The Mystical Tale Of The Lovers Card

I have made an illuminating discovery regarding the Lovers card in the Tarot. In all the years I have been practicing cartomancy, I never realized certain aspects of this card’s mytsical symbolism and its portrayal of the healing power of divine love.

In the classic Rider-Waite rendition, it is commonly accepted the card merely depicts an archetypal Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, with a scheming serpent lurking behind Eve and the majestic figure of an angel looming overhead. Recently, I learned from a psychic colleague’s podcast that the angelic figure portrayed in the in card in fact represents the Archangel Raphael. I’ve always been fascinated by Raphael, the angelic healer of minds, bodies and souls.

Raphael is first mentioned the ancient Hebrew apocalyptic book of Enoch, as well as the deuterocanonical book of Tobit.  Also known as the apocrypha, the deuterocanonical books are not traditionally included in Protestant and Jewish canonical texts, but it is recognized in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

The book of Tobit relays the story of a blind man named Tobit and his son Tobias, whom he sends to retrieve an investment of silver he had deposited in a town in Media in north-western Iran. With the protection and guidance of the angel Raphael, Tobias arrives along his journey in Ecbatana, the capitol of Media, where he meets a young woman named Sarah.

Sarah is in utter despair and praying for death, as she has already lost seven husbands. Each of her lovers had been murdered on their wedding night by the demon Asmodeus, who is obsessively in love with her. Angel Raphael encourages Tobias to marry Sarah and then helps him to defeat the homicidal demon.

And there let him make joyful in you those who are captives, and love in you for ever those who are miserable ~ Tobit 13:10 

Once Tobias returns home with his new wife and delivers his father’s treasure, Raphael then helps Tobias to also cure his father’s blindness.

This narrative of Tobias competing with a demon for the love of a woman is what is symbolcially depicted in the Lovers card. It is a mystical tale of the karmic healing power of love.

When love becomes selfish, obsessive, controlling or self-serving, it takes on the narcissistic energy of another Major Arcana card, The Devil. But if we practice unconditional love and selfless compassion, we can conquer all evil and find healing, freedom, abundance, and happiness. Our greatest asset in living a blessed life of joy and fulfillment is our capacity for love and kindness, not how much we exploit, control, or dominate others.