Meaning of the Tarot card The Moon

Description and symbolism

Some frequent keywords are:

Lack of clarity ----- Tension ----- Doubt ----- Fantasy

Deception ----- Psychological conflict ----- Obscured vision

Confusion ----- Illusion ----- Fear ----- Imagination ----- Worry

Romanticism ----- Anxiety ----- Apprehension ----- Unrealistic ideas

The waxing, increasing Moon with a scowling face, 16 chief rays and 16 secondary rays.The Moon is "shedding the moisture of fertilizing dew in great drops" (Waite). These are numbered 15 and are Yodh shaped. On this basis, some associate this card with impregnation. We see two large, forbidding pillars. Some see them as tombstones, others relate them to Karma. There´s a pathway into the distant, dark unknown. There are a wild dog and a wolf, howling at the Moon. The two canines are said by Waite to represent "the fears of the natural mind in the presence of that place of exit, when there is only reflected light to guide it". Finnaly, a crayfish rising from the deeps onto the land.

Interpretation

If you look around the room right now, you will (probably!) see people and objects that are comforting in their familiarity. Everything is exactly as you expect it to be. You know that if you closed your eyes and opened them, the room would be the same. But...have you ever lost the familiar to find, in its place, a world so extraordinary you can't even grasp it? This is the experience of the Moon. Most of the time we live in a tiny pocket of normality that we wrap around us like a security blanket. We turn our backs on the mysterious universe that waits outside. From time to time we may sneak a peak with our imagination, or venture out through fantasy or expanded awareness. We can be thrust out there unprepared through drugs, madness or intense experiences such as battle. The Moon is the light of this realm - the world of shadow and night. Although this place is awesome, it does not have to be frightening. In the right circumstances, the Moon inspires and enchants. It holds out the promise that all you imagine can be yours. The Moon guides you to the unknown so you can allow the unusual into your life. Sadly, we are usually afraid of the Moon. In readings, this card often stands for fears and anxieties - the ones that come in the darkest part of the night. Card 18 also stands for illusions. It is easy to lose our way in the moonlight. Be careful not to let deceptions and false ideas lead you astray. Sometimes the Moon is a signal that you are lost and wandering aimlessly. You must find your way back to the path and your clarity of purpose.