Although Thanksgiving is an American holiday (with rather suspect origins), the sentiment of being thankful and reflecting on those people and things you appreciate and cherish in life is a positive one.
This Thanksgiving, I chose to paint the sixth card in the Major Arcana, The Lovers.
The Lovers is a card that does double duty as an optical illusion. Up close, the card depicts two figures in love, embracing each other, and is arranged in a composition resembling that of an upside down triangle (compared to its mirror card, The Devil, which is arranged in a standard triangular composition). An angel materializes in the sky to watch over the figures and bless their relationship.
From a distance, the figures in the middle of the card disappear, and a tall, slender angel takes over the entire composition. Conceptually, this is to communicate the power of love, and how it transcends the physical plane, into bigger, emotionally and spiritually based realms. Compare this meaning to the Two of Cups, whose primary focus is on physicality, giddiness, youth, naivety, and the body.
