Osho Zen Study Group: VI The Lovers

Indigo Rose

"What we call love is really a whole spectrum of relating, reaching from the earth to the sky. At the most earthy level, love is sexual attraction....as we mature, we can begin to experience the love that exists beyond sexuality and honors the unique individuality of the other. We begin to understand that our parnter often functions as a mirror, reflecting unseen aspects of our deeper self. This love is freedom, not expectation or need. It's wings take us higher and higer towards the universal love that experiences all as one."Osho Zen Tarot by Osho

I love the way the One heart is made up of the Two lovers embracing. I see the freedom symbolized by the wings on the heart. A truly beautiful card!
 

paradoxx

It is the colors in the background that catch my attention, vibrant and contrasting, seperate only a part but together a full wave of life and rejuvination. The starry sky in the hair of the lovers outside the heart indicates like-mindedness, while inside the heart they are endowed with passion and loving appreciation to one another.
 

squeakmo9

I never really saw the Lovers in general as a "love" card but rather as compromise. This Osho version is one of the first times when I felt a traditional 2 of cups feel being integrated. There doesn't seem to be anything keeping these two apart and what appears as a star, or Star of David is enough to convey that this is a blessed union. Really lovely.
 

Judith D

This is the other of the major cards (first being Creativity) that I do not feel particularly drawn to, and in some ways it is very similar.
The book mentions the three aspects of the subject - physical or sexual attraction, love, and compassion. For me, the card is more a reflection of the 'lower' two aspects, rather than the compassionate heart which I think I would have preferred (egotistical of me, isn't it!).
But then again .... I look again and see the heart and the flowers as the lower form, the people mirroring each other as the middle part, and the 'fade into eternity' colouring at the top as the higher element of compassion. But it does feel a little forced.
However, the meaning of the card will be for ever stuck in my brain because I have thought so hard about it.
I would have liked to know the rationale behind the interlinked triangles.
 

pleroma

the interlinked triangles are a symbol I have seen as mandala imagery from the cover of an older edition of the portable jung (ed by AT favorite Joseph Campbell). It represents the integration of the male and female principles animus or anima with the self. It is a balancing and blending of the masculine and feminine into a unified whole. The card seems to be saying that love brings this about, or more simply, blends the lovers creating a 'them' between each individual--as the card seems to depict. I like what you said judith about the different levels of love, i absolutely think they are depicted in this card.

-Nick
 

firecatpickles

It is striking how simiilar to two characters are in the card. It goes along with the imagry of the mirror the author talks about in the accompanying book.
 

Master_Margarita

pleroma said:
the interlinked triangles are a symbol I have seen as mandala imagery from the cover of an older edition of the portable jung (ed by AT favorite Joseph Campbell). It represents the integration of the male and female principles animus or anima with the self. It is a balancing and blending of the masculine and feminine into a unified whole. The card seems to be saying that love brings this about, or more simply, blends the lovers creating a 'them' between each individual--as the card seems to depict. I like what you said judith about the different levels of love, i absolutely think they are depicted in this card.

-Nick

To expand on this a little bit: the central image is not just a mandala but a small Shri Yantra. It represents the creative force progressing through emanations to create reality. I know this only through book larnin' but for someone from an Eastern tradition this would be an instantly recognizable and powerful symbol.

I love this card. I love the second couple with their hair all stars. I love the red roses. I'm surprised that the LWB for this card harps on sex so much. I always think of this card being as much about choice as it is about earthly love.