The Moon = cleansing?

[Pique Dame]

Has anyone here ever interpreted The Moon to mean a cleansing? I ask because I pulled it once in a general 5-card daily spread, right after the 7 of Wands. I ended up going to the gym that evening (working out = struggle and resistance, i.e. 7 of Wands) followed by rinsing off in the shower. Later, I happened to notice that the full moon on the RWS deck sort of resembles a shower head and the yods look like little droplets, and of course there's the stream and crawfish at the bottom. Plus it's ruled by Pisces, so the presence of water is heavily noted in the symbolism and astrological associations. Then I suddenly recalled the phrase "moon bath" as a method of cleansing tarot decks and it was like "Aha!": water + bath = cleanse. The Moon is most often associated with things like dreams, illusions, intuition, the subconscious, and deceptions. But perhaps it also means the need to "come clean" or to cleanse oneself of negative energies. Thoughts?

 

[Mystica7]

I came to interpret the Moon as emotional cleansing which may or may not involve tears... It may also signify some emotional healing work via visualization, meditation etc. Waters may be rough though...

Depending on the question you ask, cards can also represent unimaginably mundane things, but there is almost always a deeper meaning attached depending on the card. E.g.: Once I asked what (event) was supposed take place between me and a person. I got the Ace of Pents reversed. A "physical event" was to come and I had predicted the "can't help but letting it loose" part. The "how" part though is almost always a mystery, and I happened to spill coffee all over his office... It was such an embarrassing moment for both of us, not because of the silly event, but that it actually showed how helpless we could get when it came to keeping it cool and hiding our true feelings for each other, in this case, desire, which it did show.

The particular imagery of the deck you use should give you a clue here, it's impossible to generalize. That's why we need to be as specific as possible when directing our questions. Still, I feel forever doomed and excited by the unpredictability ratio.

 

[scorpiogirl]

I see the Star more of a cleansing meaning.

 

[Pique Dame]

I came to interpret the Moon as emotional cleansing which may or may not involve tears... It may also signify some emotional healing work via visualization, meditation etc. Waters may be rough though...

Depending on the question you ask, cards can also represent unimaginably mundane things, but there is almost always a deeper meaning attached depending on the card. E.g.: Once I asked what (event) was supposed take place between me and a person. I got the Ace of Pents reversed. A "physical event" was to come and I had predicted the "can't help but letting it loose" part. The "how" part though is almost always a mystery, and I happened to spill coffee all over his office... It was such an embarrassing moment for both of us, not because of the silly event, but that it actually showed how helpless we could get when it came to keeping it cool and hiding our true feelings for each other, in this case, desire, which it did show.

The particular imagery of the deck you use should give you a clue here, it's impossible to generalize. That's why we need to be as specific as possible when directing our questions. Still, I feel forever doomed and excited by the unpredictability ratio.

Yes, emotional cleansing is definitely one of the many ways to apply that term to the moon. My question was just a very general spread about what that day's activities would bring, so even the most mundane activities could show up in there. But the association of the Moon with taking a shower coupled with the phrase "moon bath" just kind of came together like BAM! I felt like it was definitely something to be considered. Like the mystery of the Moon card itself, perhaps there are more meanings to it than we're aware of.

I see the Star more of a cleansing meaning.

Yes, the Star is also about cleansing, and also about testing new waters. (I've had it mean that before as well.) Now that I think about it, actually, there appears to be a sequence of events here among the 3 celestial object Majors: Draw your bath and dip your toes in to test the waters (Star), bathe and cleanse yourself of everything (Moon), step out into the heat to dry off (Sun). It's like a 3-step process The Fool must go through in order to get all the gunk from The Tower off of himself and feel fresh, clean, and reborn (Judgement) at the end of his day/journey (World).