Name: Marriage
Italian Name: Imeneo*
Playing Card: A♣
Polarity when Upright: Positive
Core Meanings: Union, Marriage, Partnership, Contract, Productivity, Good Business, Inception, Beginning
Polarity when Reversed: Neutral
Reversed Core Meanings: The material aspect of life, Wealth, Abundance, Sex, Conception, Unions or Marriages that don’t happen or fall apart

Card Description: A man is about to slip a wedding band on the finger of his beloved. In the background, a flame burns on an altar.

Suit and Number: Aces relate to the way in people come together and unite. In the suit of Clubs, this takes on the meaning of official, binding agreements, among which marriage is chief. Aces also refers to new things and news, so the Ace of Clubs is the card of all those things and projects that take root in reality, all things that materialize, and is therefore associated with production and the beginning of entertprises (or of life).

UPRIGHT A♣

General: A great card, in general, whose importance extends to all aspects of life. It represents all circumstances where two or more people come together to form a binding union, as exemplified by the picture of the exchanging of rings. Most of the times, this is the significator card for a marriage or partnership or a contract of some kind. Unless negative cards qualify it, it brings with it positive connotations of satisfaction and advancement. Just as marriage is a binding contract that marks the beginning of a new phase of life, so this card can stand for all actions that start something new, that make something begin to materialize.

Love and Relationships: this card is mute as far as feelings are concerned. In itself, it does not say whether someone loves us or not. However, it does bring with it a sense of commitment, as the general meaning of marriage implies the willingness to put your life in someone else’s hands. Near a significator card, it can show that the person is married. When it signifies the marriage itself, what happens to it must be read from the cards surrounding it. Here you will find whether the union is rooted in faithfulness or not, whether someone is interfering or all is as it should be. Beware of when cards like Falsehood or the Thief fall nearby.
In all other types of personal relationships, this card can generally be taken to signify that the person is trustworthy and keeps his or her word, but this is a rather weak undertone.

Work and Money: an excellent card. When it represents a job contract, unless other cards qualify it otherwise, it shows a good contract that will benefit the querent. The Ace of Clubs may also show a company’s ability to bind people to it, that is, acquiring (often high level) clients, contractors or subcontractors. It can foretell a good deal and it portends good business in general. As this card is a significator of marriage, it can also be a significator of a partnership of any kind, as long as it is legally binding. Again, anything that makes two or more people commit to one another.

Other: In more mundane questions, this card can represent acquiring or buying things, as the transaction is its own kind of legally binding operation between people. Usually the Ace of Clubs shows the buying of cool stuff, not a gadgeteer’s trinkets. Although its association with sex comes to the fore mostly when it is reversed, it can still, on occasion, function as a sex card when upright, provided it is surrounded by the right cards in the appropriate context. Psychologically it doesn’t have much of a meaning, except that it can represent a committed person or being productive. Artistically, it is one of the cards that can relate to music (the god Hymen was a patron of music), or creativity understood as the ability to produce new pieces (songs, books, paintings, etc.).

Important Combinations:
A♣ + 2♥ = married life | a company
A♣ + 3♠ = abandoning the marriage, separation
10♦ + A♣ = someone is trying to snatch away the partner
A♣ + 7♥ = a high level contract | a partnership or a business partner
A♣ + K♠R = a divorce (especially with 7♠)

REVERSED A♣R

General: A neutral card with slightly positive undertones, it is heavily influenced by the polarity of the surrounding cards. In the main, this is the card of all that is physical and material: sex, money, wealth, etc. The meaning of materiality comes from the card’s upright sense of “coming together” of people but now referred to a lower (reversed) aspect, which is sex, a concept that is associated with matter and materialism. This is also why the card, although neutral, can be easily influenced by negative cards.

Love and Relationships: this is the nookie card, and that’s pretty much it. It says absolutely nothing about emotional fulfillment: if it is there, other cards will show it. Alternatively, it can qualify a person who is wealthy. If it represents the querent’s marriage, though, finding it upside down is not good, and it may show it going south. Near significators, it can show them to be divorced or separated.

Work and Money: Being neutral, this card represents the concept of wealth and material possessions. It is the card of precious metals, exclusive items, finery and creature comforts. Together with cards that signify nobility of excellence it reinforces the concept, and in general it retains the notion of material benefit that it had when upright. When near negative cards, though, it can prognosticate heavy losses and financial collapse, or the collapse of business ventures. If the querent needs to sign a contract, the Reversed Marriage card together with negative cards should be a read flag, or it may show that the contract simply won’t be signed.

Other: being the card of sex, the upright concept of production can now be referred to the conception of children. Psychologically, with negative cards, it can point to feeling defeated or powerless and staring into the abyss. It can also be a sign of materialism. Otherwise, this is not a psychological card.

Important Combinations:
A♣R + 2♥R = married life is stifling, the person would like to abandon it | the company is in hot water
A♣R + A♦ = sex
A♣R + 7♦ = conception
A♣R + 6♥ = liquid assets
A♣R + 3♦ = exclusive objects | a high status (especially with 8♦ and/or 2♣)

Other Combinations: Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Aces

* Imeneo doesn’t, strictly speaking, mean marriage. Imeneo, i.e., Hymen or Hymenaios was a minor late Greek god of marriage. The root of his name means “to sew together”, which is probably the best description of this card: it represents all acts that join people together. I chose the title “Marriage” simply because it is less awkward and it means basically the same thing.