the moon

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 04 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

sprite	04 Jun 2005
ok well i feel like duh i dont know what it is but the moon to me i never quite get or explain it right or something. i read the card and just feel nothing. i think fanatasies, maybe reaching for the moon, seeing both sides of the moon and life its opposistes. i was wondering how you all take the moon maybe giving me a new perspective on this card. i dont dislike it i just feel like i dont get it. its been coming up in readings latley and mostly for myself thats probably why i am noticeing this now. i know there are study groups with others interpretations but i was just hoping for a to the point kinda answer you know. well i guess will see where this takes us. thanks guys

Ace	04 Jun 2005
What deck do you use? the Rider Waite Moon never did much for me either, except look a bit hostile. The Robin Wood moon is better, there is a path that ends below the Moons light path with a gap that made me used to think liek that line in a Far Side cartoon: "I think you need to put a little more detail in there." (the person was pointing to a math problem that when along a blackboard stopped at a gap with "and then a miracle happened" and more math) Think of the Moon as Dreams, illusions, visions but not reality. What you want, not what you HAVE. Maybe that would help? Ace

Al Si'ra	04 Jun 2005
My thoughts.. The word "lunatic" comes to my mind whenever i see this card...This card is full of female traits..I see that someone (if representing a person) might be totally lost in wild dreams-going overboard with feelings-ups and downs with emotions-being away from the reality-real world-but could as well mean intuition and sharp senses...a time for stillness- a time for going inside.. When representing a situation: Nothing's clear yet- there are some things the querent's not noticing-the things are quiet for now but be careful anyway.

earth en lady	04 Jun 2005
Hiya |The moon is cyclical ,and so I think of this card as being the cycles in our lives or as in the Osho Zen past lives as well .It can also be to do with the subconcious thoughts that we supress ,rising to the surface causing situations we cannot understand or analyze ,fears rising to the surface ,fear of the unknown, finding our way through the dark .I love the Moon and tend to use it as a timing card ie if the moon appears I think the rest of the cards are revealed and the mystery of the moon is revealed at the next full moon or a new cycle shown by the cards will appear at the next new moon ,but that's a personal thing .Hope this helps... Blessings earth en lady

closrapexa	04 Jun 2005
There can be several takes on the Moon, and, as one of the Majors, you would expect that kind of depth in the card. The Moon is the symbol of the mother, it gives light but no heat, is pure white, and gives us light in the nightime, when all else would be dark. It can symbolize a woman, a mother, intuition, understanding. It can symbolize the opposite of manhood, that is, womanhood and is a very femenine card, in fact. Another take on it, is that it can symbolize the night. We see the moon in the nighttime, when we sleep, hence the Moon has under her care all the dreams, hidden emotions, fears and other "skeletons" that come out only under cover of night. At night we need be aware of our step, so as not to fall down, so the wolf and the dog are the two dangers that we should face should we leave the middle path. Hope this helps...

Sulis	04 Jun 2005
There are lots of ways this card can be read. Here's a few thoughts; When I say you, I mean who-ever you're reading for, yourself or a querant. Things look different in the moonlight, maybe you're not seeing things as they really are. Sometimes the dark is scary - this is also a card about the imagination. Is your imagination running away with you? Are you worrying about something but your fears aren't really based in reality - you're imagining things to be worse than they are? The Moon rules the tides and also the menstrual cycles of women - I've had this card come up when I've been feeling particularly pre-menstrual. I've also had the Moon come up to signify worries that may be caused by feminine hormones during pregnancy. Linked to this is the cyclical nature of the moon - it waxes and wanes every month so this could link it to The Wheel of Fortune - whatever you're reading about could either be cyclical or you could be in a phase that will pass. The light of the moon is reflective - perhaps you need to sit quietly and reflect on something. There is also a link to the High Priestess card which also contains images of the moon. Maybe you need to use your intuition to help you with a particular situation. The Moon is linked numerologically to The Hermit (9). I think of The Hermit card as representing completion from within and the search for that. Maybe The Moon is telling you that you need a little isolation to do some soul searching. The pool with the lobster represents the subconcious with something emerging from it. Pay particular attention to your dreams or maybe it's time for some inner work such as meditation. Hope that's helped, I'm sure others will come up with even more. Love Sulis xx

