The 6th card of the Major Arcana is The Lovers, numbered six. It is a card of love, union, choice and the alignment of values, and of the important decisions the heart is asked to make. Because The Fool sits at the start of the sequence as card zero, counting through the Majors lands The Lovers squarely at number six, just before The Chariot.
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Open the reading helperWhy The Lovers is card six, not card five
The confusion is understandable. If you count the Major Arcana on your fingers, "the sixth card" can feel like it should be The Hierophant. The reason it is not comes down to a single, easily missed detail: the Major Arcana begins at zero, not one. The Fool is numbered 0, so every card after it is one step further along than its place in the pile suggests.
Laid out in the traditional order, the opening of the Major Arcana runs like this:
- 0 The Fool
- I (1) The Magician
- II (2) The High Priestess
- III (3) The Empress
- IV (4) The Emperor
- V (5) The Hierophant
- VI (6) The Lovers
- VII (7) The Chariot
So the sixth numbered card, and the seventh card if you count The Fool as the first physical card in the deck, is The Lovers. On most modern decks you will see the Roman numeral VI printed along the top of the card, which settles the question at a glance.
What The Lovers actually means
The Lovers is easy to reduce to a single word, romance, but it is richer than that. At its heart the card is about union and choice: two things coming together, and the decision that binds them. In the widely used Rider Waite Smith image, a man and a woman stand beneath a radiant figure, often read as an angel, with the sun above them. It is a picture of relationship blessed from above, and of a moment of meaningful alignment.
When The Lovers appears, the traditional themes to sit with are:
- Love and partnership. A close bond, a deepening relationship, or the warmth of being truly seen by another person.
- Harmony and connection. Two halves meeting, whether that is two people, or two parts of yourself finally in agreement.
- A values based choice. This is the quieter, more grown up side of the card. The Lovers often marks a decision that asks you to be honest about what you actually value, rather than what is merely easy or expected.
That last theme is why experienced readers rarely treat The Lovers as a simple "yes, you are in love" card. It frequently turns up when someone stands at a crossroads and the right path is the one that stays true to their own heart. The card asks a good question: chosen with your whole self, or drifted into? Read reversed, it can point to disharmony, a values clash, or a choice made for the wrong reasons, though as always the surrounding cards colour the meaning.
The Lovers and Gemini: the traditional correspondence
In the system developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late nineteenth century, and carried into most modern decks, The Lovers is linked with the zodiac sign Gemini. This is a tradition and a symbolic association rather than a proven fact, but it is a genuinely useful one, because the meanings rhyme so neatly.
Gemini is the sign of the Twins, and its themes are duality, communication, and the meeting of two. You can see why the tradition paired it with a card about two figures, a choice between paths, and the dialogue between head and heart. If you enjoy these threads, our guide to tarot and astrology walks through how the Golden Dawn mapped the whole Major Arcana onto the signs and planets. Treat it as a layer of meaning to explore, not a horoscope: the value is in the resonance, not in any claim that the card predicts anything about a Gemini in your life.
The Lovers in a reading
Because tarot is a tool for reflection rather than fortune telling, the most honest way to use The Lovers is to let its image prompt your own thinking. It does not conjure a partner or decide your future for you. What it does well is hold up a mirror to a relationship or a decision and ask you to look clearly.
A few questions the card tends to raise:
- Where in my life are two things asking to come together?
- What choice am I avoiding, and what would I choose if I were being honest about my values?
- In this connection, do I feel truly seen, and do I see the other person just as clearly?
In a relationship spread The Lovers is warmly encouraging, often signalling genuine connection and mutual respect. In a career or life direction spread it usually points less to romance and more to a heartfelt, values led decision. Context is everything, which is exactly why a single card is only ever the start of a conversation. If you want to feel how it reads alongside its neighbours, our tarot reading helper lets you draw and interpret in a guided way.
The cards on either side
The Lovers does not sit in isolation. Before it comes The Hierophant (V), the card of tradition, teaching and established structures, the very things The Lovers sometimes asks us to question in favour of a personal truth. After it comes The Chariot (VII), the card of will and forward motion. Read as a small sequence, the story is lovely: you learn the rules (Hierophant), you make a heartfelt choice (Lovers), and then you gather your resolve and move (Chariot). That gentle narrative arc through the Majors is often called the Fool's Journey, and The Lovers is one of its most human chapters.
Keep exploring
If The Lovers has drawn you in, read the full Lovers tarot card guide for upright and reversed meanings in love, work and everyday questions, then browse the whole tarot hub to see how the card fits the larger story. New to reading and want the Majors to click into place? Our free course, The Tarot Path, walks you through them one card at a time, and the tarot birth card calculator is a lovely way to discover which Major Arcana card quietly belongs to you.
Frequently asked questions
The 6th card of the Major Arcana is The Lovers, numbered six. It is a card of love, union, choice and the alignment of values, and of the important decisions the heart is asked to make. The Fool is card zero, which places The Lovers at number six.
Because the Major Arcana begins at zero with The Fool, every card sits one place further along than its position in the pile. Counting from The Fool (0), the sixth numbered card is The Lovers (VI). The Hierophant is number five.
Traditionally The Lovers means love, partnership and harmony, and a meaningful, values-based choice. It often marks a crossroads where the right path is the one that stays true to your own heart, rather than what is merely easy or expected.
In the Golden Dawn tradition carried into most modern decks, The Lovers is associated with Gemini, the sign of the Twins. This is a symbolic correspondence rather than a proven fact, but it rhymes with the card's themes of duality, communication and the meeting of two.
No. While it can point to a close relationship, The Lovers is just as often about a heartfelt choice, the union of two ideas or parts of yourself, and being honest about what you value. In a career or direction reading it usually means a values-led decision rather than romance.
Reversed, The Lovers can suggest disharmony, a clash of values, indecision, or a choice made for the wrong reasons. As with any card, the surrounding cards and the question asked shape the final meaning.
The Hierophant (V) comes before The Lovers, and The Chariot (VII) comes after. Read as a sequence, you learn the rules, make a heartfelt choice, then gather your resolve and move forward, a small chapter of the Fool's Journey.
