The Lovers and the 2 of Cups from the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot
A Valentine’s Day post, straight from me to you! During a love reading, I’m actually not a big fan of when the Lovers card comes up. However, most people, when coming to me for a love reading, tend to expect this card because they think Lovers card is equivalent to a big “Yes!” on the relationship in question. Sadly, that’s not always the case.
When asked about a romance question and it runs along the lines of “Is this true love?”, “Is this relationship meant to be?”, etc. I am not looking for the Lovers card. I am looking for the 2 of Cups to come up. Here’s the reason why:
Take a look at the two cards shown above. If you are looking for your true love, which card would you pick? Personally, I would pick the 2 of Cups. The 2 of Cups represents seeing another person for who they are, and understanding them on every level: emotionally, spiritually, sexually, and mentally. An equal partnership. Give and take.
“The Two of Cups: a powerful bond. But between whom?”—Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Don’t get me wrong, the Lovers card isn’t a bad card to get during a romance reading… in fact, it can usually indicate passion! But the Lovers card to me is more of a quick roll in the sheets rather than lasting love. Also, the Lovers card can indicate a very important decision needs to be made: perhaps two different suitors have your attention, and you need to choose.
Join in the discussion: Which card from the tarot makes YOU think of lasting love? Leave your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Much love and blessings,
~*~Hilary~*~
www.tarotbyhilary.com
hilary@tarotbyhilary.com
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HILARY PARRY HAGGERTY is a tarot reader, witch, mentor, editor, and teacher. She has been reading tarot for over 21 years (13 years professionally). She was the winner of Theresa Reed’s (The Tarot Lady) Tarot Apprentice contest in 2011, and has taught classes on tarot and spell-work at The Tarot School’s annual tarot conference Readers Studio and at Brid’s Closet Beltane Festival. She writes a weekly blog on tarot at her website www.tarotbyhilary.com and has been featured in Maxim Magazine and BuzzFeed.
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© Hilary Parry Haggerty | Tarot by Hilary
I did a reading for myself on someone new, and I got 2 of cups, and the Heriophant in the future position.
It’s certainly seems to fit the situation as things are developing very gradually like the foundation of a solid building.
can you shed more light on the combination?
Hi Kim,
I can offer a few generalities about the 2 of Cups and Hierophant combination, but if your interpretation already resonates with you, please go with that: we are our own greatest teachers and sources of wisdom!
2 of Cups + The Hierophant = love rules, rules are important in the relationship as well as structure. The Hierophant is the pope figure of the tarot, and dogma might be very important… questioning the rules or structure of your relationship could lead to friction if you are more free-flowing than your partner, or vice-versa. However, the Hierophant is very wise. This has the potential to be a very deep relationship, especially religious or spiritual in nature.
Hope that helps! Congratulations on your new relationship!
[…] Consulting the tarot when it comes to love this weekend? Don’t be fooled if the Lovers card comes up in your romance reading; look for the 2 of Cups instead! Some advice I give from this time last year: http://tarotbyhilary.com/2-of-cups-the-lovers-card/ […]
I’m very new to tarot and did a 3 card spread to gain more understanding into my relationship with a certain person. Before the reading, I decided the cards would tell me the appearance of the situation, the reality, and what was necessary to do right now. I drew: Appearance = 2 of cups; Reality = Lovers; What to do Right Now = Hierophant. What can you tell me about these cards together? I’ve formed thoughts on it already, but the more I learn about tarot, the more I realize the incredible depth of this. What advice can you give me on how to interpret this?
Hi Steph!
If you look above at the other comments, Kim also had the Hierophant come up in her reading, combined with the 2 of Cups. To that, I interpreted 2 of Cups + The Hierophant = love rules, rules are important in the relationship as well as structure. The Hierophant is the pope figure of the tarot, and dogma might be very important… questioning the rules or structure of your relationship could lead to friction if you are more free-flowing than your partner, or vice-versa. However, the Hierophant is very wise. This has the potential to be a very deep relationship, especially religious or spiritual in nature.
As you did a 3 card spread with Appearance: 2 of Cups, Reality: Lovers, What to Do Right Now: Hierophant, your reading would of course be different. With the appearance of the 2 of Cups and the reality being the Lovers, I would have wanted things to be in the reverse, with the appearance of Lovers and reality being 2 of Cups, if you want the relationship to have long-term potential. As I said in the above post, the Lovers card isn’t a bad card: it can usually indicate passion! But the Lovers card to me is more of a quick roll in the sheets rather than lasting love. In addition the Lovers card can sometimes indicate a choice needing to be made, whether it’s between suitors or between conflicting obligations or priorities.
For Hierophant in the What to Do Right Now position, it would seem to me that more studying and evaluation is in order: research before action.
As always, your own personal meanings of the cards cannot be discounted, but I hope this helped you! For further interpretations of the Lovers and the Hierophant cards, please check out my Major Arcana In-Depth series: it may help to deepen your reading!
The Lovers: http://tarotbyhilary.com/the-major-arcana-in-depth-vi-the-lovers/
The Hierophant: http://tarotbyhilary.com/the-major-arcana-in-depth-v-the-hierophant/
Hello, can you help me with a reading? I recently asked a friend of mine to do a simple 3 card reading regarding a recent breakup. The question was “is he sorry and is he thinking of apologizing or reconciling? My friend is inexperienced so she couldn’t interpret the cards or give them meaning before. I shall just tell them to you in order of turning them over (left to right). First card- Temperance, second – Chariot but reversed, third card – two of cups. What could this mean? from whose perspective should i read this?
Hi Adele!
Temperance: The card of balance… in this context, I feel as if this card is about weighing options. So yes, he may be sorry and thinking of apology/reconciliation.
Chariot reversed: Speed here is a factor with the Chariot reversed. There seems to be a stall here, so whether or not he’s thinking about it is besides the point: will he apologize is the real question, and it seems like action is NOT being taken right now.
2 of Cups: The 2 of Cups can hold a lot of meaning in a romance sense, a couple that could very well get along on many levels, as long as they get out of their own way.
This reading would be from the perspective of how the question was phrased: “Is he sorry and is he thinking of apologizing or reconciling?” So the cards that came up are showing his mindset right now. But whether he will act on his thoughts is a different story, and a different reading!
If you and your friend are interested in further your tarot skills, I would recommend referring to the little white book that comes with most tarot decks for keywords/interpretations, or checking out the following books:
-The Tarot Coloring Book by Theresa Reed
-Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning
More suggested titles can be found here: http://tarotbyhilary.com/summerreading2016/
Hope that helps,
Hilary
Hillary, thank you very much! I am also thinking about starting to learn about the tarot, as I consider myself to be drawn to this naturally. I have read also various interpretations of this 3 card spread, it’s hard to find a combination of these cards, but my intuition says that the 2 of cups could be a positive outcome in the future…or the fact that he is thinking about apologizing however he is afraid to act but in the end, the future might be bright? You are right about the way the question was asked. It’s just the 2 of cups as the final card that has me wondering…. Thank you! 🙂
P.S. i think the question was more “is he sorry and will he apologize?”