Moon Interpretation

[dawn]

The Moon keeps coming up.  I never have been able to grasp the meaning of this card.  To be honest, it makes me nervous.  I would be interested in reading what anyone else has learned this card to mean.

[Paulette]

Hi Dawn,

I know what you mean I much prefer the Sun to the Moon. I used to have a lot of difficulty & apprehension whenever The Moon came up in a reading. There could be a deep-seated reason why you feel uneasy about the Moon Tarot card.  But traditional interpretations are overwhelmingly negative. It's difficult, especially when one first begins stuyding Tarot, not to perceive certain cards in any other light other than the traditional interpretation.

Personally I think it's all superstition & a subtle form of misogyny. I refuse to believe the negative interps as being THE ONLY way to read any card. The interps for The Moon are just ridiculous. The Moon is beautiful. She is a jewel in the night sky. She regulates the ebb & flow of the oceans, rivers & lakes. Many women's menstrual cycles are in alignment with the moon. She is Earth's faithful sister or maybe devoted wife? ;)

The Moon represents the divine passive feminine principle while the Sun is the divine active male. Without the Sun's light - the Moon would not be visible to us. The Moon has no light of her own & as such can only receive the Sun's light in order to reflect & shine. Thus her position of receptor or position of passivity.

The Moon therefore corresponds to emotions, feelings, memories & meditation. Whereas the Sun is ideas, initiation & physical action. The Moon is our inner self - Yin. The Sun is our outer self - Yang. The Moon is our internal dialogue whereas the Sun is an outward manifestation of our inner thoughts & feelings. So when I see the Moon in a reading I read it as (depending on position & other cards) being about wisdom, ancient mystery rites, female strength, the power of silence & meditation, reflecting on oneself, life & the universal mysteries, hearth & home, child rearing, health & wellness, diet, the physical body as being affected by thoughts/feelings, nurturing, comfort, devotion, dedication, schedules/appointments/planning, planting/gardening, influence/persuasion, mental attitude, intuition, psychic ability, empathy, imagination, creativity, our internal dialogue with self. Please create your own list. These are merely my own ideas & thoughts on this energy.

I guess you could ask yourself some questions about the real Moon. Things like: Do you feel uneasy thinking about the Moon? What do you feel when you gaze at the Moon in th enight sky? How well do you feel you express yourself? Do you enjoy expressing your emotions/thoughts freely or do you believe you must censor yourself? How do you like being a female? Do you feel powerful or powerless? Do you feel in control of your life or not? Do you trust your intuition? How do you feel about your mother, grandmother, female friends/relative, women teachers & role models in your life? How to you feel about the way women are depicted in classical art, pop art, literature, in film, magazines & on tv? Do you feel healthy & vibrant? What changes do you believe you need to make in your life? Do you remember your dreams?

A lot of the artwork on the Moon card is pretty frightening. I won't even look at the artwork on the Jungian Tarot Moon because it is so over the top blood-thirsty-Hecate-crazy. I received a new Tarot deck (Tarot of the Old Path) a littel while ago & although they renamed the card "Illusion" I much prefer the artwork to Marseilles, Jungian, Rider-Waite & a lot of the other cards. The Moon card, I believe is best when interpreted as a higher octave of The Hermit. Both are goverened by the numerological vibrations of the number 9. So there is a sense of completion, ending, transformation but then again this indicates something new is beginning.

Last year, when I was struggling with this card, I asked my self a lot of questions about the Moon in Tarot & in nature. I also thought about femininity, studied Moon Goddess myths, I kept a dream journal along with a Moon diary (to see if my moods corresponded with Moon signs/phases - which they did not 95% of the time). Thought about the Moon cards Pisces rulership to extract positive qualities for this archetype. I also meditated at night in the summer under the Moon when she was full or almost full. It was only after doing all of this that I finally became okay with the Moon card. And I had some really fantastic beautiful lucid dreams about the Moon during this time too.

If you are fond of symbology & myth. It may interest you, perhaps even shed some light if you were to read some of these myths & legends. The Moon is linked to Isis, The Greek triple goddess myths of Demeter-Persephone-Hecate, Artemis, Athene, Selene, Luna, Kuan Yin, The Virgin Mary, Eve, Lilith, Lakshmi (I think?), Kali, Shiva, Astarte, Kali, Brigitte, Arianrhod & many other Goddesses from different cultures.

The other suggestion I have is I think next week (around March 29th or 30th) is the Aries new Moon. You could try meditating on the Moon at this time & keeping a dream journal. It's believed that the New Moon when she is still dark or just a sliver in the night sky is the best time to begin new projects & to initiate change or begin a creative endeavor, new study or business venture. As the Moon becomes ever increasing in brightness, roundness & more voluptuous - supposedly so too do we begin to see the fruits of our labor. Astrologers & astrology students believe it is best to correspond desires/goals/dreams being initiated/planted during the new Moon with the sign she will be in. So according to western astrology she will be in the sign of Aries- a fire sign. According to a few astrology knowledgeable friends of mine this new Moon is extra potent because it is following the spring equinox & is the first New Moon of the *astrological* New Year.

