The Lovers
The Lovers represents both union and choice, encompassing romantic partnership and the inner reconciliation of masculine and feminine elements. It carries a dual tradition: a depiction of lovers and the allegory of moral choice (as in Hercules at the crossroads). In a reading it can signal finding a soul-mate, readiness to open to another, or an internal conflict requiring a decision between competing attractions or values. The card emphasizes that true unity emerges from inner completeness and urges choosing what one truly needs rather than what one merely wants.
Keywords
Correspondences
Gemini
Keywords
The principles of decision and of belonging, Eros, the connection of male and female, the joining of opposites, the soul-mate, anima and animus, Hercules at the crossroads, finding completion, realization that true unity can only come from inside, readiness to open up to someone else, deciding what one needs rather than what one wants.
Meaning (Traditions)
"The Lovers" as a card has two traditions: in one it depicts a true couple as lovers, in the other tradition this card is called "The Choice" and shows a young man standing between an older dark-haired woman and a younger blonde one, and he has to decide between them. The second tradition is said to go back to the story of Hercules who as a young man encountered two women, one promising him an easy life of pleasure and indulgence but of obscurity, the other one a life of pain and deprivation that would make him famous throughout the known world. Hercules chose the second offer.
Meaning (When drawn)
When drawn, "The Lovers" may mean that you find a balance within the male and female elements within yourself, the finding of your soul-mate and readiness to open yourself completely to another person, but also a conflict between different attractions or the need to choose.
Exploring the Card
Tonks and Lupin are the perfect couple that shows both traditions of the card at the same time. Obviously the two are lovers, but in Deathly Hallows Lupin is also called upon to choose: between the call of the moon that transforms him into a beast and the call of duty towards his wife and unborn son that make him into a responsible father. The choice isn't easy for Lupin.
Visual Description
A graphite illustration of a man and a woman standing side by side and filling most of the card. The man wears a suit and overcoat with his hands in his pockets while the woman is dressed casually with arms crossed and a small Roman numeral VI visible on her chest. A full moon glows behind them and stylized swirling, vine-like decorations wrap around their legs and the edges of the scene; the image is rendered in monochrome pencil texture.
Harry Potter tarot
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