Barbara Walker Tarot - 6: The Lovers

A man between two women, an elder and a younger, and the love god aiming his arrow, form this card’s traditional group. The Lovers has been interpreted as a young man’s choice between mother and wife, body and spirit, virtue and vice, and so on. Because the elder figure is female, patriarchal interpreters preferred not to view her as the officiating authority at a wedding. However, elder priestesses did conduct weddings among gypsies and other non-Christian groups, and the winged Eros or Cupid indicates a marriage service, Decorative flower garlands also hint at the Asian doctrine of “husbandship” (bhavanan) considered necessary to the progressive enlightenment of a sage. Thus the card implies marriage, sexuality, maturity, and the establishment of secure emotional relationships.