The Moon Tarot Card: Arcana number XVIII

The Moon Tarot connects Netzach and Malkuth – two lower Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. It corresponds to the water element.

This card speaks about several important aspects: about intuition and illusion, about how to cope when being overwhelmed by emotions, and about cleaning the mistakes from the past.

Basic elements of this Tarot Card are:

• two towers,
• a waning moon,
• two dogs,
• a crab,
• desolate surroundings.

The Moon Tarot is Arcana number eighteen. Number XVII is The Star, while No. XIX is the Sun Tarot Card.  It depicts a mysterious night-time scene, so we can say that this tarot card stands for the midnight time and all the strange things one can encounter then. On the more positive side, we can imagine the possibility of artistic expression and divinity concealed in the night.

There are 32 rays emerging from the moon, 16 of which are more dominant. According to the teaching of the Kabbalah, the world has been created by 32 ways and there are 32 mysterious paths of wisdom. Indeed, if we add the number of paths on the Tree of life – 22 – to the number of Sephiroth – 10 – we get the number 32. Between the two towers we see a path that leads into the unknown. There is no clear guidance – only the reflected light of the moon can serve as a guiding aid. The fears of the mind when facing the unknown are depicted via the two animals: the dog and the wolf.

The Moon can also be understood as a symbol of witchcraft and wizardry (indicated via the symbol of waning moon).

This is the dark night of the soul that according to some source is depicted on this tarot card, so often used as a metaphor of the desolation and difficulties that the spiritual seeker meets on the path of spiritual enlightenment. Carl Gustav Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist and spiritual explorer of the inner ways of the soul, often compared this psychological state to the state where a person is facing the inner “Shadow”. In this psychological state, according to Jung, we retrieve the naive projections that used to shape our reality and our character in the past, recognize them, and grasp their meanings. By doing so, we release our psychological content. This is our lifting the veils of illusion, and facing the shadow of our misconceptions, wrong ideas, and prejudices. We all have our shadows. The less we are aware of it, the more potent and dangerous it is. This shadow is part of the suppressed, unconscious regions of our ego being – expressed via the negative emotions that we sometimes project on other people.

The message of the Arcana No. 18 is that only by attaining peace, we will be able to control our lower, animal nature and be ready to step on the path of the unknown.

In readings, The Moon Tarot can represent illusion, deception, confusion, hysteria, even madness. It can also mean crisis, mistake, delay, jealousy, and cunning.

The reversed Moon card means instability and silence. It can also mean practical life and rationality instead of irrationality. The reversed Moon tarot can also signify your ability to face danger with calm and practical mind.