VI – The Lovers (Aquarian Tarot)
VI - The Lovers (Aquarian Tarot)
The Aquarian Tarot, with its iconic 1970s imagery, presents an odd version of The Lovers card – or at least it looks odd to me today.
The couple are both heavily dressed, no skin at all showing other than their faces – hair and fabric flow about them in a protective, armored way.
And yet, the image feels stifling, enclosed… either protective or suffocating (I’m not quite sure which). The male figure occupies the center of the card, and the female seems to be pressed against the border, hemmed in by his presence. It is both intimate and (again, at least to me, today) a bit intimidating.
Generally, the Lovers card has to do not only with relationships, but with choice – the choice to act as one within a relationship, or for one’s own purposes. In this image, the choice on his part seems to be made, and I get the idea that he’s making her choice for her as well.
Odd vibe, maybe stemming from being in an odd mood, but I find this card much more intriguing and unsettling than most Lover’s cards do.
VII – Desire (The Chariot) Lover’s Path Tarot
VII - Desire (The Chariot) Lovers Path Tarot
The Lover’s Path Tarot is one of two by Kris Waldherr that I enjoy working with (the other is the Goddess Tarot). In the Lover’s Path, each card of the Major Arcana is keyed to a particular legendary romantic pairing, while each suit of the Minor Arcana expands on one specific legend’s storyline.
The Major Arcana VII – usually titled The Chariot is, in this deck “Desire”. That really isn’t a huge leap – the Chariot is about what drives us and motivates (that is, moves) us toward our desired goals. There is often a tension between competing goals and a need to stay focused on our desired result in order to stay on our path.
See… there’s that word. Desire. To get what you want, you have to want it badly enough to do what needs doing to get there. That means letting go of attachment to things that don’t serve attainment of the goal. It means being willing to stay on the path even when it becomes nothing but potholes. To the truly single-minded, it can mean running over a few random pedestrians along the way, but that’s a trap because heading to jail (metaphysically speaking) is a sure way to never get to the finish line.
But there is still that tension… everytime we are driven by desire to get something or get somewhere, we have to at least be willing to sacrifice the desires of those around us to get it because it is a very rare thing when everyone’s goals line up.
Tristan and Isolde is a very old legend, predating the Arthurian legends and eventually added to them, which was popularized as a chivalric story of a grand love affair that propelled a woman toward the man she loved even though she was already married to another.
It is a story that continues to play out every day, repeatedly. Certainly, there are ethical and moral concerns that each person needs to grapple with – and remember, serious consequences for running over other people without concern. But there is a myth people tell themselves that Tristan and Isolde can help dispel – that it is even possible to chase your dreams when they mean breaking an existing commitment without causing pain. People will hang onto a marriage and a lover sometimes for years to ‘avoid causing hurt’ and in the process deeply wounding everyone involved. “I don’t want to hurt anyone” is sometimes, deep down, code for “I don’t want to have to notice the roadkill I’m creating”
Suck it up and be honest with yourself and those around you about what it is you want, and then get on that path. Anything less than that makes you the pothole.
Queen of Cups (Golden Tarot)
Queen of Cups (Golden Tarot)
This is from the absolutely gorgeous Golden Tarot, which is not only beautiful to look at, but a true pleasure to handle, with cards that feel like silk to me and come stored in an upright box I wish were standard for Tarot decks. The cards have gold gilt edges that make me a bit leery about wear and tear when I shuffle them, but they’re so interesting to read with that I try not to worry about that overmuch.
This Queen of Cups is shown in lush golds and reds, seated at a table in front of a red and gold tapestry. She is blonde, crowned, and wears a golden dress, though a hint of red sleeve can be seen at her wrists – it is modest yet rich and suggests a sensuality hiding underneath the garment that doesn’t have to be displayed openly. In her hands are a red covered book and a quill pen that I imagine is her diary, recording her experiences through the filter of her emotions.
Before her on the table is a basket containing a pair of white doves, speaking to her desire for peace and love, a scorpian – she is associated with Scorpio, a golden goblet and a glass pitcher of water – water is emotional and spiritual, and she does display that openly, and shares it freely.
Queens, for me, are the nurturers and caretakers of their element – and this Queen sustains herself by her emotional experiences. She follows her heart, and will freely share with you just how much she feels for you and for everything that happens to her. She sees the best of all possible experiences to be those that bring hearts together, as with the doves, and she will play peacemaker when she is able – but it’s important to remember that scorpian sting when she feels threatened, and to understand that thinking, for her, IS based on her reading of how she feels and what she instinctively knows, and not just logical analysis.
One thing that has come to be clear to me over years of working with tarot is that this Queen can be a real grudge holder… as the nurturer of emotion, she hangs onto feelings and protects them, and that includes nursing bad feelings as well as good ones. That diary of hers is not an objective accounting of what happened, but a record of how what happened made her feel, and she is recording it so that she never forgets – in replaying old events, she re-feels the emotions surrounding them.
She’s the one who still pines for the man she hasn’t seen in a decade.. .and she’s also the one still not speaking to you because you cut the hair off her Barbie when you were both six.
Morgana Fillions's Tarot Journey 