THE LOVERS – love

In love, The Lovers card is about love not being a feeling, but a decision — and one that you don't just make once, but anew every morning.

Look closely at the card, where a man and a woman stand naked in a garden, with a huge angel rising from the clouds above them, and notice the most important thing: no one is looking in the same direction. The man looks at the woman, the woman looks up at the angel, and the angel looks at neither of them.

There is something beautiful and something unsettling in this at the same time, because it conveys that the one you love is always looking at something you don't see — and this cannot be eliminated, only respected.

The name of the card is no accident either: it's not "Love," but "The Lovers" — it doesn't bear the name of a feeling, but of two people, because the feeling comes by itself, but being together is work.

If you are in a relationship, then look at that lonely mountain behind them, in the back, which neither of them is looking at, because in every love there is such a mountain: that one thing you haven't talked about yet, which you both see if you accidentally turn that way, and which you both feel is easier to go around than to climb. This card now asks you, how long will you keep avoiding it.

If you are alone, then notice that they have no armor, no cloak, nothing — and this is not an erotic thing, but frightening, because it means there is nothing to deny. That's why true intimacy is so rare: not because it's hard to find someone, but because it's hard to lay down your armor before someone who hasn't promised anything yet.

And notice the twelve flames on the tree behind the man, as many as there are months in the year: passion is not a constant state, but burns in seasons — and whoever thinks that embers are the end has never lived through a whole year with anyone.

Say that one sentence today that you've had on the tip of your tongue for months.

There is a sentence you have had on the tip of your tongue for months. Tonight, it will be about that.

Look closely at the card, where a man and a woman stand naked in a garden, above them a huge angel rises from the clouds, with outstretched arms and fiery red wings, and behind it the sun shines so brightly you can barely look at it.

And notice the most important thing: no one is looking in the same direction. The man looks at the woman, because for him she is the visible — the body, the present, the reality at hand. The woman, however, looks upwards, at the angel, because she is observing what lies beyond the relationship.

This is your message tonight, because it teaches you that the one you love always sees something you don't — and this cannot be eliminated, only respected. If you now feel that you don't quite understand them, then you haven't made a mistake: this is what two people who love each other look like.

The name of the card is no accident: it is not "The Love," but "The Lovers" — it bears the name not of an emotion, but of two people. The emotion comes by itself, but being together is a decision, and not just once, at the beginning, solemnly, but anew every single day: to turn towards them, to listen to them, to speak your truth.

Now look at the tree behind the man, on which instead of leaves, twelve flames burn, exactly as many as there are months in a year. This is your warning: passion is not a constant state, but burns in seasons — there are months when it blazes, and months when it merely smolders. Anyone who believes that embers are the end has never experienced a full year with anyone.

And now look at that lonely mountain between them, far in the back, which neither of them looks at. In every love there is such a mountain: that one thing you haven't talked about yet, which you both see if you happen to turn that way, and which you both feel is easier to go around than to climb.

Also notice that they wear no armor, no cloak, nothing — and this is not erotic on this card, but frightening, because it means there is nothing to deny, and no sentence that could later correct how you appeared.

Tonight, say that one sentence. If your stomach just clenched, then this card is precisely for you.

In the reversed position, temptation is rarely what it seems: the temptation is not that someone else appears, but that you don't have to make a decision — for as long as you stand on two paths, you don't have to give up either.