6. The Lover: Struck by our Nature
Above: The Lover card from the New Age Tarot by prog rock mystic Walter Wegmuller
It is often said that falling in love makes us go nuts. Most of us (although not necessarily all of us) have the experience of becoming a bit obsessed with someone and feeling so overwhelmed by positive emotions that we lose all sense of balance with other areas of our lives. Friends and interests might take a back seat whilst we go through it, dazed and ecstatic.
Slowly, we figure out that the person who we have fallen for is not a God or Goddess but perhaps something more suitable than that: a flawed human being who we might still happen to like when things calm down. Charmer, geek or psychopath, all will be revealed in time. We might split up, disappointed, or find our new best friend, someone we can be our true selves with.
But Cupid is not interested in all of that logical, friendsy stuff. In the Marseille Tarot (and decks inspired by it), Cupid fires his arrow onto three earthly figures below who are involved in some sort of scene. Cupid is blindfolded in some decks, or open-eyed and focusing on one human figure in others. Genders are not entirely clear in the figures, but it appears that two feminine figures flank a more masculine-looking person in the middle. All of them engage in interesting body language.
Some tarot readers presume this image to depict two women arguing over a central man. Some say a mother is interfering with a son’s affair with a younger woman, whilst others claim that a marriage celebrant is blessing a man and a woman in ceremony. I say that the image is all of the above and a thousand other things, too, and not always as heteronormative as all that.
The Lover
From the Jean Noblet version of the Tarot de Marseille, by Flornoy. Note the blindfolded Cupid.
But, let’s not get lost in the scene today. We are here for Nature in this blog. What is this natural Cupid energy that so many animals experience? What happens to us when we fall in love with someone? Why do we lose our minds and project perfection onto the other? Personally, I see this as an intensified love for existence, for life and nature, but focused on one sole being; all of the mystery and beauty of the Universe hung onto one little human.
It makes complete sense that in some Marseille decks, Cupid is blindfolded. There is an element of the inexplicable in falling in love; what might attract us so intensely to a certain person is mysterious. Despite what the dating websites claim, we can’t write down a list of attributes that we admire, find a ‘matching’ person, and expect it to work. That’s why online dating is such a nightmare for so many people (although certainly successful for some). Finding a partner is no easier now than it was back when people went out to bars, single and lonely, pretending that they were just out for the enjoyment of the DJ.
The way someone moves, the sound of their voice, their humour, and (according to science) even their subtle scent plays a part in attraction. If you like the same music or books as a potential partner, sure, that’s a bonus, but it’s absurd to think that that’s one of the most important things. Our hormones have other ideas. There is an animal element to this – because we are animals!
The way I see it, when we fall in love, for a short time, we are besotted with life itself. It grabs us by the collar, demands that we drop everything and pay attention. There is a calling inside of us to recognise the wonder and beauty of life, and we must respond. It seems so incredible to us that such an amazing person can exist, that we could be so happy around someone. Ultimately, it is this exclusion of everything else in life and nature that stops the feeling from lasting, but this fascination with beauty is still a fascination with life, with the wonder of it all. We tune in with our natural, animal selves and become enchanted by the wonder of reality.
L’Amoureux
From the Marseille-Waite Tarot: a genius deck that blends the majors of the Marseille with the minors of the Waite-Smith. Works for me!
Humans are Nature too, are we not? Isn’t it crazy that we think we are something separate from ‘it’, somehow different from every other living species on earth, above the mating call? Of course, this is not necessarily the experience of some aromatic people, but Cupid’s arrow of natural energy hits us all in some way. It is an incredible experience sent to remind us that we are animals, alive in the midst of a beautiful mystery. In another human being, we experience the beauty of life on Earth. The key is to remember – when things inevitably change – that life is still beautiful; more so, in fact, because the rest of the world can be included in our experience once more, even if this person is not a God or Goddess.
The Lover (number six in the Major Arcana) and The Tower (number 16) are intrinsically linked by the reciprocal, beautiful number six. A strike from above also hits the figures in The Tower, and it’s my view that – in a Natural context – it can represent a strike of enlightenment that changes our relationship with the planet entirely. Instead of falling for one human being, we fall for life in a big way. The Lover is the rehearsal; The Tower is the spiritual advancement. (But more on The Tower another time – there are many weeks to go until we get there!)
That’s almost all for now, friends. BUT! Speaking of ace’s – last week I published a post on the Ace of Cups, so be sure to check that out here. Thank you for being here – and please check out my Tarot Therapy Sessions if you’d like us to work together. You can also sign up for the Tarot Blog newsletter (different to my main newsletter) below to receive email updates on every new post.
Smiles from Scotland,
Stephen
