Sage Leaves: The Lovers and the Heroine's Journey
Healing Ancestral Wounds Through Tarot
🌿 In This Week’s Sage Leaves
This week, we continue our quiet unfolding of The Lovers—not just as a card of union or longing, but as a pivotal force within the Heroine’s Journey. Their archetypal role stretches far beyond romance, and over the coming weeks, we’ll explore how their energy moves through the lineage of generational wounding and repair.
You’ll also find this week’s Tarotscope for May 13–19, a fresh seven-day spread meant to meet you wherever you are in the spiral.
Between newsletters, we occasionally offer short musings in response to readers’ questions—alongside the occasional herbal self-care recipe or remedy. As a trained herbalist and long-time plant ally, I often find the plants speak when we most need to listen. When something wise, useful, or soothing floats across my path, I’ll pass it along. Goddess knows we all need a little of that these days.
Come by, settle in, and take what nourishes. 🌸
The Lovers Role in the Heroine’s Journey: Choosing with a Whole Heart
In the Heroine’s Journey, the card of The Lovers marks a moment of deep internal reckoning. It may seem like a card about romance — and yes, sometimes it is — but in this mythic arc of transformation, it carries a far more powerful message. The Lovers represent choice. Not just any choice, but the kind that divides the road. The kind you feel in your bones. The kind that cannot be undone.
The Heroine’s Journey differs from the more familiar Hero’s Journey in one key way: the Hero goes outward, but the Heroine goes inward. Her task isn’t to slay dragons or conquer distant lands. Instead, she must face the truth of who she is — especially when that truth is painful, contradictory, or inconvenient. And so, when she meets The Lovers along her path, she’s not being asked to pick a partner. She’s being asked to choose herself.
Let’s break this down.
The Lovers is the sixth Major Arcana card, sitting after The Hierophant and before The Chariot. That positioning is important. The Hierophant represents tradition, institutions, and inherited beliefs — all the things we are taught to follow without question. But The Lovers? They interrupt that flow. They challenge it. They ask: What do you actually believe in? What do you really want? Whose voice are you following — yours, or someone else’s?
“The Lovers are not about union with another,
but reunion with the self — mind, heart, body, and soul.”
This is a moment of individuation, and for the Heroine, it’s often messy. Up until now, she may have been trying to fit in, to please others, or to live up to roles that don’t really belong to her. But The Lovers demand honesty. They confront her with the possibility that living truthfully may come at a cost — loss of approval, conflict with family, or even the fear of standing alone.
The art on traditional Lovers cards reflects this crossroads. Two figures stand before an angel or under a divine light. There is usually a mountain, a tree, or a serpent nearby. These symbols echo the myth of Eden, yes, but also the myth of personal awakening. This isn’t about sin — it’s about sovereignty. It’s about knowing that you have a choice and that what you choose shapes who you become.
In the Heroine’s Journey, The Lovers often appear when the protagonist is about to betray herself — or when she’s finally ready to stop doing so. She might be tempted to return to an old pattern, to stay small, or to chase love that requires her to shrink. This card asks her to pause. To reflect. And then, to make the choice that aligns with her wholeness, not her fear.
It’s a card of integration. Of bringing together the fragmented parts of the self — the mind, the heart, the body, the spirit. The Lovers teach the Heroine that union doesn’t have to come from the outside. It begins inside, when she chooses herself over expectations, over comfort, even over safety.
And yes, sometimes this card does mark the arrival of a significant other. But even then, it asks the same question: Can you be with another without abandoning who you are? That’s a lesson every Heroine must learn.
So what role does The Lovers play in her journey?
They are the sacred pivot. They mark the end of self-denial and the beginning of conscious commitment. They show her that love, whether of another or of the self, is not a feeling — it’s a vow. And vows matter.
The Heroine cannot go forward until she makes this choice. And once she does, the path ahead — wild, uncertain, and liberating — truly becomes her own.
🌿 A Journey from Wonder to Discernment: Week of May 13-20, 2025
This is a reading for the energetic influences at play for the week of April 22-28, 2025.
You begin this week at the edge of something new. Not just a task or goal—but a shift in how you walk through your own life. The days ahead invite both bold movement and careful pause. You'll face choices. You'll feel your emotions rise and fall like waves. But at every step, you're learning how to trust the quiet voice within.
Let’s walk together, one day at a time.
🌱 Tuesday – The Fool
Moon in Sagittarius trine Venus in Aries
Today opens with a clean slate. The Fool calls you forward—not into chaos, but into possibility. Something fresh wants to take root in your life, but it will only sprout if you're willing to release control.