Goldenhair	04 Jun 2005
When I see the Moon card the first word that comes to mind is "Enchantment". Romance is a full moon. Moonlight softens everything it touches. It illuminates but it is not the harsh light of day. Moonlight makes faces seem younger and hard cityscapes more beautiful. A full moon casts a spell over people, driving them to experience new things, NOW, while the moonbeams play. It may be illusion but illusion can be wonderful. Reality can wait for the sunrise.

SunChariot	04 Jun 2005
sprite wrote: ok well i feel like duh i dont know what it is but the moon to me i never quite get or explain it right or something. i read the card and just feel nothing. i think fanatasies, maybe reaching for the moon, seeing both sides of the moon and life its opposistes. i was wondering how you all take the moon maybe giving me a new perspective on this card. i dont dislike it i just feel like i dont get it. its been coming up in readings latley and mostly for myself thats probably why i am noticeing this now. i know there are study groups with others interpretations but i was just hoping for a to the point kinda answer you know. well i guess will see where this takes us. thanks guys For me, I feel a personal connection to the card, as my Zodiac sign is Cancer (this month is my bd, yeah!LOL) And of course Cancer is ruled by the Moon. So when I see the card or an image of a moon in a card I know it has somethign to say about me personally. But of course that advice only applies to Cancers. Other than that, the Moon to me is mystery. Something that you can partly see, but are not fully conscious of yet (as the moon does not shine and illuminate as brightly as the sun). It is not something totally unconscious, just something you are only partially aware of. I see a connection between the Moon and the High Priestess in that regard. You often see a moon in a High Priestess card for that reason. The Moon can also represent romance, not so much love as romance. As a full moon can be a romantic thing. The moon can also represent life's cycles, phases, or just time passing, as it visually goes though different phases. Hope this helps. Bar

SunChariot	04 Jun 2005
closrapexa wrote: There can be several takes on the Moon, and, as one of the Majors, you would expect that kind of depth in the card. The Moon is the symbol of the mother, it gives light but no heat, is pure white, and gives us light in the nightime, when all else would be dark. It can symbolize a woman, a mother, intuition, understanding. It can symbolize the opposite of manhood, that is, womanhood and is a very femenine card, in fact. Another take on it, is that it can symbolize the night. We see the moon in the nighttime, when we sleep, hence the Moon has under her care all the dreams, hidden emotions, fears and other "skeletons" that come out only under cover of night. At night we need be aware of our step, so as not to fall down, so the wolf and the dog are the two dangers that we should face should we leave the middle path. Hope this helps... Really like your ideas. I find them beautiful. Bar

Sophie-David	04 Jun 2005
Goldenhair wrote: When I see the Moon card the first word that comes to mind is "Enchantment". Romance is a full moon. Moonlight softens everything it touches. It illuminates but it is not the harsh light of day. Moonlight makes faces seem younger and hard cityscapes more beautiful. A full moon casts a spell over people, driving them to experience new things, NOW, while the moonbeams play. It may be illusion but illusion can be wonderful. Reality can wait for the sunrise. Its wonderful to see how the Moon brings out the poetry within our community! :) I must put in a plug for our Legend Study Group, I think the team did a marvelous job connecting with the essence of the [thread=35535]Moon card[/thread], regardless of the deck's context itself. It upsets me to see Tarot books which still refer to the Moon as a primary source of fear - but yet it is true, if we cannot process what lies in the inner world then its darkness can indeed become a profound source of disquietude. The Moon is both my Personality and Shadow card, the arcana of feminine wisdom, my internal Sophia. For me her connection with the astrological Moon gives this card an equal significance with her companion, the Sun. Her intimate and reflective nature gives her the innate gift of focused listening, of connecting with the loving spirit of the universe which makes us one. It is she who guides our paths through the darkness. And it is only through her that we can learn to perceive the true nature of the Sun, that we can connect with the essence of the Sun's illumination in a way which doesn't damage our vision. She prepares us to integrate the Sun's intense energy in a healthy, human and balanced way so as not to be consumed by him. Her reality is just as essential and true as that of the Sun's - the only illusions are the ones we create for ourselves. Only through her does the Fool successfully journey upward into the Sunlight that dawns on Judgement. Quote: Sophie whispers, "Go to the window, my love." They go to the window and he looks down on the city. "Look at the moon. It is mine."

