Moon and Nine of Swords: Shadow

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Dec 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

noby	09 Dec 2004
:TMOON & :T9S I laid out these two cards in a relationship spread a while back, and each one fell onto the "personal soul growth necessary for the individual" position, the Moon in mine, and the Nine of Swords in his. At the time, I did not see the similarity in the two cards, relating them instead to specific individual situations and difficulties. But I re-examined these two cards recently, and saw that, at least for me, both represent the same process and experience: shadow. I now see the Moon card as largely representing working with one's shadow, the fears, traumas, and personal demons one locks up in one's subconscious closets. I see the Moon as coming after the Tower and Star cards because it is only possible to release and work through one's subconscious demons after one has demolished one's defenses and encountered one's soul naked and unencumbered. The revelation of the Tower destroys the inner walls we build to keep these dark parts of ourselves at bay. And I think the Nine of Swords conveys a similar experience: being jolted awake by nightmare, experiencing fears which rise up from our inner realm of shadow. To me, these cards no longer simply indicate difficult experiences, confusion, and fear. They also indicate an underlying process which is absolutely vital to a state of clarity, illumination, and peace. We cannot be totally free as long as we are locking some dark part of us away in our subconscious; building such defenses leaves us divided. We often resist our darker times and travels through shadowy internal places, and often think we experience such things because we have erred, but I believe these experiences are rather a sign we are actually getting somewhere. We have to relive and integrate the parts of ourselves that hurt or frighten us, and only when this process is complete can we move forward out of old habits and maladaptive behavior patterns.

krazymayj	09 Dec 2004
absolutely. if you take the moon as being a crescent or half full, then all is not shown; the perfect catalyst for the kind of situation that the nine of swords hints at. we all have to overcome our fears or our paralysis indeed, our dillusions in order to acheive inner peace. like how the eight puts one in a vulnerable position, inactivity and time puts one into the nine, and impulse puts one into the ten.

Lurea	11 Dec 2004
Excellent thoughts, noby! Thanks for sharing--I have often used the shallower meanings of these cards, but I think it's time I expanded my definitions a bit. :)

Sulis	11 Dec 2004
They both have 9 as their numerical value. Sulis xx

The Moon and Nine of Swords: Shadow thread was originally posted on 09 Dec 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.