6 - The Lovers

The Lovers is the 7th card of the Major Arcana (Card No.6 because the first card of the Major Arcana is card no.0). The Lovers card often depicts a naked couple surrounded by other symbolism.

It is a joyful card that is usually a welcome sight in a spread and can be pertinent in a reading concerning romance, though this is not necessarily the case.

More generally The Lovers card represents the duality between the masculine and feminine aspects of a situation or issue, or of ourselves. The concepts of "masculine" and "feminine" need not be interpreted literally. They may represent traditionally "masculine" and "feminine" traits, interests, or emphases.
It can also refer to the notion of "the whole being greater than the sum of the parts". That is, a strong couple or partnership can offer more to the world than is possible for the same two individuals could if acting seperately.

Some specific terms associated with The Lovers Tarot card include: Love, Partnership, Romance, Communication, Trust, Beauty, and Perfection. It is very rare for this card to have negative meanings.

The cards of the Major Arcana are widely considered to be the most powerful cards in the Tarot Deck. The 22 cards of the Major Arcana tell a complete story when arranged in upright and numerical order (beginning with The Fool). This is a story of of development and enlightenment and is sometimes referred to as "The Fool's Journey".

Some texts also include meanings for "reversed cards". These are for the situation in which the cards are shuffled in both order and orientation. The theoretical advantage to this is that it effectively doubles the number of possible "cards" in the deck from 78 to 156. (However, in terms of the calculation of obtaining results according to chance alone, it is not a simple mathematical doubling because once a card has been drawn it cannot be drawn again in the opposite orientation in the same reading.)