Nevada	04 Jun 2005
I compare it with the Sun. If the Sun is a brilliant light shed on things, and a feeling of great joy that seems to override everything else, the Moon is a more reflective light (in which it may be difficult to make out some details, and in which others may be clearer without the Sun's glare) and a more poignant, reflective or meditative state of mind. It can be illusory if one is unable to adjust to the diminished light. Nevada

Inana	05 Jun 2005
If you look at the dog (domesticated) and the wolf (wild) barking at the moon, another thing to consider are primal instincts. Both them have the same needs inside. It can suggest leaving apart mind's control, eliminating social inhibitions and letting yourself to be lost or guided (it depends) in you basic urges and animal instincts. Romanticism, sensibility, fantasy and imagination are other aspects the moon expands on most of us. Because of its cycles and relation with water, it is associated also to disillusion, moodiness, confusion and emotional instability.

ros	05 Jun 2005
I had a reading done once where the reader said "who is one person you know, that has passed over...they are thinking of you!" She explained that when you pull The Moon card that someone on the other side is thinking of you wish warm wishes.

SunChariot	05 Jun 2005
I've never seen that in the Moon, about someone who's passed over thinking of you. But it could be there in some decks. I wonder how a deck would indicate that. Some of my Death cards seem to give me that message more than my Moon cards. But then that just goes to show that of course a card's meaning has a lot to do with the deck you use. Maybe there was something specific in that deck to indicate that. The same for the dog/wolf aspect of the card. Some of my decks, show dogs or wolfs, but most do not. That meaning of primal instincts would be there in the Moon cards of the decks containing those images. But I would not see the meaning there in the "canine-free" decks. The way I see it, the meaning of any card will vary from deck to deck, sometimes slightly, sometimes greatly. Which is what can make it hard to give a general enough answer to a question like this. Bar

Fudugazi	05 Jun 2005
I link the best Moon discussion I've read on this forum - fantastically explorative of all its aspects, light and dark, with interesting contributions from many posters just piling one on top of the other. Watch out for kwaw's posts on the cannibal crayfish and its shell! [thread=35468]The Moon, La Lune[/thread]

NightWing	10 Jun 2005
"Cold-hearted orb that rules the night..." - I think not. Perhaps it is my lingering paganism, but the moon and the moon card have never been negative influences for me. Yes, the light is less and different, and hence shows things in that (literally) different light, but that can often be a great advantage. The traditional card image highlights a path we might otherwise never see, starting with what is primal (the crab), that leads us between the ever-contending forces of what is wild in our nature and what has been tamed(wolf & dog), on between the tower outposts and beyond the boundaries of our common humanity, and further to distant mountains of challenge and discovery. Most colour is extracted by moonlight, and what remains is simpler and starker, where options may be clearer and choices easier. Since my childhood, the Moon has been the Huntress, ever roving, always searching, often comforting. Nothing of the night or of her and her pack has ever been threatening. She has been there for eons before us, and will pace on long after we are dust. She is ever-changing, yet always the same; a constant in our lives. She grants dreams, allows illusions, and illuminates our souls. Without the Moon, in more ways than one, life would not be possible. The Moon card helps set a standard for me. Unless there is "a crab, two pooches, and an actual moon" of some description depicted, I'm unlikely to use the deck. This is a Major I always pay very close attention to.