I know some tarotists who are using this special New Moon to conduct Tarot Spells. I have no clue how to do a Tarot spell but think if one is creative they could intuitively come up with their own.

This is a link to an astro sight about last year's Aries New Moon. It gives suggestions for using this dynamic & fortuitious astrological event to plant the seeds of wishes & dreams. Remeber though the dates & times are different because it is for 2005:
http://www.astrologycom.com/newmoonaries.html

It's silly for us to think that the meanings of Tarot cards are one dimensional. They are each a mystical onion with several layers
of meaning; mundane & esoteric. That's why I no longer ALWAYS interpret The Lovers, or the 9 of Cups as a positive or The Tower or The Devil as calamity & horror.

Happy Moon Gazing

[Paulette]

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. I am not even convinced that Pisces should have rulership over the Moon. This makes no sense to me. IT seems that the Moon card should be ruled by the astrological sign of Cancer. Just a thought. Cheers

[marbeh13]

I really enjoyed reading your comments on the Moon Key (I assume you mean Key 18); what you said was quite sensitive and perceptive?

It is Key 2 that represents the Moon, or The High Priestess, as I am sure you know.   Key 18 -- as you obviously also know, is called The Moon but represents Pisces.  And in the Rider-Waite deck shows the consciousness of us humans just crawling out of the Primal Ooze.  This scarey moment, like all else in Life, is created under the auspices of the Moon Goddess.  

It is Mother Nature who creates the many-layered vehicle ... the only one (as the gods agreed) was suitable for them to inhabit.  And -- yegads ... a human was born!

And the Carapace signifies the ego -- something we needed at that moment when we assumed responsibility for what seemed (to us) the beginning of a separate existence.

Speaking cyclically, Pisces coming at the end of each yearly cycle, represents a moment when our picture of ourselves expands and grows -- socially (and hopefully, universally).

I am only saying this because personally I think the symbolism of Key 18 fits Pisces rather well.

regards

marbeh

[Paulette]

Hi Marbeh,

I love your insights! Sorry I haven't been feeling well & have fallen behind in posting anything here.

Just a few quick thoughts:

Well the thing is there are a lot of differing correspondences between Tarot & astrology. While I agree that Pisces does fit key 18 well I feel that logically, from an astrological perspective, it should be the sign of Cancer which represents this card. Since the Moon, in astrology, rules the sign of the crab.

I realize that Key II, The High Priestess "represents" the Moon & Key XVIII is called the Moon & represents the astrological sign of Pisces. I apologize that I hadn't made myself more clear.

I actually am not certain if the person who started this thread was referring to Key XVIII. I went on instinct that she was referring to Key XVIII, The Moon.

In a few correspondences I've been studying, there were no assignments given to some of the Major Arcana. The Fool, The Magician & The Moon were some of those which were not assigned any planet or astrological sign. Another differences was that The Emperor was assigned Taurus & not Aries. And the Hierophant was....was.....I think Aquarius??? But I am not sure :(   When I have more time & I am feeling better I will post some of these other correspondences.  Some of them resonated with me more deeply than those of Waite.

Personally, I feel that Key XVII, The Star is a better fit for Pisces than The Moon. But that's simply my opinion. I think it has to do with my being tired of hearing negative interpretations with all things connected to Pisces. As someone who in tropical astrology has a Pisces Sun, Moon, Venus, Saturn, Mercury & the asteroid Psyche - it get's a bit old.

I look forward to reading your insights &/or actual Tarot readings.

Cheers,

Paulette

PS ~ I found a new deck which I simply must get. It's called the Tarot of Prague. It is one of the most beautiful decks I've ever seen! I was going to purchase it in the store but found it on-line for much less. A woman I just met has over 100 decks! While I have a mere 5. :(

[marbeh13]

hi --

I studied the Cabala for over twenty years before switching to Pantajali's Yoga Sutras (and that lasted seven years, and finished off the task of destroying my mind.

Now that I have returned to the Cabala, I would like to share some points with you.  First, the assignments made by the B.O.T.A between the Tarot Keys and the Zodiac/Planets becomes obvious after enough years have passed.  It just fits .... and is all very natural.  Meaning, it is not a head=thing (not Yang) but very Yin or intuitive.  

In the Sepher Yetzirah, the Three Mother Letters are identified as Aleph (Fool), Mem (Hanged Man) and Shin (Judgement).  These three locate the center of the Cube of Space.  And -- obviously, later Cabalism assigned these three to Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (respectively).  

I have never felt certain they fit, but -- ?????

I will follow this post with a Tarot reading for yourself.

marbeh  :smt020