This card shows a young couple, in beautiful Renaissance clothing. It is easy to think of Romeo and Juliet. Venus and Cupid preside over the card.

In many modern systems of interpretation, this is a card of the juxtaposition of opposites; duality either as a choice or as an opportunity for synthesis. It thus takes on a rather metaphysical dimension, as the lovers become cosmic polar principles, rather than simply people in love. In fact, in many decks it is the 2 of cups, not the Lovers, that takes on the simple meaning of romance.

The Renaissance Tarot, however, draws on the older Italian tradition for the theme of the card. So it is just *love*, love in general and romantic love in particular. This is perhaps a little hard for us to get excited about these days, since the basic cliches of romantic love have been repeated incessantly for centuries, in all conceivable media. It's interesting to reflect, though, that these cliches have their roots in roughly the same period of history that gave birth to the tarot: the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. That is when the ideal of romantic love, with all its selflessness, devotion, and adulation, came to be seen as the quintessential prelude for acquiring a mate. In earlier times, marriage tended to be arranged according to practical considerations; the emotional dimension was viewed less reverently, as a component of lust. In the classical world, lust was expected to be expressed through extramarital play; in the Christian Middle Ages, it was simply condemned and suppressed. But in neither culture was the ideal of a romantic soulmate given much attention.

Although few of us would probably want to return to the days of arranged marriages, the new vision of love is not entirely without a price. The inistence on the ideal can lead to disappointment, and furthermore places a great burden of failure on those whose relationships do not fit the storybook pattern. It has become difficult to separate sex, love, and marriage; and it seems that every life must fit into a heterosexual, monogamous, till-death-do-us-part template to be legitimate. The way our culture clings so steadfastly to this pattern illustrates the enormous power of the archetype--in this case the archetype of the story of romantic love: Boy meets girl, and they marry and live happily ever after. This, without much complication or qualification, is the archetype seen in the Renaissance Tarot Lovers card. The two young lovers seem innocent and enthralled, bringing to mind the sublime intense purity of first love.

We may shy away from working with this archetype, just because it is so cliched. But that would be a mistake; because it has enormous power, and each of us feels its impact in some way or other. What we need is a "hook", a way to penetrate the thick shell of the cliche and see the subject from a different point of view. The Renaissance Tarot Lovers card provides such a hook; it is unmistakeable, but subtle enough to not disrupt the clarity of the Lovers archetype. The young man gazes at his lady love, lost in a daydream. But the young woman looks out of the card (at the reader!) through the corner of her eye. Although enveloped and sustained by her lover's attention, she is not totally defined by it. Without rejecting her archetypal role, she keeps an independence, an "escape clause", an ace in the hole.

So, while this card is unabashedly committed to depicting the ideal of romantic love, which is so powerful in our culture and in our pysches, it also opens a doorway into a deeper consideration of the conflicting demands of love vs. personal identity, love vs. pragmatism, and love vs. lust. It's a card that provokes thought, and brings a range of emotions to the surface.

Tom Tadfor Little
tlittle@telp.com

Tarot at Telperion Productions
http://www.telp.com/excursions/tarot/

The Hermitage: A Tarot History Site
http://www.crosswinds.net/members/~hermit