6. The Forest Lovers

[Wanderer]

 

A truly beautiful card, this one, with very different lovers to the traditional Adam & Eve, and all the baggage involved in everything that those two got up to! In a sense, I feel the meaning is simpler than in traditional decks... but it is also open to variations in meaning, which have been taken up my many commentators.

 

The figures are based on Robin and Marian, and unlike in most decks, the emphasis is on long-term commitment: they are in the process of a handfasting ceremony. Between them is a birch tree in new leaf, and the season is Beltane: a beautiful day in the warmth of midsummer. The tree is dressed with a green ribbon, and wild arum covers the forest floor. The two lovers stare into each other's eyes, with a beautifully drawn expression of both certainty and trepidation. Their robes are simple, brown and green respectively, and Marian wears a wreath of flowers on her head.

 

In short, it's a simple, beautiful vsision of two young people in love, without all the ostentatious trappings of modern weddings: this is a declaration of intent, of combining their lives into one. I'm struck by the simplicity of the scene; they have made a bit of an effort to be decorative, but their entire focus, as it should be, is on each other. Most of the rest of the symbolism is about warmth, happiness, and the glow of summer: this is a time when everything is easy, although the wheel of the year is embedded in this deck to such an extent that you are always aware that winter will return. The wild arum represents the erotic in its many different common names, but is this a fleeting infatuation, or will it survive the snows that will come?

 

Choosing Robin and Marian as the model for the card answers the question, even if one cannot read it from the expressions. They are an archetype of both romantic love and total dedication to each other: they are the epitomy of a couple who are destined to be together, and to stay together. The difficulties surrounding them merely bind them closer. This does remove some of the ambiguity of the card that comes into readings with other decks. Usually, choice is a major factor: we make our decisions (that apple looks yummy...) and live with the consequences. In this case, I don't feel there is the same aspect; for these two, it is inevitability rather than choice. Of course, their union has consequences, but they are overwhelmingly positive.

 

The meanings of this card, as I see them, therefore relate mostly to the combination of factors that create something greater. On the one hand, it is the interplay of Marian and Robin that keep them balanced, focused, and force them into restraint and carefulness. On another, it is that each of their worlds is completed by the other; much of the meaning of their life is given by the completeness of their love. The two of them combined become a powerful force for good, in many different ways. Then there is the aspect of whether there will be children (the arum hints that this is likely!), and the creation of entire new lives as a result of their love.

 

Beyond the concept of love between two people, the card represents the combination of different elements, including opposites, into a greater whole. We are all complex and multi-faceted, but sometimes we focus on only one part, or wish that other parts of us were different. The Forest Lovers also represents ourselves, and the need to both acknowledge and accept, absolutely, the parts of which we are not proud. (Even if you're a secret psychopath, this too needs to be accepted and recognised, and then hopefully kept very  definitely under control..!) Such acceptance comes with maturity, repeating the theme of permanence and stability.

 

This is all very jolly, but in the Wildwood there are no reversals intended; so where are the negatives embedded in this card? In a sense, there aren't many... for the entire purpose of the card is the need for multiple aspects to be combined in order to create something greater. It hasn't yet appeared in any of my readings (that I can remember) with negative connotations. It does require sacrifice (of our long-held emotions, or of our freedom and individuality), but the benefits always lead to something greater. 

 

To clarify this, I asked the cards what challenges or negatives might be associated with the card, and drew Injustice (Two of Arrows). In hindsight, I should have seen this. In the card, Justice sits on her throne, blindfolded, while the scales above her read falsely. What else can love do to us, but make us blind to reality? How often have we made decisions with less than perfect objectivity, because we believe our lover holds a different perspective, or because our own perspective has been skewed? In the case of our internal facets, and taking that hypothetical inner psychopath as an example... if we love all aspects indiscriminately, it may blind us to what is right, and we let parts of us come to the fore when they should remain subdued. True balance in love comes with wisdom and perfect clarity; without that, we should perhaps be cautious of what such a fusion could unleash.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, I'll be interested to see any examples of how this card has read in practice, and especially relating to aspects I've not considered.