My cards in today's pair from The Wayfarer Tarot are VI The Lovers and the V of Earth.
The Lovers is a beautiful card. The image on The Lovers card of The Wayfarer Tarot shows an elderly couple sitting on a bench under an arbor in a beautifully flowering garden. Behind the couple is a lush green lawn, stretching to the mountains in the distance; above them is a beautiful blue sky. The flower blossoms are vibrant and lovely: red roses for deep love and affection, purple pansies for beauty, nobility and loving feelings, red and orange zinnias for endurance, friendship, and long lasting affection, alongside green leaves, stems and vines. Winding its way through the flowers and leaves is a serpent representing temptation, the flow of energy, and the shedding of the old self. They are holding hands and looking at each other, as if blind to the beauty around them and only able to see each other. He looks like he is talking and gesturing to her, telling her some story, and she listens attentively, enjoying his enthusiasm.
The image on the V of Earth shows a man and a woman struggling to carry huge and heavy stones in the middle of a pelting rain storm. The woman holds three huge stones, and is facing the viewer; the man is bent over with two stones on his back, holding a wooden cane with both hands to support himself. Behind them is a tree covered with pink blossoms. This image shows weight, pain, struggles, sadness, and maybe even injuries. Every step is a challenge, and there is no end in sight.
Yes, The Lovers of the Tarot Major Arcana represents love of all kinds, including romantic love, but this card has other meanings as well. It can represent the effort to find a partner, the difficulty of choosing between several potential partners, consciously and deliberately chosen connections, and meaningful relationships. It can have a more general meaning as well, indicating cohesiveness, or the meshing of complimentary energies or balancing forces to create something greater than the sum of its parts. All of these things can be seen within the image of this card. The couple are older, and have been together for a long while, standing the test of time. They have created and maintained a beautiful, healthy and fertile world for themselves, no small task. Despite their age and the years they have been together, they are still comfortable with each other, and enjoy each other's company. This card is reminding me of the support, nurturing and understanding that can come from a long term relationship, a relationship that is cared for the way the couple in this card image have cared for their garden. This kind of relationship requires work, understanding of differences, forgiveness, and joy; it is worth every effort.
The V of Earth can represent some situation in the mundane or physical world that feels overwhelming. Dealing with heavy weights in the pouring rain with no end in sight can cause us to believe that we have no help and that we are wasting our efforts in trying to succeed. The exhaustion of struggling can feel never-ending and our energy supplies can feel depleted, but the couple on this card are still standing, despite the heavy weight they both carry. Often, this card reminds us that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. It also reminds us that if we feel overwhelmed, we need to look around for assistance. This couple are so focused on their burdens that they do not see that tree covered with springtime blossoms behind them. Perhaps just seeing that beauty would help them endure.
Having someone to share burdens with, someone with whom we have had a long and evolving relationship, makes struggles a bit less burdensome. I'm sure the loving couple in the image of The Lovers have sometimes felt like the couple in the image of the V of Earth, but they stayed together and endured. That is my message for today.
For card images, head over to my Instagram account, orange-dancing-sparkles.
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