2 of Cups vs The Lovers

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 04 Oct 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

closrapexa	04 Oct 2004
Okay, this may seem like an obvious question, but what is really the difference. I myself read the lovers as a merging of sorts, a new co-operation, a unity in ones-self. This, I feel, is illustrated especially well in the Thoth, where the merging is an alchemical one, as opposed to the RWS (no offence to all the deck's faithful out there) where the bond is more on the emotional level, as illustrated by the, er, Lovers (obviously) and Cupid. And the 2 of Cups (Love as it were) as well, love. Relationships, the birds and the bees and all that stuff. However, I somehow have the feeling that they can be interchanged, which I feel makes little sense since there must be a reason for both of them being there. I mean, I suppose the Lovers do love, don't they? And Love is something that comes from the Lovers. Back and forth... Any thoughts?

Alta	04 Oct 2004
I remember this thrread because I started it and it had a lot of responses. Not that folks wouldn't have more to say now: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1458

Eco74	04 Oct 2004
Well, there's the major vs. minor aspect.. The majors deal with our inner changes on a deeper level while the minors deal with the more mundane everyday stuff that takes place around us. There is also the choice-aspect of the lovers that is not as present in the two of cups. Where the two of cups is a meeting between two emotions (suit of cups + number 2 indicating duality or coupling) the lovers is a choice to be made on a personal level, not necessarily even involving another person. There is a definite connection though and it is arguable that the two of cups can act like a "mini-lovers" in a spread where the lovers have already been picked, or have the meaning of the lovers in a spread where the meeting and union is more in focus than the choicemaking..

darwinia	04 Oct 2004
I did a couple of readings regarding someone and kept having both these cards come up. I thought re-connection, friendship, getting to know people in a fresh start--something like that. I got shunted into the void. I'm staying there this time. The cards are possibilities, not necessarily what will actually happen. In fact, that's why I like them, they can highlight a different approach to take or wake you up to possibilities. Unfortunately, sometimes that's not enough to keep you from slipping into old patterns, and you have no control over the other person either. It's like a puzzle that way. I like that. I find the lovers a startling awareness that makes you blush card and the two of cups more of a natural, comfortable relating card. Maybe it's the Major and Minor aspect.

lark	04 Oct 2004
To me Two of Cups is a healing love. A love that supports and upholds a couple. A love that deepens and last over time. Lovers is like Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. There needs to be an effort made to integrate the personalities in order to get along well. And they may never truly understand each other but it makes for great sex. That level of mystery and excitement is always there.

ros	05 Oct 2004
2 of Cups ~ the merging of a friendship on a more serious manner, in love or business or just a friend. you have people in your life and you have friends Lovers ~ choices in the matters of the things you love. you may love two people but have to chose only one. You may love a fancy car or a trip around the world BUT you have to chose one. Choices involving two issues of the heart. Lovers-6 Devil - 15----1+5=6 Good choices and maybe not so good choices. The two of cups are more relationships. Just extra to think about.

RedMaple	06 Oct 2004
I find the Lovers cards speaks to much more than emotional love. It comes up when people are moving beyond boundaries, when what they considered "other" they can know see as part of themselves, when they are reconciling opposing currents in their lives, and when they are maturing and leaving something behind. The old Lovers card illustration, which shows a choice, always shows an older woman and a younger woman. I think it is the choice to move from the first love (mother) to an adult love for a mate. So anytime we outgrow a situation, there is that decision of whether to move on, or stay where we have been comfortable. Anyway, this is how I have read it. The two of Cups I see as a strong emotional love connection that may grow into a love affair, or a strong friendship. Also, the Major, archetypal, numinosity of the Lovers -- big forces moving in your life. The two of cups I feel is the healthy beginning of love -- not necessarily being hit by the Thunderbolt. :)

skytwig	06 Oct 2004
As a Reiki healer, the Lovers card can also indicate inner balance, the fine play of Yin and Yang, self merging, harmonics, ensuring that no side of the self is over developed.....

sarahbellum	06 Oct 2004
Before the Waite revisions, Card VI in the Marseille tradition was actually The Lover and not The Lovers. It usually pictured a young man torn between two women, and was much more about making choices than about romance. In my Kazanlar deck, which is modern but patterns this card after the old style, the young man has to choose between a young and beautiful woman who has a scary-looking goblin or something behnd her like a shadow, and a plainer but unshadowed woman. I read this as meaning that sometimes the obvious and easy choice carries a dark side.

oasisgirl	08 Oct 2004
I feel that lovers are more about love with struggle that can be overcomed. The 2 of cups reminds me of everlasting love and marriage and romantic happiness

HudsonGray	08 Oct 2004
I see the Lovers as more a partnership between two people, whereas the 2 of Cups is the more intimate relationship between two. One is more outside work & connection to the world, the other is the private world of two people & everything connected inside that. Very similar, but worth 2 cards. (I get what you mean though, I had trouble separating the Empress & the Queen of Pentacles, in the Robin Wood deck, they looked identical in meaning to me).

Proserpina	11 Oct 2004
Yes, this is how I see it as well. With the Two of Cups I tend to read it as a meeting of two like-minded souls who are compatible. With The Lovers, it's hot and sexy and all that, but there's often some opposing elements that must be reconciled in order for it to work. In the Celtic Dragon Tarot, this is illustrated by a Water Dragon and an Earth Dragon touching noses... each lives in a different element, and it's going to take considerable effort to make it work. ~Proserpina Quote: Originally posted by lark To me Two of Cups is a healing love. A love that supports and upholds a couple. A love that deepens and last over time. Lovers is like Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. There needs to be an effort made to integrate the personalities in order to get along well. And they may never truly understand each other but it makes for great sex. That level of mystery and excitement is always there.

RedMaple	11 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Proserpina In the Celtic Dragon Tarot, this is illustrated by a Water Dragon and an Earth Dragon touching noses... each lives in a different element, and it's going to take considerable effort to make it work. ~Proserpina Ah, yes, but fire and water makes steam!

WalesWoman	11 Oct 2004
I'm gaining more understanding of these two cards, I've seen them a lot the past week or so. So for me, the 2 Cups is something new, a beginning, the meeting of minds and their differences and learning how to work as a team, refreshing that feeling of falling in love or deep affection. The Lovers is making a choice, settling for something, making something of if, but the choice is about something really, really good and wonderful or the opposite, which brings in the Devil, the profane side of love. The Lovers is really about real love or lust, in a sense. But I always get giddy when it turns up.

The 2 of Cups vs The Lovers thread was originally posted on 04 Oct 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.