SunChariot	10 Jun 2005
NightWing wrote: Yes, the light is less and different, and hence shows things in that (literally) different light, but that can often be a great advantage. The traditional card image highlights a path we might otherwise never see, starting with what is primal (the crab), that leads us between the ever-contending forces of what is wild in our nature and what has been tamed(wolf & dog), on between the tower outposts and beyond the boundaries of our common humanity, and further to distant mountains of challenge and discovery. Most colour is extracted by moonlight, and what remains is simpler and starker, where options may be clearer and choices easier. I really like your version NightWing. I will think of it next time the moon comes up. :-) Always love the crab in it, as it is my zodiac sign. :-) Bar

psychic sue	11 Jun 2005
The moon for me is all about the subconscious and cycles. When this card appears in a reading it usually relates to the unconscious realm - you may have vivid dreams or nightmares, and your intuition may be working well. The card is also connected to the female menstrual cycle. The moon reversed I usually read as either a) mental problems (depression etc) or b) something which is being hidden, but which will soon be out in the open. No harm usually comes from this secret, but it is nevertheless an unexpected turn of events.

mythos	11 Jun 2005
Inana wrote: Romanticism, sensibility, fantasy and imagination are other aspects the moon expands on most of us. Because of its cycles and relation with water, it is associated also to disillusion, moodiness, confusion and emotional instability. I think we can add self-deception to that. As we move though 'issues' in our lives, we human-beings have a huge capacity to self-deceive, until the light of the day (sun) shines on us and brings to light the emerging unconscious unknowns into the glaring light of the moon. Balance is a marrying of moon and sun. We go through cycles in which we become more and more aware, then less and less, as we deal with the stuff that comes up into the moon's light via the crab. Eventually, hopefully, the crab climbs one last time, the moon cycles again, shows it's full light on the issue, the instinctive part becomes ready to be 'tamed' by the consious mind, and we move into the daylight of the sun's energy. Not well explained ... but I have people (the kids) around me right now moving furniture and driving me nuts. I have to go and get involved, before they destroy the house. mythos PS: One way to connect with a card is to create your own version. The experience can be very spiritually, psychologically and emotionally draining, enlightening, and wonderful.

Vadella	12 Jun 2005
I see it as this: That we must get past our fears to get through those pillars. You start out at the water [where the crab, scorpion, lobster-- whatever may be there]... then you have to walk past those two wolves [both of which are different, a very scary concept within itself]... then you walk up that path not knowing what could lie after the pillars... It is said that the High Priestess is there.... knowledge. You have found truth once you can face your fears. Of course I am new so mind me. :) Vadella

Xander	16 Jun 2005
I look a the moon as a kinda truth/control card: - i will try and explain it is true that there is a dog and a wolf both present in the card and both are wild dogs : both behave the same under the sun but when the moon is present the truth comes out that one is indeed a wolf and behaves completely different! this could relate to how we work... ..eg:- when u are with friends you are different to when your on your own so in this case the moon brings out the truth by showing the wolf's true colours. also the moon controls as they say the tides in the ocean blah blah woot woot and as u see in most cards most probably that a crayfish/lobster is poppin out of the water and about to take a mission down the path! this is the control part kinda like the story behind following the north star but by a moon instead! and the path in the pictures are normally very long and bendy and to be honest if a crayfish/lobster follows that path by night he/she is gonna be miles away from water and will prolly die walking back in the morning in the hot sun..... if u catch my drift? but every picture paints a different story - so its how u feel about the card

Alpha-Omega	24 Jun 2005
Yes i have trouble with the moon. I did a Past Life Reading and at the end "What you should learn from ur past life" the moon came up. What would the moon mean in this case.

Dragons Lady	25 Jun 2005
The moon is confusing for me also .....I have to look at teh whole spread to make sense of this card when it comes up just to see how it relates to all the other cards :}

The the moon thread was originally posted on 04 Jun 2005 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.