The Moon (Tarot card)

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The Moon (XVIII) is a Major Arcana Tarot card.

Contents 1 Symbolism 1.1 Rider-Waite specific 2 Interpretation 3 Trivia 4 Other decks 5 References 6 External links

Symbolism

• Two large, foreboding pillars are shown. Some see them as tombstones, others relate them to Karma.
• Two wild beasts howl at the moon.
• A crayfish appears in the water.
• The Moon is "shedding the moisture of fertilizing dew in great drops" (Waite). These are numbered 15 in the Rider-Waite deck and are Yodh-shaped. On this basis, some associate this card with impregnation.

Rider-Waite specific

• Very clearly, the figure in the moon is frowning, reflecting displeasure.
• The waxing moon has 16 chief rays and 16 secondary rays.
• The beasts are, according to Waite's PKT, a dog and a wolf, which represent the fears of the natural mind.
• The crayfish crawls from the water unto the land.
• There's a pathway into the distant, dark unknown.

Interpretation

A. E. Waite was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretaions.^[1] However not all interpretations follow his theology. Please remember that all Tarot decks used for divination are interpreted up to personal experience and standards. 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

Trivia

• In the X/1999 Tarot version made by CLAMP, The Moon is Nataku, a human asexual clone made out of Kazuki Toujyou and her father Masaki's DNA
• Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play Tarot card games such as French Tarot and Austrian Königrufen. In English-speaking and Spanish- speaking countries, where the games are largely unknown, Tarot cards came to be utilized primarily for divinatory purposes.

Other decks

In old Italian Tarot decks instead of the above scene there is instead an astronomer measuring the large moon above him in some way.

References

• [1]:The Moon from Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners - Joan Bunning
• A. E. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key to the Tarot
• Juliette Wood, Folklore 109 (1998):15-24, The Celtic Tarot and the Secret Tradition: A Study in Modern Legend Making (1998)

External links

• "Moon" cards from many decks and articles to "Moon" iconography
• The History of the Moon Card from The Hermitage.

Major Arcana
0 The Fool	I The Magician	II The High Priestess	III The Empress	IV The Emperor	V The Hierophant	VI The Lovers	VII The Chariot	VIII Strength	IX The Hermit	X Wheel of Fortune
XI Justice	XII The Hanged Man	XIII Death	XIV Temperance	XV The Devil	XVI The Tower	XVII The Star	XVIII The Moon	XIX The Sun	XX Judgement	XXI The World
Tarot • Minor Arcana