The Lovers
Zayin (ז)
Gemini (Sign)
Path 17: Binah → Tiphareth
Herb: Licorice Root
Upright
Union, partnership, alignment of values, a meaningful choice, love.
Reversed
Disharmony, misaligned values, a poor choice.
What the Golden Dawn actually taught
The widest gap of the early cards. Book T’s meaning is “inspiration — passive, sometimes mediumistic — motive, power, and action arising from inspiration and impulse.” Romance and choice are absent; the “two paths” reading is essentially a Waite-era reinterpretation.
Imagery & symbolism
A man and woman stand beneath an angel whose wings span the sky between them. Behind the woman, a tree bears fruit and a coiled serpent; behind the man, a tree burns with the flame of the sun. Choice waits quietly at their feet.
Numerology
6 — harmony, reciprocity, and balance achieved. Base number.
Also associated with
union, choice, alignment, inspiration, values