The Lovers Tarot Card Meanings
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The Lovers Tarot Card Meaning: Upright and Reversed Meanings & Breakdowns

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The Lovers Tarot Card Keywords

Upright Keywords

Paradox, Harmony, Partnership, Choices/Decisions, Union

Jump to upright meanings

Reversed Keywords

One-sided, Disharmony, Self-love, Self-acceptance, Detachment 

Jump to reversed meanings

The Lovers Tarot Meaning

The Lovers tarot meanings are often associated with romantic love. On the traditional Rider Waite tarot deck, the image features Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and on more modern tarot decks, you’ll usually notice both a male and female character on the card. 

The Lovers isn’t specifically about romantic love though. The idea of lovers is simply a metaphor for partnership and two halves of the same whole. This card can be seen as the Yin and Yang of the tarot, the idea that everything needs an opposite to be a whole. Dark and light, conscious and unconscious, male and female (in a non-gendered way). 

This is why The Lovers is a card most often linked with the idea of duality. It is an energy that asks us to review all aspects of the self in equal measure and with equal respect, instead of only focusing on the conscious, most appealing parts of the self. 

The Lovers Upright Meaning

In the upright position, The Lovers card brings our attention to how two halves of a whole work together to bring balance and harmony. If you read the tarot from the perspective that all humans have both masculine and feminine energy at play inside them, then The Lovers becomes a representation of that and how those two energies can dominate each other or work together. 

In the upright position, The Lovers can sometimes create a paradox. For example, someone who is tired of being single but also doesn’t like the idea of being in a relationship. Or, somebody who is a homebody but also wants to travel the world. On the surface, the two things seem to cancel each other out, but if you’ve ever been in either of those situations, you’ll know that even though it doesn’t make logical sense, the two things can be true at the same time.

The Lovers Tarot Card Upright Pagan Otherworlds

This is also why The Lovers are often related to making big decisions. Often, when we’re faced with choices, we’ll have choices that seem completely opposite from each other, and yet, you probably want both things. The Lovers brings our awareness to this fact, so that we can better see the problems and obstacles that need to be overcome in order for us to make those decisions.

Journal Prompts for The Lovers, Upright

What would my life be like if I chose option A, and what would my life look like if I chose option B?

What contrasts do I have within myself right now? What two things are true about me and yet don’t seem to work together?

If I had to write short bios for my masculine self and my feminine self, what would they be?

“If one overlooks a woman’s dual nature and takes a woman at face value, one is in for a big surprise, for when a woman’s wildish nature rises from her depths and begins to assert itself, she often has interests, feelings, and ideas which are quite different from those she expressed before.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estés

The Lovers Upright Meanings | Love, Career & Finances

In the upright position, The Lovers in a love reading can suggest two people who seem to complement and work together as a true partnership. This may be you are your own partner, offering you a relationship that feels equal and shared, rather than one that feels like one person is more committed than the other.

It might be that The Lovers upright are revealing a relationship that on paper shouldn’t work, or one that you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself. These are often the strongest romances, as they are built on mutual respect and understanding. These are the relationships that you choose because they offer you a sense of harmony and equilibrium.

The Lovers in the upright position in a career reading could suggest a great business partner or even a good work/life balance. Maybe you’ve been building a business alone, and The Lovers appear to suggest looking for someone to share the load. It doesn’t even have to be a person; it could be a piece of software that can help streamline your work process or free up valuable time in your workday.

Or, it could be a suggestion to review your work/life balance and ensure you have harmony between these two parts of your life. You might be finding that all of your waking thoughts and energies are going into your work or your career goals, and you need a break. You may need to find a better way of working that allows you to spend more time on yourself or with your loved ones. Don’t be afraid to make drastic decisions if it’s in the service of your own well-being.

In a financial tarot reading, The Lovers upright can suggest big financial choices that you may be struggling to comprehend, such as what to spend your money on. It can also suggest a need for financial partnership to help support you in a big life change or decision.

You might even find yourself torn between spending money on the things you want and spending money on the things you need. It can feel like a push and pull, but ultimately, finances need to go where they are needed most first. If you find this is always the case and it is starting to wear on you, it may be worth talking to somebody who could offer you emotional and mental support and help you find a way to move through it with more ease.

The Lovers upright is a really lovely self-development card because it asks us to view all the complex parts of ourselves that we often overlook. It reminds us that we are never just one thing or another, that who we are is a complex puzzle of experiences, feelings, beliefs and interests.

It asks us to review both the shadow self and the conscious self, to better understand ourselves that much better. This work can require us to reconcile our social selves with who we really are at our core. This could mean cutting ties with people who do not support our true selves. It can ask us to be more honest about who we are, not just with others but more importantly, with ourselves. It is a card of self-acceptance, and it can be tricky to start this work, especially if it’s not something you’ve dabbled in. In which case, it can be helpful to seek out someone to walk with you as you go on this journey of self-discovery.

The Lovers Reversed Meaning

The Lovers Tarot Card Reversed Pagan Otherworlds

The Lovers in reverse suggest a disconnection and imbalance between two energies. This could be between you and another person or situation, or it could be within your own psyche. Maybe you’re at war with yourself, with one part of you frantically pulling at the other. As The Lovers is a card that represents duality, in reverse, it can often suggest that these dual energies are not cooperating and therefore causing problems as a whole. 

