Seeking the Truth with Major Arcana 18, the Moon

Major Arcana 18, the Moon, has amongst its keywords, ‘confusion’. This is apt since this card can be extremely confusing when it appears in a reading.

Recently a friend reached out to me with this question about the Moon.

I am studying the Moon today and the keywords I have are very confusing: intuition, illusion, deception, darkness, reflection, fear, subconscious, dreams, difficulty, imagination, journey, spirituality, mystery, and psychic awareness. How do I decipher this card among all these unrelated descriptions?

I think it is fair to say that the Moon is one of the deepest and most confusing cards of the tarot. Our collective relationship with this card has changed over time. Go-to interpretations seem to vary depending on each reader’s cultural background.

I blame misogyny and fear of witchcraft for some of the negativity historically associated with this card. The moon in the sky has always been associated with feminine spiritual power. What was and is feared and persecuted by some as witchcraft is practiced and celebrated by others. This easily explains the dichotomy between deception and spirituality.

The moon in the sky ‘steals’ its light from the sun. The full moon has long been associated with insanity. The words ‘lunacy’ and ‘lunatic’ have ‘luna’ as their root word.

This makes sense, too. I often say that there is a thin line between psychic and psychotic.

There is a deeper and more provocative consideration with the Moon as well. We can see the twenty-one numbered cards of the Major Arcana as three groups of seven, and the final seven as the journey toward spiritual enlightenment.

The Devil is the gatekeeper. To begin this journey, we must see ourselves as we truly are. The Tower is the first step toward releasing false foundations. The Star allows us to heal. Then we approach the Moon.

The Moon represents spiritual truth. As we walk through the moonlight, we know that things do not appear as they do in the sunlight. Walking at night is fraught with danger. The path to spiritual truth is likewise fraught. There are cults, fundamentalism, and scams. There is egotism, and spiritual bypassing. There is greed and lust for power and control. There are many ways to be trapped as we pursue the spiritual truth and knowledge that leads to enlightenment.

The Moon shows us the path, and the Moon shows us that there are dangers along the path.

As part of this search for spiritual truth, the Moon speaks of intuition. How often intuition can be subverted in favor of fear and desire!

In a reading, the Moon may speak of this deep, dark, and important journey. Yet, as with all tarot cards, the Moon may speak of more mundane things as well. The Moon may appear to tell us of simpler hidden dangers, such as a false friend, or an infestation of termites.

The Moon may encourage our psychic development. The Moon may tell us to pay attention to our dreams. The Moon may encourage us to practice magick and witchcraft. The Moon may warn us about someone’s ill intentions toward us.

The Moon may simply make note of the confusing mysteries of life. Sometimes when the Moon appears regarding a particular department of life it is an invitation to dig deeper into that department to reveal something that has been hidden. The Moon might indicate that we are confused about something, or that something will turn out differently than we imagine.

The obvious question is this. When we see the Moon in a reading, how do we know whether to encourage psychic development, call an exterminator, or deeply explore hidden aspects of our romantic relationship?

As with all tarot interpretation, context is the key. We need to look at the spread position meaning, or the question that was asked. We need to consider the surrounding cards, and our intuitive reaction to the card. The person for whom the card is drawn also provides context. For a devout Catholic, the Moon may offer a suggestion to light a candle in church and pray for a loved one. When drawn for a practice Pagan, this card may be a directive to dance naked in the moonlight. When drawn for a person who is seeking consultation regarding a career situation, the Moon may indicate confusion about career goals and direction, or a coworker or boss who is stealing credit or sabotaging projects.

It is possible, too, that the Moon will have more than one message for us. We can interpret the same card multiple times in a reading.

Tarot study is different than tarot interpretation. Tarot study teaches us, in theory, to interpret the cards. Tarot study also gives us access to the spiritual lessons inherent in the cards. Our spiritual understand of each card can be expansive. That understanding can become part of the spiritual code by which we live every day. The interpretation of a card in a reading will likely not involve all aspects of those deeper spiritual lessons.

While the possibilities for interpretation of Major Arcana 18 are vast, there is a simple thing we can remember about this card. Whenever the Moon appears, we might consider that things may not be as they seem.

When we study the Moon, we learn vital lessons about our path to spiritual understanding. We learn to avoid cheap and easy answers that pose as simple spiritual truths. We learn that we must dig to expose the depths of dark murkiness pierced by glimpses of light that spiritual growth truly is.

Mystery and the Moon

Of all the seventy-eight tarot cards, the Moon is one of the most confusing to understand and interpret. I think there are a few reasons this is so.

