The Lovers

A hooded hermit-priest with outstretched arms marries a dark king and a fair queen; a red lion and a white eagle stand with them; a dark and a fair child (Cain and Abel) and the figures of Eve and Lilith attend; the Orphic egg wrapped in a serpent rests below, and a blindfolded Cupid draws his bow above.

Zain, the sword, on path 17 from Binah to Tiphareth: the sword that divides so that the pieces may be consciously rejoined. Understanding sends its light down to Beauty, and the Son learns discrimination.

Gemini, mutable Air, ruled by Mercury: the twins, the mind that sees two of everything. The decans of Gemini are the Eight, Nine and Ten of Swords.

Six, the Naples number of self-conscious mind, the hexagram, Tiphareth. Zain's value is 7. The card is the first half of a pair completed by Art (XIV), in which the couple married here are fused into one.

The syzygy: anima and animus meeting, the coniunctio of the alchemists, the ego confronting its inner opposite. Jung called the union of opposites the central task of the second half of life; the card sets the problem that Art resolves.

Waite's naked couple beneath an angel in Eden becomes a full alchemical wedding with officiant, witnesses and the egg of the work; the Cupid and the twins keep the theme of choice.