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Category: Major Arcana
The Moon Tarot card – the eighteenth of the Major Arcana – beckons with mysterious allure. In contrast to the hopeful radiance of The Star tarot card, which is the seventeenth in the sequence, the Moon invites introspection, leading individuals on a journey through surreal landscapes. Against the backdrop of a serene Moon casting an ethereal glow, this card offers insights into intuition and explores the enigmatic depths of the human mind.
Before immersing into The Moon tarot card, a quick reminder: at Born Under Saturn, we unveil the meanings and key symbols of a new tarot card every Friday. Come back next week (and the ones following) to discover more cards, and click here to explore the tarot card meanings we’ve already posted.
The Moon: Description
The Moon tarot card – nestled as the eighteenth card in the Major Arcana – depicts the Moon in the night’s sky glowing up the sky. It serves as more than a celestial body; it acts as a guiding luminary along the intricate journey of the subconscious. The Moon is renowned for its associations with femininity, the unconscious, intuition, and mystical realms.
Notably, a wolf and a domesticated dog howl at the Moon, while a crayfish emerges from the water. These elements symbolize the duality of the human’s animalistic nature, representing both the tamed and the wild aspects of our being – one civilized, the other wild and feral.
Positioned between two twin towers, the Moon takes a central stance, connected to the theme of duality. These towers, flanking the central path, convey a profound message about the difficulty in distinguishing between opposites – perhaps alluding to the delicate dance between the conscious and the unconscious realms, the enigmatic depths of the psyche.
Adorned with sixteen chief and sixteen secondary rays, the Moon tarot card captivates with its intricate details. As it sheds the moisture of fertilizing dew in great drops, the card incorporates Yodh-shaped elements. These not only contribute to the visual richness of the card but also add a layer of esoteric symbolism, inviting those who engage with it to delve deeper into the profound mysteries embedded within the imagery.
This interpretation revolves around the Rider-Waite tarot card, one of the most popular and widely used decks. If you’re passionate about tarot and haven’t explored this deck yet, acquiring the Rider-Waite tarot deck is highly recommended for a deeper understanding of its symbolic depth. Get your own Rider-Waite tarot deck here to embark on a profound journey of self-discovery and intuitive insights.
The Moon: Keywords
UPRIGHT: Intuition – Subconscious – Illusions and Deception – Dreams and Imagination – Cycles and Phases – Instability – Psychic Abilities – Mystery – Night Journey
REVERSED: Confusion – Misinterpretation – Unresolved Emotions – Release of Fears – Clarity Emerging – Breaking Illusions – Stability Returning – Blocked Intuition – Emerging from the Shadows
The Moon: Meaning
What does The Moon tarot card signify? Here, we will unravel its meanings in both the upright and reversed positions.
Upright Meaning
When the Moon card assumes an upright position in a tarot reading, it indicates an invitation to introspect and explore the subconscious. This marks a period to trust instincts and delve into the depths of emotions, emphasizing the importance of caution and refraining from making hasty choices.
Encouraging an embrace of life’s mysteries, illusions, and uncertainties, the card guides through challenging situations using intuition. The Moon serves as a signal to avoid impulsive and fast decisions. It underscores the significance of following the path suggested by intuitions, as feelings are the guide, not excessive thinking. In the darkness of the night, clear visibility is limited, making it impossible to make well-informed decisions without a complete view. Hence, following intuition becomes crucial, given the Moon’s inherent connection with our deep intuitive senses.
Intuition is the compass that guides us through the mysteries of life
Not coincidentally, the Moon is often associated with the divine feminine, linked to intuition and emotions. This celestial body serves as a reminder to trust one’s feelings and sentiments.
As said, The Moon signals a journey into the realms of dreams, intuition, and the subtle energies shaping perceptions. However, it may also indicate an additional reading: the presence of illusions. Some hidden truths must be discovered in the night, where light may reveal what was previously obscured.
Reversed Meaning
When the Moon card takes a reversed stance, it signals a departure from confusion, unveiling a clarity that dispels illusions. This shift signifies an emergence from once uncertain circumstances, as fears and anxieties lose their grip, allowing for a more objective perception of situations.
In this reversal, the Moon reveals its dark side, manifesting negative aspects such as anxiety. Despite these challenges, there is hope because the Moon serves not only as a harbinger of darkness but also as a guiding symbol.
Emerge from the shadows and navigate the Moon’s dual nature as both a revealer of darkness and a guiding symbol.
However, caution is warranted, as potential blockages in intuition may arise, and addressing unresolved emotions becomes imperative. Delving into these deeper layers ensures a comprehensive understanding of the complexities revealed in the reversed Moon card, offering a pathway towards healing and renewed clarity.
The Moon: Love meaning
In matters of love, the Moon tarot card introduces a captivating and complex dimension to relationships.