First, perhaps more than chariots, hermits and magicians, for example, the moon in the sky has so many cultural attachments. We all experience the moon in one way or another.

We associate the moon with lunacy, werewolves and menstrual cycles. The moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie to signal that you are in love. To the moon is where Ralph wanted to send Alice, back in the time when everyone seemed to think that spousal abuse was funny. When we ask for the moon, we are asking for the impossible. When we love beyond reason, it’s to the moon and back. When we are super-duper happy, we are over the moon.

In Ashtanga yoga, devotees refrain from their yoga practice during the new and full moon.

Wiccans and Pagans celebrate the moon cycles with specific sacred ceremonies.

In Judaism, Passover begins on a full moon.

In Christianity, Easter is held on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

In the Lenormand oracle, the Moon is card 32. While the tarot Moon can indicate secrecy and things that are hidden, the Lenormand Moon can speak of fame and recognition. The Moon shines brightly in the dark sky. In the Lenormand system, that bright light may be shining on you. The Lenormand Moon can also indicate romance, and reference activities that happen in the evening.

In astrology, the Moon represents emotions, comfort, your maternal side, feelings and vulnerability.

Does any of that help us understand Major Arcana 18, the Moon in tarot? For me, perhaps the most illustrative thing here is that the moon in the sky is something we all see, and something with which we all have some sort of relationship. The fact that the moon means so many things to so many people may help explain why the tarot Moon can be so confusing.

Very often in tarot the way we react to a card can be a clue to its meaning. So, if we feel confused by the Moon when it appears, we might interpret that to say that we are experiencing confusion in the situation for which we have consulted the cards.

Yet, the Moon can mean so much more.

If you read an older tarot book, you might see that keywords for the Moon include lunacy and treachery. The Moon may serve as a warning against hidden enemies and secret plots.

If you read a newer tarot book, you might see the Moon interpreted as an invitation to explore dreams, intuition and magic.

I have a theory about why this dichotomy might exist.

The moon in the sky has long been associated with feminine mysteries. The patriarchy of centuries past feared witchcraft, which was and is associated with feminine power and intuition, along with the cycles of the moon.

When meanings for the tarot cards were coming into being, the Moon might have been seen as a warning again witchcraft.

Today, more people understand the beauty and strength associated with the practice of witchcraft and magic. Many in the tarot community honor the traditions of the divine feminine.

That means that when the tarot Moon appears in a reading, we might see it as a call to honor your intuition, and to remember your own magical power.

We can square these two divergent meanings this way.

The path to spiritual understanding and clarity is fraught with dangers. Things are harder to see by moonlight than by sunlight. There are those who would trick us, like charlatans and false prophets. There are those who would ensnare us, like fundamentalists and cultists.

When we journey toward enlightenment, we must step carefully, and use our intuition to make sure our path is correct.

In a reading, the Moon can tell us to pay attention to the wisdom of our dreams. It can also speak to us of our spiritual faith, and of deepening our relationship to the divine.

When the Moon appears in a reading to speak of mundane matters, the allegory of the spiritual journey translates into the dangers of the pursuit of any goal. We must step carefully, we must cultivate clarity within, especially when the situation at hand lacks clarity.

In answer to a more mundane question, the Moon asks us to vet our associates and our plans carefully.

In any circumstance, the Moon may tell us to look for what is hidden. All is not how it seems.

When the Moon appears, there is a mystery to be solved, whether mundane or magical.

The Power of the Magician

 Card One of the Major Arcana, the Magician, is one of my favorite cards. I know that some people see the Magician as the trickster because he is able to create illusion. But just like my take on another very magickal card, The Moon, I resonate more with magick for healing and positive growth than trickery.

The Magician carries so many positive messages. On a very mundane level, the Magician can simply indicate education. The Magician tells us to be smart, to learn and to keep an open mind.

The Magician tells us to take a clear accounting of our skills, tools and abilities. With his arms pointing to heaven and to Earth he reminds us of the eternal sources of power in our lives.

The Magician is connected to the wisdom of Hermes who teaches "As Above, So Below." Whatever is happening on a mundane level is also happening on a spiritual level, and vice versa.

Perhaps how we relate to the more magickal cards in tarot is connected to how we perceive the use of magick in our lives. If we are concerned with curses, jinxes and superstitious nonsense we might be wary of cards such as the Magician and the Moon.

If we understand magick to be a power that is our birthright - an energy we can use for healing - then we can count upon magick as one of our tools on our own Magician's table.