There's an optimism in the air, a sense of lightness. The Moon’s trine to Venus invites you to explore beauty, connection, and what it means to love your own life just as it is. Don't overthink today. Just begin. Say yes to the adventure, even if you don’t know where it leads. Especially if you don’t.
The magic lives in the leap.
🌊 Wednesday – 8 of Cups
Moon in Sagittarius trine Mars in Leo
The glow of Tuesday fades slightly. Now you feel the pull of something deeper. The 8 of Cups is the card of spiritual hunger—walking away not because things are bad, but because they’re no longer enough.
Today, you feel the courage to leave behind what doesn’t serve you. Mars in Leo energizes that decision with boldness, and the Moon in Sagittarius reminds you that your soul is a traveler. It’s okay to feel sadness. But also feel the relief. You're choosing growth over comfort.
Turn your back on the empty and walk toward the sacred unknown.
🛡️ Thursday – 7 of Wands
Moon in Sagittarius square Saturn in Pisces
Resistance shows up. The 7 of Wands is a call to hold your ground, even when others push back—or when your own doubts rise up like fog. The square to Saturn may bring external pressure: deadlines, limitations, or emotional weight.
But the fire in you won't be dimmed. You've begun something, and now you must protect it. That might mean saying no. It might mean standing alone. But your passion matters. Your voice matters.
Today, your integrity becomes your armor. Use it.
💌 Friday – Page of Cups
Moon in Capricorn trine Mercury in Taurus
After yesterday’s intensity, Friday feels like a soft breath. The Page of Cups whispers gentleness. Creativity. Wonder. You’re invited to open your heart to new emotional insight—and maybe even a message from your inner child.
With Mercury in Taurus, this day grounds dreaminess in real conversation. You might receive a compliment, a confession, or a tiny burst of joy. Pay attention to synchronicities. Pages are messengers. This one speaks in feelings, not facts.
Let love move through you today, in whatever form it takes.
🐍 Saturday – The Devil
Sun in Taurus conjunct Uranus in Taurus
This is the most charged day of the week. The Devil doesn’t appear to punish—it appears to reveal. What owns you? What do you serve that no longer serves you?
Uranus brings shocks, awakenings, and deep earthquakes in the self. The conjunction with the Sun means you may see clearly what you’ve avoided: addiction, control, shame, or compulsions. But this is a gift. The Devil binds only when you agree to the chain.
What you see today, you can begin to release. Shadow work isn't always dramatic—it’s choosing freedom over numbness, one small choice at a time.
🌍 Sunday – 2 of Wands
Mercury in Taurus square Mars in Leo
You stand looking out. The 2 of Wands is a card of potential. You’ve left the familiar, and the horizon stretches wide. But there’s tension: Mercury wants to plan; Mars wants to act. You may feel torn between patience and boldness.
Today is not the day for answers—it’s the day for vision. Let yourself imagine a bigger life. Dream without apology. Make a loose plan, but don’t force it. The world is waiting for you, but you don’t have to leave all at once.
Breathe. Prepare. Choose your direction with intention.
⚖️ Monday – 2 of Swords
Moon in Aquarius sextile Venus in Aries
The week ends not with action, but with stillness. The 2 of Swords asks you to pause and reflect. You’re holding two truths, two paths, or two possibilities. You’re not ready to decide—and that’s okay. This card is sacred hesitation.
The Moon in Aquarius invites objectivity; Venus in Aries urges emotional honesty. Together, they offer balance. Sit quietly. Listen inward. You are not stuck—you are ripening. When the choice is clear, you’ll know. For now, honor the in-between.
This is the calm center of the journey—the moment before the next step.
✨ Your Week in Summary
This week begins with wonder and ends with wisdom. You are not rushing; you are awakening. From The Fool’s leap to The Devil’s truth, from inner conflict to emotional insight, you are walking the archetypal spiral one choice at a time.
Each card is a guidepost. Each day, a turning of the wheel.
Trust that you are right where you need to be.
The path ahead is yours to shape.
🌿 Feeling the stirrings of a deeper question?
Sometimes a single card, drawn with intention, can bring a shift in clarity. And sometimes, the story needs space to unfold more fully—personally, privately, and with care.
If this week's arc resonated with you, or if you're navigating your own turning point, I offer one-on-one Tarot consultations designed to hold space for your insight, healing, and next steps. No performance. No pretense. Just meaningful reflection in a shared sacred space.
✨ When you're ready, I'm here.
Until next time, may your days be rooted in stillness and lit by small revelations.
May the cards speak clearly, the herbs offer comfort,
and your own inner wisdom rise gently to meet you.
Take care, be well, and good-bye for now!
With warmth from the liminal in-between,
—Dr. Winkler