Why does The Moon tarot Card represent Pisces so well?

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Here, we aim to address what tarot card represents Pisces. Let’s get straight to the point: The Moon tarot card. The answer is clear and straightforward because Pisces and The Moon have so much in common. Why are they so closely intertwined? Let’s delve into this connection further.

Before delving into this article, we recommend reading about The Moon tarot card’s meaning, key symbols, and more for a deeper and more illuminating understanding.

Quick answer: which tarot card represents Pisces?

The tarot card that represents Pisces is The Moon, a Major Arcana card of dreams, intuition, illusion and the unconscious… the exact emotional waters the Fishes swim in! It reflects Pisces’s modern ruling planet, dreamy Neptune (with Jupiter as its traditional ruler).

In the Minor Arcana, meanwhile, Pisces belongs to the suit of Cups as a water sign, and its three decans correspond to the Eight, Nine and Ten of Cups.

In short: one ruling card (The Moon) and a trio of Cups, with the Knight of Cups as its court-card counterpart. We unpack each below.

Connection between The Moon card and Pisces

The Moon tarot card represents the energy of the Pisces sign in a symbolic and archetypal way. It evokes a range of themes and meanings that are connected to the deep nature of this zodiac sign.

The Moon tarot card symbolizes the unconscious, dreams, emotions, and spirituality. It represents the connection to the realm of feelings, imagination, and intuition. In Pisces, these elements are particularly pronounced, as individuals born under this sign are known for their sensitivity, empathy, and ability to immerse themselves in the emotional world of others.

The Moon card invites Pisces natives to explore their inner world, to embrace their profound sensitivity, and to welcome the flow of emotions. It suggests trusting intuition and following one’s instincts, even when the paths may seem dark or uncertain.

Furthermore, The Moon card represents the power of reflection and self-awareness. It encourages Pisces to explore their dreams, fantasies, and visions, as they often have privileged access to the realm of imagination.

With all that said, we can confirm that the Moon card in the Tarot deck epitomizes the profound inner world characteristic of Pisces sign and, consequently, Pisces natives. This card invites Pisces to embrace their sensitivity, trust their intuition, and explore the rich realms of imagination and the unconscious. It serves as a tool to foster greater self-awareness and navigate their paths of personal and spiritual growth.

The Moon tarot card’s keywords associated with Pisces 

As many of us are likely aware, in Tarot, “keywords” are brief phrases or single words linked with each tarot card. They serve to swiftly identify the card’s meaning and provide guidance during interpretation.

The practice of associating keywords with tarot cards can be traced back to the 1700s with the Etteilla Tarot. Etteilla, a renowned French esotericist, played a significant role in popularizing the use of tarot cards within esotericism, as we discussed in the History of Tarot dedicated article.

With this in mind, let’s explore how the keywords of The Moon tarot card (both upright and reversed) are intricately linked with the characteristics of the Pisces sign. While we listed The Moon’s keywords here, let’s reiterate some of them here and examine their connection to the dreamy essence of Pisces. We begin precisely with dreams…

Dreams and Imagination

Dreams and Imagination is an upright keyword associated with the Moon tarot card, mirroring one of the most renowned characteristics of Pisces. It’s no coincidence that Pisces is often referred to as “the Fishes with Wishes”, owing to its remarkable imagination and creativity.

The scene depicted on the Moon tarot card portrays a prominent Moon against the backdrop of the night sky. This imagery signifies a journey into the realms of dreams and the subtle energies that shape our perceptions.

Linked to this, it’s noteworthy that one of the ruling planets of Pisces is Neptune, which symbolizes imagination, spirituality, dreams and illusion. Neptune, both a god of the seas and a planet, amplifies the sensitive and intuitive nature of Pisces, enhancing their ability to perceive and imagine.

Intuition

Intuition, another upright keyword of The Moon, is deeply intertwined with the sign of Pisces.

The Moon tarot card is associated with femininity, the unconscious, mystical realms, and, notably, intuition. It serves as a reminder to refrain from hasty decisions and urges us to heed the guidance of our intuitions. Intuition acts as the compass guiding us through life’s mysteries.

Pisces, being a water sign, naturally gravitates towards intuition and connectivity with the subtle realms. Its ruling planet, Neptune, amplifies these qualities, endowing Pisces with heightened sensitivity and a profound understanding of others’ emotions. Under Neptune’s influence, Pisces becomes exceptionally intuitive, capable of discerning hidden and subtle energies that envelop them.

Illusions

As mentioned, The Moon signifies a journey into the realms of dreams and intuition. However, it can also hint at the presence of illusions. In the darkness of the night, hidden truths may be revealed as light illuminates what was once obscured.

It’s not coincidental that Illusions and Deception is an upright keyword of the card, while Breaking Illusions is a reversed keyword.

While Neptune aids Pisces in being dreamy and intuitive, it also brings forth challenging aspects. Its nebulous and illusory energy can lead to confusion and idealization, making Pisces susceptible to escapism or illusion. They may easily be swayed by external influences and struggle to distinguish reality from fantasy.

These are just a few of the Moon keywords associated with the Pisces sign, representing some of the most significant connections. However, there are others worth noting, such as Subconscious, Psychic Abilities, as well as Confusion and Unresolved Emotions.

