The Moon presents us with a profound image which pulls at the imagination while sending a shiver down the spine, a not-too dissimilar effect from that of the celestial sphere from which the card takes its name. The meanings of the card are numerous and complex, much like the arcane meanings associated with the moon itself which is a common symbol applied within occult and esoteric lore.
The Moon is the feminine principle, and most blatantly suggests the cyclic nature of existence. Whether denoting the death of and eventual return to the light of day, the states of wakefulness and sleep, consciousness and sub-consciousness, mentality and emotion or other associated states, it signifies passage, the condition of transformation and that which is bestowed in the process.
One fundamental transformation which we are seeing represented by this card is that of the spiritual becoming material, with the maternal waters of the womb forming the physical body of the child. However, just as the moon lasts but for one night at a time before submitting to the Sun, so too the material body of the child will prove impermanent in due course.
Extending this interpretation, it is said that the same waters distort natural light, the same light source from which the Moon’s own takes its glory – thus the Moon, for all its loveliness and potency, is but a shade or a distortion of the ultimate reality. We dance in its glow for a time, but must in time come to understand that we are far from our true source and moving to an artificial rhythm…Return is our goal, and the Moon is the beginning of this more profound transformation, not in itself an end.
Water is an inherent aspect of readings, given the close relationship between the waxing and waning of the moon and the tides; this of course links to a psychological reading, also, of the welling up of the deeper recesses of the Self and its effect over the mind before the depths once more reclaim it. The subconscious (and with it fantasy, nightmare, desire and spiritual knowledge) comes to the fore, touch the waking mind as a dream and then returns to its dormancy below the surface – though not without achieving a degree of communique that lingers long after its departure.
Balance in all is prized highest and the Moon, while beautiful and stimulating, at the same time threatens to overwhelm with its character and power. Dreams and fantasies are vital to us, they inform us on a level that we could not achieve without somewhat magical assistance, but to dwell in their company for too long a time is a truly dangerous act which threatens our balance of mind and soul. The Moon may well take us along with the receding waters to a state of bliss which borders on madness.
The shifting appearance of the Moon hints at other risks: while the intuition and spiritual insight which it stirs are vital to us, they cannot alone offer full and total wisdom. They are shifting patterns afforded by a reflected light, thus they can be glimpsed and our minds enthused by their vision, but cannot serve as the foundation on which we stand lest they shift once more and send us toppling. Dreams and spirituality are intoxicating, but cannot exist alone in this material world, and he or she who attempts to live by their code alone faces cruel hardship by the light of the Sun.
The card clearly illustrates the aforementioned passage as a trail which emerges from the water and divides the land in two, a fairly overt representation that is difficult to miss. The towers we see represent the gateway both to and from our impermanent world. The crayfish heading onto the land is a representation of transformation and realisation of Self. The animals baying at the Moon, whether dog or wolf, suggest our atavistic fear and fascination with its form, likewise the rational mind’s confusion and sometime anxiety where its sub-conscious partner is concerned.
The ‘flames’ or droplets which rain down from the Moon are the menstruum by which bodies are broken down into their root substances – as such, our communication with the Moon and the hidden Self that we encounter there can be seen as an instrumental step in our continued development, which has never been described as simple, easy, or free from discomfort or even pain.
The Moon, then, is change. It is the distortion of reality through the light of fantasy, just as it is the distortion of dreams in the light of rationality. It reveals parts of the Self that otherwise lie hidden, and as such can present us with aspects of ourselves that we would rather wish did not exist – or, indeed, can show us aspects of ourselves that are so alluring in their alien nature that they beguile, ensnare and entrap.
We find here connection with our deeper Self, and through this face the most laborious challenge of all, in that we must acknowledge the whole of what we are, including the darkest shadows and loftiest of dreams and visions. It is the first point in the true understanding of the Self, which can be more fully explored (and its transformation more fittingly begun) in the full light of the oncoming Sun.
