Our Fool adventurer continues their major arcana journey and encounters the radiant, dark, elusive, mysterious moon. The moon is a divine and wondrous sphere orbiting the planet, its presence causing the effect of tides and currents on the oceans and a reference point for our lives, waxing and waning through the seasons reminding us of the constant, cyclical flow of one phase to another.
The Moon has the potential to aid in our healing of buried qualities, to illuminate and guide us through the murky waters of our unconscious toward transformation and the powerful reminder that all things move in cycles. The moon is a symbol of love without names or forms, its light reflecting the sun’s brilliance, which is simply a star in the vast universal dance. The light of the moon dances with the Star’s energy bridging us to the Sun’s awareness.
The Moon is number eighteen, continuing to carry the intentions of the Magician, number one, as well as number eight, which symbolizes right effort, balance, neutrality, and empowerment. Together these numbers equal nine, connecting the Moon to the Hermit, representing solitude, inner illumination, darkness, and discovery. When used in a focused and clear way, the gifts of the Moon provide us the tools to make changes in our deep habitual patterns; when ignored, emotional problems, disillusions, and weakness may result. This card marks the turning point in the cycle of seven and is an opportunity to heal emotions with the super conscious element guiding the way.
The moon is as old as we humans know and figures in countless myths as goddesses and a few gods. It has long been associated with the dark, mysterious qualities of the feminine and the female body that also waxes and wanes in its biological expression and ability to receive the male seed and create new life within. Many myths, ancient practices, and magical workings rely on the wisdom of the moon and its dance through the constellations to guide and offer structure to magical work.
The word “moon” derives from menses which later evolved into our contemporary word “month.” Traditional moon phase gardening is a method that follows the cycles of the moon to guide when and what to plant. As the moon influences tides and subtle bodies of water, it also affects the moisture in the earth. During full and new moons the sun and moon line up with earth exerting their influence on the earth and encouraging growth of plants. In magical work, the new or dark moon indicates clearing away an old cycle, moving into new beginnings and seeding intentions. As the moon waxes, the energy of these intentions grow and develop, reaching their maturation and full activation stage at the full moon time. As the moon wanes, the energy slowly dissipates and clears away, making room for the next cycle.
Relationally, the Moon indicates troublesome or shadowy emotions and invites us to examine our connections to others more deeply. We are required to take more and fuller responsibility for our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions in relation to one another. This responsibility can be within our personal relations as well as others in our workplace, socially, and globally. The Moon card asks us to examine limiting beliefs and victim mentality, and instead step fully into the potentiated awake sense of self walking a path.
The Moon card is the symbol of the deep unconscious rising up into awareness. This may bring to light hidden secrets, buried passions, and unrealized dreams. The Moon can act as a warning of deception, lies, dark fantasies, and tricky enchantments. The Moon card is like the pied piper—the sound of the flute is beautiful but may lead us into a dark forest. This is not the first time such an enchantment has arisen; the Moon often symbolizes the repeat of a past issue coming to the surface once again. At the start of a particularly enchanting and powerful relationship, we each drew a card from the Mana cards, a deck of Hawaiian myth and imagery. Curiously we both chose the same card, the Mo’o or lizard card which offered the advice, “beware the enchanter.” I chose another card from my Waite-Smith deck for clarification and pulled the Moon card. Ignoring the sage advice of these cards, I entered into this relationship with wild abandon, only to have my entire life turned upside down by its powerful enchantments, both for better and worse.
Although the Moon may bring to rise illusory and challenging deceptions, it has with it still the watery wisdom of cycles and the power of reflection. Following the Moon is the Star, which rises illumined and brilliant, helping us to find a clear and vivid revelation on our winding journey of life. After the Moon dissolves into the radiance of the starlight, we are able to clearly see what needs clearing away with a more gentle and compassionate view.
Like the Tower card, the Moon represents another kind of initiation, however this time into the subtle realms of memory, delusion, illusion, perception, and fantasy. The Moon reminds us that things are not always what they seem and are forever changing from one form into another. Passing through the gate of this awareness allows us to more deeply navigate the waters of our own subconscious which drives so much of our behavior. Our addictions, fantasies, negative habits, and imprints are all connected.
In the Waite-Smith deck, we see a full moon shining down over a rocky landscape. Two gray pillars stand as if watching, like guardians symbolizing a gateway. A dog and a wolf howl up at the moon representing the wild and domestic parts of ourselves or the conscious and subconscious aspects. These two animals are separated by a pathway that travels from the forefront of a pond to the mountains in the distance symbolizing the path of illumination. From the pond emerges a lobster, a representation of the deepest aspects of our unconscious which often unknowingly drives us to act.
In the Crowley deck we see two huge pillars guarded by Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead who helped spirits cross over, and Set, the god of rational thought, intelligence, and the trickster. At their feet, facing each other are the dog and the wild wolf symbolizing the battle that can happen between our rational mind and subconscious emotive self that is linked to death and mystery. They guard the river of life, the scarab beetle carrying the sun through the pillars symbolizing rebirth and illumination.
In a reading, the Moon may indicate secrets coming out into the open, hidden ideas and thoughts being revealed. Traditionally, this card may symbolize deceptive behaviors such as cheating, lying, or stealing that covers up restless and unsatisfied aspects of us. In this way, the Moon card asks us to examine what is coming up to the surface for us? What is showing up in your dreams? What obsessive thoughts haunt you creating unrest in your psyche? Although the Moon card is uncomfortable, it helps direct us into the murky aspects of self that have until now remained subtly hidden from our own healing and awareness.
The Moon indicates a time to bring something out into the light. It may be a part of us that needs to be healed, transformed, energized, or revitalized. This healing or transformation comes in the form of creative expression through art, dance, writing, or a song. The Moon invites us to dissolve our edges, doubts, fear, and insecurities through healing waters and meditation. The Moon is a time of lucidity and contemplation, watery intuition, and insight.
Essential Qualities: luminous, cycles, shadows, darkness, waxing, waning, full, new, circle, birth, death, rebirth, enchantments, illusion, deception, clarity, intuition, dreams, insight
Suggestions: Spend time with the moon. What is the feeling that fills the heart when you gaze at the waning moon during these darkening autumn days? When do you discover your true aloneness? Rest quietly in solitude either early in the morning or late at night, listening the quietness of the moon. The Moon brings the dissolution of illusion and brings about guidance and clarity beyond the darkness. Revisit the water gazing ceremony of the High Priestess card.
Oracle Vision
I am the Moon. I perfectly reflect the light of the sun, that which gives light to all of the world. I remind you that life always moves in flow and rhythms of change. My waxing and waning is reflective of the expansion and contraction that naturally occurs in all of life. I ebb and flow in concert with the tides, deeply connected to the waters of the world and the waters of your body.
As you continue to awaken to your true nature, I illuminate the residual negative patterns that persist in the deepest parts of your subconscious. I remind you that healing moves in cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth. I am here to witness and reflect the changes that you move through.