The Lovers
The Lovers is the seventh Major Arcana card, numbered VI. The image we now associate with a couple in love is relatively recent — historical decks showed a quite different scene centered on a moral choice.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-18
Historical fact
In historical decks such as the Marseille Tarot, the card typically showed a young man between two women, with a Cupid aiming an arrow above — a scene read as a moral choice between virtue and vice. This is quite different from today's better-known image of a couple (Adam and Eve beneath an angel), which Pamela Colman Smith drew only for the 1909 Rider-Waite version.
Interpretation — Rider-Waite-Smith / Golden Dawn
In the 1909 version, the card shows a nude Adam and Eve beneath the figure of the angel Raphael, with the tree of knowledge behind Eve and the flaming tree of life behind Adam. It represents union, relationship, alignment of values, and the conscious choice between paths that define one's own character.
Interpretation — Thoth (Aleister Crowley)
In the Thoth deck, the card is tied to Gemini and the Hebrew letter Zain, meaning 'sword'. It represents the union of opposites — not as simple fusion, but as a synthesis that demands discernment, the cut that separates and connects at once.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Did the Lovers always show a couple in love?
- No. In the Marseille Tarot and earlier historical decks, the scene showed a young man between two women, tied to the choice between virtue and vice. The Eden-couple image is a creation of Pamela Colman Smith for the 1909 Rider-Waite version.
- What does the Lovers represent in a Tarot reading?
- It can point to an important relationship, but also to a decision requiring alignment between actions and personal values — a choice between paths that reveals what one truly values.
Sources
- Michael Dummett. The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City (1980).
- Arthur Edward Waite. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).
- Aleister Crowley. The Book of Thoth (1944).
- Stuart R. Kaplan. The Encyclopedia of Tarot (1978).