A crayfish emerges from a pool while dogs howl. Cold lansdcape. Path to nowhere. Two pillars. The fool has seen pillars before – on the high priestess, hierophant and justice cards. In death, they appeared in the distance, framing a rising sun. Here, they frame a moon which shows multiple phases.
Yods, hebrew symbols of divinity and a letter in god’s name, yahweh, drip like rain. The fool saw yods falling from the tower struck by lightening. There they signified the presence of god. He is less sure what they represent here.
Lunar, from the latin luna for moon, is used as a prefix; lunar tides, lunar landscape, lunar calendar. The word lunacy comes from lunaticus for moonstruck. Many people garden by the moon, using the phases of waxing and waning to sow seed, take cuttings and harvest.
The moons orbit is ellipitical; the nearest and furthest points from the earth called perigee, from the greek perígeios and apogee from apogaion. The language of the moon has ancient roots.
Long feminised and worshipped, the moon represents cycles and rhythms; ocean tides and female blood, maybe even human behaviour.
The physical body is 80% water and the moon’s cycle has been connected to fertility and conception, and is alleged to influence emotions.
Every culture has a moon goddess. Artemis, Hecate and Selene to name but three. And speaking of three, the moon’s feminine side represents the triple goddess, the maiden, mother and crone phases of a woman’s life.
The star gave the fool a taste of divinity. He saw the pool of universal energy being poured onto the earth and back into water, returning to its point of origin. The fool felt integrated. Beyond the control of ego. Whole and complete.
But the star was only a temporary respite.
There was no path from the star back to the fool’s conscious self.
Consciousness needs a bridge for energy to flow in acceptable formats, such as disguising universal truths as mythical stories, or exploring a tool like the tarot.
On his journey the fool has been uncovering his unconscious and subcoonscious selves. The star was direct experience of these innner layers without the distractions of ego.
Where does he go now?
The moon is a chunk of rock.
The forces of gravity pull together and create a sphere; a 3 dimensional circle.
Gravitational power controls the earth’s tides, while menstruation is individual. Many women don’t bleed to an exact lunar cycle of 29.5 days. Everything we think and feel about the moon is a social construction.
That’s one approach.
The fool has come a long way. He knows how it feels to be whole. He understands more about symbols and binary constructions. But a crayfish and two dogs? What does card 18 mean for him?
The moon has no light. It can only be seen because it reflects the sun. Like the moon, the fool will never see himself directly, only what is reflected, like a mirror image.
The fool knows he contains darkness as well as light. The role of an unchecked ego is to protect and forget the dark. Focus on what feels instantly good. Push negative thoughts aside. The ego takes control and blocks the bad things out.
The moon represents the darker parts of our subconscious. It brings fear to the surface, hence its association with madness, delusion and fantasy.
For the fool, the moon represents the exposure of negative thoughts and translates them in ways which are more manageable.
He’s come face-to-face with his dark side. The fool needs to use the knowledge he’s gained to understand its roots. Careful examination of fear can lead to its dilution or banishment.
Some say one of the dogs is a wolf and the pair symbolise the tame and untamed aspects of ourselves. Whatever they look like to you, the animals represent instinctive, more animal, reactions. Those automatic, spontaneous responses to people and situations, often viewed with regret in hindsight.
Our reactions are mostly conditioned from birth. Some say fear of spiders or snakes is rational and derives from evolutionary genetics. Therapy means phobias can be treated but not until the person has met their fears face-to-face.
This is what the fool has to do.
The dogs are howling, an archetypal expression of fear. The represent an eruption of internal nightmares, grief and dread, sometimes making us seem primitive, almost inhuman.
Without the protection of the star, the moon is releasing the fool’s anxieties. They’ve been brought them to the surface.
The fool is alone. There’s no guide or mentor such as stength or the hermit. He has to face the wild within. Survive the dark night of the soul. Let everything surface so it can be seen and tamed, using knowledge and experience from the previous cards.
As if that were not enough, the crayfish represents the reality of the fool’s subconscious demons. Crayfish breath in freshwater but survive in the air for short periods. The natural environment for our demons is the waters of the subconscious.
In the moon card, the crayfish is emerging. By facing our demons we can diminish or banish them completely.
The moon card also represents the binary of all we fear balanced with what we love. Through knowledge and deep understanding, the negative and positive layers of our psyche can be integrated. Work together in harmony.
We feel better. Function better. Become better people.
The yods remind us of this healing potential. They offer reassurance and balance. The moon as an object of beauty as well as a symbol for madness.
The fool can look at the moon with new eyes. To see it as the place where he faced fear and survived.
The calm after the storm.
Initiation brings peace.
The high priestess has lifted the veil for the fool to step into the temple. Up until now, he’s seen the two sides of the binary. Now he sees one unified whole.
Everything still contains its opposite but it’s completion, not division.
After the moon comes the sun. Light of the world. The fool has been tested. The waters have stilled.
The sun will help the fool continue the process of integration by bringing everything into his surface consciousness. How will he cope with this?
Join us for this next step on a walk through the tarot.
images my own, or copyright free from wikipedia commons and https://pixabay.com/
