What a magnificent card we see here in THE LOVERS... it's the Sixth card of the Major Arcana and one of the Tarot's most masterful and skillful blendings of Divine symbology with ancient psychological allegory. What you see enacted here isn't simply the angelic blessing of a loving couple, but rather a portrayal of the three operative functions of human consciousness... your consciousness. The man personifies your logical or rational, reasoning self-conscious mind. The woman symbolizes the instinctive, emotional and intuitive mind of your subconscious. The angel Raphael (Angel of Air) represents your inner spiritual connection or pathway to the God Force that lives within you.

Our ancient teachers wanted us to learn that our quest for divine perfection can be reached only by achieving a union of the male/female (conscious/subconscious) aspects of our nature. So many of us abuse our subconscious mind (the woman) by allowing the choices and demands of our self-conscious (the man) to place her in servitude by having her produce sense gratifications to satisfy our physical appetites. The bank of clouds shown to the right of the man's head and extending to the left of the woman's signifies these confusing signals being sent by the self-conscious (the man). It is only by becoming aware of the propriety of his thoughts, actions and aspirations that the man (self-conscious) can correct and realign his thinking and choices to manifest along more spiritual lines. Until such a level of control and right choice is achieved, none of us may gain access to the open instruction of the Divinity within us (Angel Raphael).

Our subconscious mind (the woman) is our only access route to the voice of the Divine (the angel). Notice in the picture how she has lifted her head and is looking directly at Raphael. The man is looking directly at her, illustrating that she is his channel or means of communication with the Spirit (the angel). He can access the Superconscious only through her. As we clean up our act by thinking positive constructive thoughts, limiting the excesses of our sense gratifications and monitoring our passions and emotions, we slowly re-establish a state of equilibrium with the subconscious (the woman). At present, most of us are wildly out of balance... few of us are completely or totally happy with our spiritual/physical state. It's very hard to walk the restrictive path of proper diet, sexual propriety and dedicated (unselfish) altruistic emotion. You may ask, if it's going to be this difficult to reach a spiritually perfected state why bother... after all, we are just human beings. Well, that's the point of this card... it is showing you that when you have reached a point in your evolution where you feel "just being human" is no longer enough, then your next move is to step up your energy and enter a new dimension of spiritual consciousness. Achieving a higher state of spirituality isn't for everyone, but someday, in some future incarnation, it will be. The LOVERS card is simply depicting how (by using discrimination) and through what means (the man blending with the woman) that perfection may be obtained.

It's interesting to note that the ancients have pictured (placed) the man and woman in the Garden of Eden. Behind the woman (your subconscious) is the fabled "Serpent" of the Garden winding its way to the top of the tree of knowledge into the foliage which contains (4) apples. The Serpent has whispered in her ear and successfully tempted her with an apple (which she has already consumed). These (5) apples symbolize the (5) desires that originate through our (5) physical senses. Her acceptance of one of these apples has stepped up her vibration giving her higher power access to and the ability to communicate with Spirit (Angel Raphael). As the Bible states, "If ye eat of the fruit of that tree, ye shall be as gods". The ancients tell us that the Serpent isn't really an agent of the Devil, but rather the Serpent Fire (kundalini) that lies coiled at the base of the spine, your sacral center. When it's awakened, it ascends up your spine in (4) loops. Note that the Serpent has (4) loops wrapped around the trunk of the tree (your spine). As your Serpent (kundalini) ascends, it vivifies (activates) your seven sacred energy centers called
(Chakras). The foliage of the tree is your skull... it is there, just below the Pineal Gland (in the thinking cells of the brain - frontal lobe), where the Serpent Fire (Kundalini) orchestrates the union of your self-conscious and spiritual Superconscious (Raphael). The Cosmic fire facilitating this event transforms the Pineal by fusing its sand-like particles into a crystal block. The alchemists of the Middle Ages called the block the Philosopher's stone. It is from this crystal center that new brain cells are created to replace the old... cells of lighter mass having much higher attenuation (capable of receiving higher spiritual inspiration).

Finally, it's interesting to note the (12) flames on the tree behind the man. These are the (12) signs (qualities of consciousness) of the Zodiac. It is the man's goal (our self-conscious goal) to balance and merge each sign's conscious characteristics, blending them as one within us. We accomplish this through spiritual practices, such as meditation and yoga. We must achieve balance within. When we do, as shown by the man reaching out to join hands with the woman, the self-conscious will unify and become one with the subconscious... thus achieving spiritual equilibrium. It's then we will finally be granted access to total spiritual consciousness.

copyright 2003-2004, Joe Ivory, all rights reserved