When this card graces a love reading, it often suggests that emotions are not as straightforward as they may seem. The Moon brings to light the enigmatic aspects of love, urging individuals to navigate through the shadows of their emotions.
It may signify the presence of hidden feelings, unexplored desires, or the influence of intuition in matters of the heart. The card encourages those in romantic endeavors to trust their instincts and explore the depth of their emotions, embracing the mysteries that love often entails.
The Moon: Key symbols
Here, we will explore four main key symbols of The Moon tarot card – the Moon symbolism itself, the crawfish, the canine figures, and the tower.
The Moon itself
As Jodorowsky states in his bestseller “The Way of Tarot” – which you can purchase here, if you don’t have it yet – the Moon is one of humanity’s oldest symbols. It represents the quintessential feminine archetype, the cosmic mother. Its fundamental quality is receptivity: as a satellite planet, the Moon reflects the light of the Sun. We find ourselves in the midst of the night, yet it is a night illuminated by this humble receptivity. It is also the realm of dreams, imagination, and the unconscious-traditionally associated with the night.
Note: In this article, we mainly discuss the Rider-Waite Tarot card, while Jodorowsky defines himself as a purist and prefers the Marseille Tarot deck. So, it’s important to know that the book “The Way of Tarot” is about those cards. However, what we’re reporting here is true for both the Marseille Tarot deck and the Rider-Waite Tarot deck.
And by the way, if the name Jodorowsky isn’t ringing a bell, it’s time to dive into the mesmerizing world of a true visionary. You can check out our previous article, “Alejandro Jodorowsky: a pioneer in the contemporary use of Tarot”, where we discussed his history and creations.
Moreover, Jodorowky also states that the tarot represents the Moon with a face. But the Moon does not gaze into our eyes. It is a waxing Moon but presents itself in profile. Despite being a full circle, it is in formation, crescent, and a part of it remains invisible. In this aspect, it symbolizes the mystery of the soul, the secret of the gestation process, everything that is hidden. Its face is not that of a young maiden but is imbued with ancient wisdom that radiates in its beams.
One last aspect worth highlighting here, among all Jodo says, is that the Moon is connected to biological rhythms, water, tides, female cycles, and the transition from life to death. Not randomly, in The Moon tarot card, we can observe a stretch of water.
Crawfish
From the depths of the stretch of water, a crawfish gracefully emerges. This crustacean serves as a poignant representation of our primal instincts, positioned lower in the evolutionary hierarchy and symbolizing the essence of our reptilian brain – the very seat of our most fundamental and instinctual drives. It acts as a symbolic gateway to the profound realms lurking beneath the surface.
The crawfish invites contemplation on the instinctual forces that guide us, often concealed beneath the surface yet profoundly influential in shaping our subconscious motivations. It transcends being a mere creature emerging from the water, evolving into a metaphor for the depths of our psyche.
Moreover, the crawfish’s resemblance to a scorpion adds another layer to its symbolism, evoking notions of transformation, regeneration, and the potent sting of introspective revelations.
The canine figures: dog and wolf
The haunting presence of the howling Wolf and the loyal domesticated Dog at the Moon’s feet unfolds a symbolic narrative encapsulating the dual aspects of human nature – wild and tame.
As previously described in the card’s description, the Wolf and Dog, while distinct in their essence, find unity beneath the glow of the Moon. Together, they embody the spectrum of tamed and untamed passions residing within our consciousness. Their opposing natures create a harmonious duality, intriguingly unified by the magnetic pull of the Moon.
Both creatures share a poignant moment, collectively howling at the Moon, a profound gesture that signals a connection to something beyond the tangible. In this symphony of howls, the Wolf and Dog become metaphors for the intricate dance between primal instincts and cultivated behaviors, a dance that finds its rhythm in the radiance of the lunar sphere.
The two towers
The two towers flanking The Moon card appear identical, standing as twin towers. As previously mentioned in the card description, some interpret these towers as symbols of duality, emphasizing the challenge of distinguishing between opposites – whether it be the known and the unknown or the conscious and the unconscious.
Interestingly, upon close observation, these towers are identical to the ones in the Death tarot card. In the intricate details of the Death card, where numerous symbols abound, the towers may go unnoticed. However, they persist, mirroring the ones in The Moon, silently emphasizing a connection between these two distinct tarot cards.
The Moon: Does it mean Yes or No in a tarot reading?
Interpreting the Moon tarot card in a yes-or-no tarot reading proves to be a nuanced endeavor. Despite the inclination towards straightforward responses in some readings, the reality unfolds with intricacy. The Moon card encapsulates the hidden, intuitive, and emotional facets of a situation, rendering it resistant to binary categorizations of yes or no.
As explored in detail in our article titled “Is Yes and No Tarot Reading Accurate? Unveiling the Truth“, tarot readings inherently defy simplistic answers. For a comprehensive exploration of this intriguing subject, delve into the complete article.
