The Lovers, Path 17 on the Tree of Life

Walking Path 17 The Lovers

The Lovers, Path 17 on the Tree of Life, is called the Path of Zayin and travels between Binah at the head of the Pillar of Severity and Understanding, and Tiferet the center point on the Pillar of Balance.  This path connects Binah, representing understanding, intuition and the ability to conceptualize and give birth to new ideas and Tiferet which represents beauty, harmony and balance.  The Lovers’ journey through the Tree of Life represents the process of seeking union and connection with others and the divine.  The Lovers must learn to balance their personal needs and desires with their partners to achieve balance within their relationship.  The Path of the Lovers reminds us to approach love with respect and compassion and to seek harmony and balance in all relationships, including the relationship with the divine.

This is a path that works to bring together the twin aspects of ourselves, the male and female.  We are all a combination of both aspects, and we utilize both masculine and feminine energies in a variety of ways within our daily lives.  This path helps us to see and realize there is another side to us.  This is the path of fate & discrimination.  When we discriminate appropriately in our life, Fate seems to work for us.  On the other hand, this is a path in which Fate also works independently to bring us choices, to help us see and utilize our twin aspects.

The Hebrew Letter representing this path is Zayin – the Sword.  The letter Zayin indicates another aspect of this stage: the fact that ultimately, all separation, all duality, has been created from a more fundamental truth.  God/humankind, man/woman; any duality is actually a divided unity – and the word is the ultimate instrument of division.  Beyond this state, such divisions become less and less important.

This is a path that works to bring together the twin aspects of ourselves, the male and female.  We are all a combination of both aspects, and we utilize both masculine and feminine energies in a variety of ways within our daily lives.  This path helps us to see and realize there is another side to us.  This is the path of fate & discrimination.  When we discriminate appropriately in our life, Fate seems to work for us.  On the other hand, this is a path in which Fate also works independently to bring us choices, to help us see and utilize our twin aspects.

In her book Kabbala Pathworking, Sandy Anastasi suggests some of the areas Path 17 can helps us work on include: The ability to detach from the material world; Being able to generate feelings of peace, harmony, joyousness and attunement; Being accepted;  Knowing that the more evolved you become, the narrower your becomes, you walk the ‘razor’s edge’; Understanding patterns and karma; “Waking up” – coming to an awareness of a higher awareness.

Andy Matzner, in his book Tarot for Transformation, Using the Major Arcana to Discover Your Best Self and Create a Life Worth Living says of The Lovers:

If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?  RuPaul. Who in their right mind would seek out someone and say “I want you to repeat my childhood wounding.  I will love you because you are so familiar”?  But we do this all the time…What is known is sought, even if what is known is wounding.  James Hollis As Hollis states, it is human nature to seek out what is certain and predictable.  Change involves entering into a future that is uncertain.  And uncertainty has been wired into the human brain as something to be avoided.  We even have the saying “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” to emphasize the anxiety we can feel when venturing out into the unknown.  Even if that unknown has the possibility of being much more positive than our current situation.

In his book The Soul's Journey, Finding Spiritual Messages in the Tarot, James Ricklef says of The Lovers:

“The path of relationships leads us through the veil of separation to a realization of our ultimate oneness,” Rick Fields This card’s most obvious connotations are about love and romantic relationships.  However. it is also about important, life-changing choices.

One of the ways he suggests one might wish to use his book is to do a daily draw and review the basic messages and then consider one of the messages for the card as a lesson or insight to keep in mind throughout the day. In the case of the Lovers the messages to choose from are: Choose your own path; Life choices at the crossroads; Choose Love; Love versus desire; Finding someone special is an inside job,  I wonder which one of these speaks most to you right now?

While both Andy Matzner and Sandy Anastasi focus only on the Major Arcana, James Ricklef also has information on the Minor Arcana. Since I chose a card for each of the Sephirot I thought I'd share some of his information on these too.

Page of Pentacles: The youthful innocence typical of the Tarot’s Pages is, in this case, directed toward worldly things.  At its best, it turns to awe, wonder and excitement such as what a child feels on Christmas morning.

Six of Wands: Many modern versions of the Six of Wands depict a triumphal procession in which a victor rides a horse while surrounded by those who have supported his efforts or perhaps by those who are celebrating his success, depending on your perspective.  This indicates encouragement and support of a victory, but it also suggests the trap of pride that may come with success.  Alternatively, this card may denote a reciprocal exchange of energy.

Where will your journey take you?