This disharmony can cause uncomfortable symptoms such as feeling undervalued, conflicted or confused. You can feel lost within yourself, not sure which of your many personas is the dominant one, causing you to struggle to make decisions or really figure out what it is you want most.

A common symptom is negative self-talk; your inner voice negatively impacts your emotional self, so the two halves become your mental and emotional self vying for dominance, and one hurts the other in the process. 

One of the most noticeable moments of The Lovers reversed at work is as we’re moving through a transitional period. Maybe we’re growing from a child into a Teen and trying on different personas in order to find what fits in best. Maybe we’re moving into middle age and desperate to stop pushing that creative passion to the bottom of our priorities, and want to finally allow that side to shine, but struggle to allow it to happen.

Journal Prompts for The Lovers, Reversed

When was the last time you really struggled with a big decision, and how did you finally come to a conclusion?

Think about how you speak to yourself. How does your inner dialogue affect how you feel about yourself?

What is something that often stops you from being able to make choices clearly and with confidence?

“…when both sides of the dual nature are held close together in consciousness, they have tremendous power, and cannot be broken.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estés

The Lovers Reversed Meanings | Love, Career & Finances

In a reversed position, The Lovers in a love reading could suggest a disconnect between partners, potentially within their communication. It can also point to an inability to ask for what you want within the relationship. It might leave you feeling on the fringes and like you’re not really “in” the relationship like you want to be.

The Lovers is an air card, relating to communication and intellect, so it’s possible that disharmony is being caused by those not being truthful with themselves and what they need. As we come straight from The Hierophant card, The Lovers reversed could suggest coming to terms with how you feel about someone or how you really feel about the relationship you are currently in. If you’re single, you may have uncovered a reason as to why you are reluctant or unable to find the perfect partner, and now you need to follow that thread deeper to see where the disconnect is happening.

The Lovers reversed in a career meaning can suggest a breakdown between a role or business partner and yourself. It might be that you realise you’ve fallen out of love with the initial reasons you wanted your chosen career, or perhaps a workplace you once loved is no longer giving you what you need from your work life.

This card can also suggest that there have been changes in your life that may require changes in your career, also. For example, health problems may mean that doing the job you’re used to is no longer viable, or that you need to make small adjustments to allow you to feel more comfortable. You may find that the industry you once felt comfortable in now feels alien to you, and you long for something new that also feels more aligned to who you are now, not who you used to be.

The Lovers reversed in a financial card reading can suggest an issue with beliefs about money. Perhaps there is a fear about spending or a lack of money, or maybe a lack of respect that causes overspending and financial problems. This can be a disconnect between your ideas around money and the realities of managing money.

You may find that your lifestyle doesn’t match your account balance. This can go either way; you may not be living in a way that allows you to enjoy the abundance you’ve worked hard to achieve, or you may be living in a way that stretches your finances too thinly.

When in a self-development reading, The Lovers in a reversed position could show a complex or a side of yourself that you are overlooking or even avoiding completely. The shadow or unconscious side and the conscious parts of your psyche are not communicating with each other, and it’s causing problems that could be affecting your overall well-being.

These problems can manifest in the form of fears, limiting beliefs, toxic or unwanted behaviours or even thoughts and feelings. You may find that your sense of self and individuality are clouded, and you no longer feel like you know who you are. In this case, The Lovers reversed is an invitation to embark on a journey of self-discovery and figure out where you lost yourself along the way. Start to ask more questions around why you do what you do, think what you think and feel what you feel. If this sounds like you, then it may be worth taking a look at my Personal Transformation Tarot Reading Packages.

The duality of masculine and feminine

This is something I talk about in lesson 3 of the Foundational Tarot Course, but the role of masculine and feminine energy features heavily across all of the cards, but none more so than The Lovers. When we talk about masculine and feminine energies, we are talking about non-gendered energies.

Those who identify as men will usually feel a greater affinity with the more masculine energies, whereas those who identify as women will feel more aligned with feminine energies. Those who are non-binary have a balance of both that they can choose to dip into how they see fit.

However, everyone, no matter how you identify, has both at work with them. It’s this partnership between the two that The Lovers can bring our awareness to and help us learn more about these energies and how they manifest within us.

The Lovers | Esoteric Correspondences

Astrological Sign

The Lovers Tarot Meanings Gemini

Gemini

The Lovers is the card of Gemini. Gemini is a sign that is seen as being highly intelligent, a great communicator, informative and connected, all attributes which make a great partnership. It is also a sign known for its duality, something The Lovers also represents, particularly in terms of the self.

Elemental Energy

Ace of Swords Tarot Meanings Air

Elemental Air

The element of air rules our communication and intellect, ideas and beliefs. The Lovers contains all of these in its meanings, which is why it’s not an overly emotional card, but a mentally challenging one. It’s about being able to get to the truth through asking questions and challenging beliefs.

Numerology

Number Six in Numerology Meanings

Number Six

The number six within numerology can represent success and progress. It is a number that makes sure to nurture and be of service to others. It is also the number of self-love, romantic love and compassion. It represents the base instincts of connection and communication with others.

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