My Description of Card:
Against a background of a very blue sky, four beings are on the Connolly Lovers card instead of the usual three. Above a cloud is an angel. On the right side of the card and closest to the observer is "Eve". Instead of being naked a mantle of light lavender is being placed over her shoulders by a cherub. On the left of the card and a little further back than the female is the male "Adam" with a piece of green cloth discretely "girding" his loins. They are both standing on a luxuriant carpet of green grass. A body of water is in the background with the majority of the water showing on the woman’s side. A mountain is also in the background and also behind the woman. A very large, round, re-orange sun is located directly behind the angel. There is only one tree and it stands between the man and the woman. It is an apple tree with twelve apples. I feel that this card has been "sanitized" with many important symbols missing.

From "A New Handbook for the Apprentice" by Eileen Connolly
KEY: Two paths, the time for choice, the outcome of which is of vital importance.
REVERSE: Wanting the best of both worlds, causing everyone concerned to feel unstable. MEMORY: Select well with integrity high; Your moral scruples tell you why.
REVERSE: Indecision is not your friend; You may lose all in the end.
GUIDELINES: Resist the temptation to change; stick to your resolutions, make firms decisions. Is this situation what you really want? Seek spiritual values; control your emotions and select your path with care.
REVERSE: Temptation cane be strong; be sure to make the right move. Could indicate a severe break in a relationship. Quarrels, disagreement, separation or divorce. Strong opposition is felt and the pressure can cause great concern.

My Thoughts
I feel that in this card there is a culmination of the separate aspects of "Self" as represented by the Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Emperor, and Hierophant. Here the "Outer Self " (Magician, Emperor, Hierophant) is instructed to look for direction from the "Inner Self" (High Priestess, Empress) who is receiving guidance and inspiration from the "Super Self" (Angel, God, Higher Self, etc.). This integration is encouraged to be accomplished on all levels not just the spiritual. I do not think that it is just chance that the figures are naked (or in the case of the Connolly deck semi-naked) and that the scene takes place in the garden of Eden which is the first location where Divinely sanctioned sex occurs. There is the implication that in the ecstasy of physical union there can be a glimpse of what it must be like to set aside the Self in order to have total union with the Divine. A poem by Maxine Kumin entitled "After Love" expresses this concept.

Afterwards, the compromise,
Bodies resume their boundaries.
These legs, for instance, mine.
Your arms take you back in.
Spoons of our fingers, lips
Admit their ownership.
The bedding yawns, a door
Blows aimlessly ajar
And overhead, a plane
Singsongs coming down.
Nothing is changed, except
There was a moment when
The wolf, the mongering wolf
Who stands outside the self
Lay lightly down, and slept.

Susan
marquis@bayserve.net