06: Bougainvillea / The Lovers
The Lovers Tarot Card Meanings
It’s Tarot Tuesday! Every Tuesday I will be posting an article diving deeper into an individual tarot card, to help me better understand its meaning, and to help educate others in the process. I’ll also share about the connection between each tarot card and the botanical I paired it with in my Fleurot tarot deck, which is based around the Victorian Language of Flowers.
Today we are diving into the card numbered 6 in the traditional Rider-Waite tarot, The Lovers (which is Bougainvillea in the Fleurot deck).
Love this imagery? Purchase the Fleurot Deck here!
Keywords
The Lovers | Passion, Union, Choice
Bougainvillea | Passion, Life Experience
In the traditional Rider-Waite Colman-Smith tarot deck, the Lovers card depicts two anatomically female and male figures standing in a garden. There is an apple tree with a snake behind the female figure, referencing the Adam and Eve myth from the bible. Behind the male figure is a tree of flames, representing passion. There is a volcanic mountain behind them, and in the sky above is a figure with red angel wings, representing the angel Raphael.
The Lovers card represents passion and union, but also the power of choice and conscious connections. It can point to a soul-honoring connection with a loved one, or a spiritual sexual connection. It can certainly represent a romantic tie, but it also refers to friendship or, on a personal level, getting clear about your own values and beliefs and what you choose to be passionate about.
This card is ultimately about open communication and raw honesty, whether that is with a partner or with yourself. Vulnerability is key here, and learning to open your heart to share your truest feelings. Decide what is and what is not essential to you, so you can make choices from a place of authenticity and self-confidence.
“By communicating openly and honestly with those you care about, you will create a harmonious and fulfilling relationship built on trust and respect.”
For more in-depth information about the meaning of The Lovers tarot card, I highly recommend checking out the description by Biddy Tarot!
Bougainvillea Bougainvillea Glabra
During the Victorian Era, people would exchange flowers and plants as a way of sending messages to express their true feelings (ones they couldn’t often express out loud). The system they developed was published in Flower Dictionaries which allowed the meanings of each flower to be widely accepted, and this language was often dubbed ‘Floriography’.
Bougainvillea is typically grown as a vine or small shrub, and its long spiky stems are covered in papery brightly colored blooms in the warm summer months. The blooms range from hot pink to gold to white, and many other colors in-between. It is native to the Caribbean Islands, but loves any hot and dry climate and can be seen growing happily throughout South America.
Philibert Commerson, a French naturalist and botanist, discovered the Bougainvillea and classified it in honor of his friend and shipmate Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who was the French Navy admiral.
Its meaning spans from welcoming visitors, to a symbol of peace and encouraging free trade between two entities. The Victorians believed that gifting a stem to a loved one would ignite passion within the relationship. Some also believe it symbolizes liveliness and life experience.
The meaning of passion seems to tie this bloom closely to the Lovers card in the traditional tarot, which is why I paired it with this card in the Fleurot deck. Long reaching vines tipped with delicate groupings of blooms, and—every so often—some sharp spikes. Such are the joys and woes of passion, and the card of the Lovers. But this card also brings with it the concept of choice. Do you succumb to the fury of passion, and take the risk that you might be plucked by a thorn?