The Waite-Smith Lovers
I'm embarrassed to only just realise why it shows Eve and Adam
The Fall of Man was framed as some great tragedy when I was learning RE at school. We had Paradise but were too weak to resist temptation and so God cast humanity out of the Garden of Eden, to suffer pain and death as mortal beings.
Religions typically indoctrinate children, as kids are less likely to interrogate beliefs as thoroughly as adults. As adults we can challenge assumptions and take risks, reasoning that we may get things wrong but as long as we stay true to ourselves we can’t really fail.
As we grow and move through the world we learn to trust what seems counter-intuitive. To keep something, you have to let it go. To solve a problem, relax - go to sleep! To grow fit and strong, remember to rest. To find something, stop looking for it. In quantum physics there’s a theory that the future dictates the past. All those solid objects around you? Mostly empty space.
The other day, the story of Eve and Adam was turned on its head for me. It was almost a whisper, a subtle and easily missed “free to enjoy the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” in a book I was reading, then my long held assumptions were trashed and this tale was reframed.
This was not a story of human failings and an eternal curse, but an allegory of our emergence as beings of consciousness, a diagram of how the decision-making journey progresses through our feminine (intuitive) and masculine (reasoning) aspects, and a message that if one is to heed the call to greater awareness and higher knowledge one must be ready to leave the confines of the comfort zone.
That is not a death sentence. That is liberation. Granted it doesn’t seem that way when we still inhabit the comfort zone. It’s not until we journey out and look back that we can see just how small it really is.
The Lovers is that moment when an inner transformation has occurred (represented by the snake), is felt intuitively first (as the snake first speaks to Eve) and then must get our reasoning faculty on board (as Eve petitions Adam). Our ‘masculine’ aspect initially argues this internal change will mean leaving what we know, risking stability - a counter-intuitive act. Why risk leaving the Garden? It doesn’t make logical sense. Out there might mean pain, or death.
But pain is only temporary, and death is not the end. The Archangel Raphael above them on The Lovers card is blessing them - all will be well. After all, “Raphael” means "God heals”. To leave the Garden requires an inner harmony, a commitment, but it is a necessary step in one’s conscious evolution. This is why the Waite-Smith Lovers card depicts Eve and Adam. I’m honestly embarrassed that I’ve only recently realised this. Tell me if I’m the last one to know…