like you love me as much as I love you. Man: So what can I do to convince you I love you? Woman: If I told you and you did it, then I still wouldn’t know if you really loved me or if you were just doing it because I told you to. Man: You see, it’s impossible! (Turns back to woman, who is now looking up) I love you, I love you, I love you! I give you roses, I take you out to nice restaurants. What else can I do? We are totally compatible. We, both like camping and hiking and murder mysteries and Thai food. We both have good jobs and can… Read More »

Moonshine and the Major Arcana

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

The Moon is all about the way we interface with the unknown, or the unconscious , or the astral plane, or the spirit world, or the realms of gods, daemons, and demons, or parallel universes. These are the strange and frightening worlds every hero must travel to complete his or her quest. Since the keys of the major arcana trace the story arc of this journey, The Moon is a pivotal card, casting its eerie shadows over many of the other keys. The card most obviously connected to The Moon is The High Priestess because the planet attributed to this card is the Moon. To make absolutely sure you get the connection most depictions of this card are loaded with lunar images. The High Priestess is the guardian of the threshold between the known and the unknown, the conscious and the unconscious mind, the hero’s ordinary world and the world he must enter to complete his quest. She can either help or hinder him as… Read More »

The Major Arcana and the Hero’s Journey: The Devil, Part III

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

The Devil squats in darkness on a half cube. Two chains lead from a ring in the half cube to loop around the necks of a man and a woman. This is the nightmare version of The Lovers. To make sure we don’t miss the connection, nearly all modern decks make The Lovers key 6 and The Devil key 15 (1+5=6). A quick review of The Lovers card reminds us that it is about how to make wise choices. The man, or conscious mind, opens himself to, or is in communion with, the woman, or subconscious mind, who is looking up and communicating with the Angel Raphael. In other words, we can make much better decisions if we are in touch with the universal consciousness, or higher beings, or the divine, or whatever we choose to call it. This is why, when faced with a problem, a wise person will not only look at it logically, but also “pray on it”, or “sleep on it”,… Read More »

The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey: The Lovers, Part I

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

Welcome to The Lovers! Like romance itself, this card is portrayed in a bewildering parade of images. The traditional Rider-Waite-Smith card is pictured above. But it can also look like this: Or this: I think that all of the above are valid, insightful ways of portraying this card, but IMHO, some others aren’t as successful. They get part of it right, but they don’t convey the whole message. Like its associated sign, Gemini, the card contains multitudes and is very hard to pin down to one simple meaning. It has layers, like an onion or an ogre. To get a grip on this tricksy card, let’s begin with its astrological and Hebrew letter attributions. The astrological sign, Gemini, the twins, is attributed to The Lovers. Its element is air, so it’s a mental, logical, verbal sign whose key words are “I think.” Since Gemini is the sign of the twins, it means duality; and since it’s ruled by Mercury, the trickster, it can mean duplicity.… Read More »