... I have been told the Tarot is influenced by the moon and is feminine.
I can see why you were told this. The Feminine is associated with Yin, water, darkness, night. The Masculine is associated with day, fire, yang, light. The problem is that unlike Yin and Yang which work together and in harmony, cultures have attributed negative connotations to these attributes. They are not necessarily associated with gender but have been so to the detriment of each. Yin is not weakness but an essential part of wholeness and being.
Every woman and man has feminine and masculine elements within. Some more than others which is not right or wrong; it just is. The High Priestess as the guardian of the 'mysteries' would be representative of the Yin aspect and Tarot as Tarot is associated with intuition. That does not mean that women can only read Tarot or have access to the 'mysteries'. Some women have more yang than yin and vice versa. Cakes are cakes but they are not all the same, nor do they have similar ingredients.
In some cultures the Moon is feminine in others it is masculine. I'm not sure who is right or wrong, nor does it matter. The Moon is associated with water and the menstrual cycle as it follows a 28 day pattern. The Moon is also associated with mental illness as are women due to rigid masculine constructs. The word hysteria is derived from the Greek for womb. So called female hysteria has been treated with hysterectomies as though women’s reproductive organs were responsible for their behaviour.
I have researched the effect of the Moon on the mind as lunacy is derived from lunar or the Moon. There is no evidence to suggest that the Moon has any effect whatsoever on mental illness. It is also said that because human beings are made up off water and the Moon controls the ebb and flow of the sea, that it would naturally have an effect but again there is no evidence to prove this.
It is for this reason that initially before dealing the cards, when the cards are cut, they are preferably cut by the left hand (though I do know that there is no set rule for this. Some even cut the deck with the right hand).
The left hand path has associations with black magic and the Devil due to Satan sitting on the left hand side of God. People who used their left hands were seen as abnormal and forced to write with their right. Again, the feminine is associated with the left hand and the masculine with the right. In Western culture all that is scientific and open is masculine and all that is mysterious and closed is feminine. You’ll also notice that dichotomy in most languages as well. I suppose that is why you were advised to cut with your left hand because it is associated with the feminine and therefore Tarot.
There is no set rule regarding this. Cut with your toes if it feels more comfortable.
And just because they are feminine, the Tarot cards come up with a different set of answers (the end result is always the same, but from the end to the beginning, various angles of the story are told) each time they are asked the same question. This I am told is attributed to the feminine nature of the cards and the lunar influences.
Tarot cards are not feminine just as tables are not masculine. Intuition and fortune telling et al is associated with the mysteries which is feminine. Again masculine and feminine are not genderised neither is one a weakness and one a strength. They are two parts of a whole, both of which are necessary for harmony and stability. I do not believe the cards are influenced by the Moon but they may be read using intuition and that part of ourselves which is unknowable or mysterious.
Some aspects of life cannot be explained by science which is why we have faith. We learn more and more about the mystery that is life as it is slowly dissected. However the more we learn the more wondrous and mysterious life becomes for example the golden ratio or phi. I have a friend who is a doctor and the more she learns about the human body, the more faith she has in God. The unknowable is frightening to some who need rational explanations and statistics.
Being an Indian myself, where horoscopes are based on the lunar cycle and where the full moon day (Poornima) and no moon day (Amavasya) have utmost significance, what I wanted to ask is - Are readings/spreads in any way affected by these changes in the lunar cycle, especially on these two days???
No. Tarot cards have no more meaning or significance than we attribute to them. As a cross has no more meaning to someone who is not a Christian. If you believe lunar cycles have an effect on you because of your culture then that is your belief. There is no evidence to prove this is the case. Follow whatever cultural rituals make you feel comfortable.