How The Moon card Symbols are connected to Pisces’s

In both the classic Marseille Tarot deck and the Rider-Waite deck, the Moon card is rich in symbols that evoke the unconscious and the emotions, realms deeply intertwined with Pisces. Look closely, and several of these symbolic elements come into focus.

Emotional and intuitive realms

As Jodorowsky states in his bestseller “The Way of Tarot”, the Moon is one of humanity’s oldest symbols. Its fundamental quality is receptivity: as Earth’s natural satellite, the Moon reflects the light of the Sun. Additionally, it is connected to the realm of dreams, imagination, and the unconscious, all traditionally associated with the night. It’s worth noting that Pisces individuals are receptive, as they are deeply emotional and absorb like sponges what’s around them. As we’ve reiterated many times, they possess a strong imagination, a developed subconscious…

Duality

The symbol of Pisces is composed of the dual fish swimming in opposite directions. This imagery embodies a rich combination of symbols that reflect the dual and complex nature of this zodiac sign.

The fish itself is an ancient symbol with multiple meanings. It can represent water, the primal element symbolizing emotions, the unconscious, and the fluidity of life. The two fish swimming in opposite directions signify the duality within the sign of Pisces, indicating a balance between the material and spiritual worlds or the conflict between escapism and grounding.

The Moon card prominently features two canines. In the Rider-Waite version, these are clearly differentiated as a domesticated dog and a wolf, representing the tamed and wild sides of human nature.

Furthermore, the card illustrates duality through the presence of two towers flanking The Moon card, appearing identical as twin towers. These towers symbolize duality, emphasizing the challenge of distinguishing between opposites, whether it be the known and the unknown or the conscious and the unconscious.

Jung’s perspective on The Moon tarot card 

It’s worth mentioning that Swiss analyst Carl Gustav Jung saw Tarot cards as rich psychological images connected with archetypal ideas and the unconscious. We’ve already explored this broader connection between Jung and Tarot.

Jung’s approach is especially relevant to cards like The Moon, which deal with dreams, uncertainty, instinct and hidden aspects of the psyche. Tarot imagery can be read as a symbolic tool for exploring the unconscious and bringing less visible parts of ourselves into awareness.

From a later Jungian perspective, The Moon can be associated with the Shadow: the hidden, repressed or unknown aspects of the psyche that remain outside conscious awareness. In this sense, the card’s darkness, ambiguity and dreamlike atmosphere make it a powerful image for confronting what lies beneath the surface.

Why Pisces is also associated with the Cups

The Moon belongs to the Major Arcana, where Pisces’s archetypal “big picture” plays out. But the sign also runs through the Minor Arcana, the 56 cards of everyday experience, and it does so through one suit in particular.

In traditional astrology, Pisces is a water sign, and in Tarot the element of water is expressed by the suit of Cups. Cups symbolize emotions, intuition, dreams and the inner tides, the very element Pisces is made of. Fittingly, Pisces sits alongside its fellow water signs Cancer and Scorpio in belonging to this emotional suit.

The court card most directly associated with Pisces is the Knight of Cups, who in the Golden Dawn system rules from 20° Aquarius to 20° Pisces. The dreamer and romantic of the deck, all feeling and creative vision, he is at home in the emotional ocean the sign lives in.

But the affinity gets far more precise when you zoom in, because Pisces maps onto three specific Cups cards through its decans.

Pisces’s Minor Arcana: the Cups of the three decans

In the Golden Dawn system, each zodiac sign is divided into three decans of ten degrees each, and each of the 36 decans is matched to one of the numbered Minor Arcana cards from Two through Ten. As the final water sign, Pisces takes the last three numbered Cups. Each decan also carries its own planetary attribution, adding another layer to Pisces’s dreamy nature.

Read in order, the three cards trace the closing arc of the whole zodiac: a leaving, a wish, and an arrival.

• First decan: Eight of Cups (0° to 10° Pisces, roughly 19 to 28/29 February, ruled by Saturn). Keywords of departure, walking away and seeking something truer. This is Pisces at its most soulful and restless: leaving behind what no longer nourishes, guided only by the Moon overhead, a fittingly lunar card for the sign.
• Second decan: Nine of Cups (10° to 20° Pisces, roughly 1 to 10 March, ruled by Jupiter). The famous “wish card”: contentment, emotional abundance, dreams fulfilled. Jupiter, Pisces’s own traditional ruler, expands the sign’s capacity for hope and pleasure here.
• Third decan: Ten of Cups (20° to 30° Pisces, roughly 11 to 20 March, ruled by Mars). Keywords of fulfilment, belonging and emotional “home”. The very last decan of the zodiac lands on its most hopeful image: the rainbow, the family, the sense of having finally arrived.

As always, treat these correspondences as a framework rather than a universal rule. Different Tarot traditions use different astrological systems, and the calendar dates associated with each decan are approximate.

Taken together, the Cups of the decans give Pisces something the single Moon card can’t: a journey that runs from letting go, through wishing, to arriving, mirroring the sign’s place at the very end of the wheel.

FAQs about Pisces’s tarot card