Arcana – Memphis Flyer

February might be the shortest month of the year, but it is packed with meaning. February is the month of love, hosting Valentine’s Day on the 14th. What better tarot card to discuss this week than The Lovers card?

In tarot, The Lovers is card number six of the Major Arcana. The Major Arcana section of tarot represents the big picture in our lives, marking milestone events or major turning points. The Lovers card is about love, but there is so much more to it than romance.

To get a fuller understanding of The Lovers, let’s look at its number, six. Sixes in tarot reflect our journey to harmony and unity, not just with ourselves but with others. The number six calls us to engage with society. As we learn and grow through our interactions, we change. The number six of The Lovers card tells us that, going forward, things will be different, and our experiences with The Lovers card will leave us transformed.

With a name like The Lovers, it’s natural that love is the first thing we think of when we see this card. If you are looking for romance in your life and you see The Lovers in a reading, it is a good indication that what you are looking for is in your future. As an attraction card, The Lovers represents those feelings of excitement, hopefulness, and joy of new love. It represents the allure and passion of love that can be hard to define. The Lovers represents a romantic partnership between people that is complementary and uplifting to both parties. If you are considering taking your relationship to the next level, The Lovers card is a welcome indication that it’s time to get more serious and that your relationship is well-matched.

The Lovers card is also about choices. With each person we meet, we have the ability to choose to be in a relationship with them — whether it’s a friendship, business, or romantic relationship. With The Lovers card, you are choosing love — and choosing the person you want to express that love with. The Lovers also represents those choices we make when we truly desire something. The attraction and allure of the card doesn’t end with people but can symbolize decisions we make in our lives.

Imagine that you are content with your life. You go about your days not seeking any changes. Then, out of the blue, you see a job posting for a job you’ve always wanted. Now that you know your dream job is available, do you apply and pursue it, even though it means changing your career? Or do you ignore it? The excitement and the almost spiritual pull of that dream job is an example of the choices we have to make with The Lovers.

All choices come with a consequence — good, bad, or indifferent. If we make the choice to pursue our dream job, then we may find ourselves changing careers when we didn’t plan on it. We might find ourselves with pressure to relocate. We now have to accept and deal with the consequences of the choice we made. The Lovers is about moving toward a more harmonious lifestyle, which means things in our life will change, and those changes can be lasting. There may be a sacrifice you must make in order to have this dream. In some ways, all commitment is a sacrifice, but one made for the right reason or person can help you grow as an individual.

The next time you receive a reading and The Lovers card appears, get ready! The person, thing, or situation you’ve been manifesting is on its way. Now you have to make sure you are ready for the love and the choices it will bring into your life. Until your ideal partner or situation arrives, live your life in harmony and unity with yourself and others so that you are in a space of love and ready to receive your blessing that The Lovers card brings.

Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

When Emily Guenther, also known as Reverend Omma to her Wiccan congregation, opened The Broom Closet over 10 years ago, she thought of it as a fantasy coming true. “I had spent six or seven years working in advertising,” she says. “It felt very inconsequential, like anybody could do it. It wasn’t feeding my soul, but it paid the bills. … I had this fantasy that like one day I might actually get to retire. And once I did, I would then spend my retirement working at a little store selling herbs to people — that was just this weird kind of daydream that kind of helped me get through the day sometimes.”

But after a rough year with her mother’s passing and losing that advertising job, her husband Stephen urged her to bring her metaphysical store to fruition, and now 10 years later, that store is going strong, offering solace to its customers and selling spiritual supplies from sage for cleansing to gemstones for manifesting. “We strive to serve the spiritual needs of the community,” Guenther says. “We try to cater to everyone regardless of their beliefs or practices, and just help people, talk to them, answer questions, help them find the thing that they need if they don’t know what they’re looking for.”

As such, one of the services The Broom Closet offers is tarot reading — fortune-telling that uses a deck of 78 pictorial cards. Anyone can read tarot, Guenther says, as long as they understand the meanings of the cards and can embrace their intuition, but having someone else read your tarot can offer insights that you might not have to come otherwise. “The thing about tarot,” she says, “is that because we’re all different … we filter through our life experiences and the way that we live our lives. And so if I needed a reading and let’s say I came to you and I know what the cards mean, you’re going to say it or explain it or filter it through your experience in a way that I needed to hear it.”

In a way, it’s like therapy, with someone guiding you through confronting and coping with the uncontrollable — like love or money, two things Guenther says she gets asked about the most.

To kick off the new year, the Broom Closet is hosting a special night of tarot reading for those looking to check in on specific situations in their life and find guidance. Participants will be able to choose from 15-minute tarot readings for $20, 30-minute readings for $40, and 60-minute readings for $70. Readings will be done on a first-come-first-served basis, with no appointments necessary.

To keep up with other event offerings, like workshops and sound baths, at The Broom Closet, follow them on Facebook (@The Broom Closet – Memphis) or Instagram (@ the_broom_closet).

Twilight Tarot: A Night of Tarot Reading, The Broom Closet, Friday, January 6, 6-8 p.m., $20-$70.