Symbolism of The Moon in Tarot

Symbolism of The Moon in Tarot

What is the meaning of symbols in The Moon Tarot Card?

The huge round Moon shines brightly on the earth and the river. A dog and a wolf howl below. A picture of a crab or fish is often placed in the water. A path leads from the river to the horizon, passing between two stone pillars (towers): they separate our world from the world of visions, the world of magic and secrets. The journey has led us to the threshold of the unknown, which is hindered by longing and fear (symbolized by the wolf and the dog). Will a new, amazing image be revealed to us, or will we ourselves become only an image, a shadow? Only hope keeps us going.
Moon Tarot is associated with the sign of Pisces. One fish floats up, symbolizing human evolution, while the other remains in the sea, embodying the sphere of the subconscious. It remains at the bottom in order to maintain a connection with the initial source of knowledge of the Universe.
In the old days, this card was called Crepusculum – “Twilight” (in the Egyptian Tarot – Twilight). The card says that another stage of life is coming to an end, but you can’t stop, you need to go further.
It’s a card without characters. This card just warns against those feelings that awaken with a Full Moon and are ready to swallow us without a trace. We get bogged down in a quagmire, freeze in immobility, or start howling at the moon as if possessed.

Archetype: astral, mirror.

Symbolism of The Moon

Swamp, Moon, Cancer, Water
Symbols of the unconscious. The unconscious contains something that we do not know about ourselves. The monsters, that are periodically dormant there, wake up and begin to creep out. The next Arcana is the Sun. We all go to the Sun in order to know ourselves. But for now the solar disk is covered by the Moon.

Swamp
Symbolizes a stop in development. This means that there is a limited range of daily tasks that need to be addressed.

Lobster or Cancer Retreats to the Swamp
He points out those who are unable to move forward. He also illustrates the danger. A person should always be careful. These are repressed desires and emotions. It’s the same type of monsters which rise because of a dormant mind.
Cancer symbolizes ancient feelings and instincts that need to be dealt with as they make themselves felt. Otherwise, they will leave again and will be out of reach.

Images of the Wolf and the Dog
They are untamed entities.
These are symbols of ancient myths and legends about the creation of the world. During the attack of the Devil on the creatures of the Creator, he defended his creations by assigning dogs to them. In the image of the card there is Anubis, a creature between a wolf and a dog. He stands on the threshold between life and darkness in his dual form of a jackal-man.

Dog
Symbolizes the beneficial power of instinct. Instincts that we know how to control. This is the “civilized” part of our personality.

Wolf
Symbolizes the dangerous power of instinct. Instincts that we do not know how to control: spontaneous desires, hidden aggression, fears.

Two Towers
The gates of heaven are wider on this card than on any other. Why not just go through them? After all, these towers remind us that you cannot cling to the old, otherwise we will turn into a pillar of salt, like Lot’s wife from the biblical story.
One Tower is a symbol of the conscious mind. The other one is the symbol of the subconscious.
They symbolize the world of people, teaching, knowledge, a certain secret. These are the harbingers of higher goals. They also symbolize the search for protection, control, the desire to cling to the accepted values. The towers are outposts on the border of consciousness with the unconscious.
These are fears and doubts that must be overcome in order to reach the Sun.

The symbol of the Sun and the Moon, Merged into One.
Which corresponds to the combined male and female energy. When deciphered, this is an indication of a state of balance, harmony, which is necessary to walk the path of enlightenment.
Negative meaning: the day is indistinguishable from the night, the whole life passes as in a dream.
Positive meaning: The moon shines with full light; night dreams come true during the day.

Moon. Face Symbolism
This is the Face of the Universal Reason. It proclaims peace and tranquility for all things.
This is the path to the inner world, the world of darkness, dreams and aspirations. It is a hint of keeping calm.
The moon symbolizes the endless ocean of feelings, the collective unconscious. But ,at the same time, it is not devoid of its own personal features. At the very beginning and at the very end, personal stories are revealed to us.

Short and long rays alternate from the moon
They mean a conflict of good and evil influences.

Golden drops
15 gold drops in the form of the Hebrew letters “Yod” – sparkling dew, which personifies the connection between heaven and earth. They are wandering souls. These are fireflies and these are Divine sparks.
This is the light of reason sent to the playing animals.
Symbolize the influence of the moon.

Trail
Life path, the connection of our world with the other world. Theseare our two houses, the one in which we live now, and the one that awaits us beyond. We do not know what awaits us at the end, and this is frightening. A symbol of faith and great dreams that accompany us throughout our lives. It also symbolizes the path to the Unknown, the path to the astral realms.
The path winds in the twilight of animal attractions. Ancient instincts and impulses, passed from one generation to another, lead from their source to the mountains in the background, the same bluish blue as water.

The rocks
The symbol of the mineral world.

Water
It personifies the Waters of Life, also the forces of the subconscious, from which creative ideas flow.

Flowers, Grass
The symbol of the world of plants.

Blue and Green Tones
The unconscious and primitive (cancer) and the highest manifestations of feelings and faith (blue mountains). Both of these extremes should be reconciled with each other and combined in the green veil of everyday, ordinary life. A symbol of impressionability, intuition. This is the most deep color, “pushing” the space.

Light Blue Sky
Sky means Divine spheres and the kingdom of will, and light blue means clear sky, transparent water.
Positive meaning: carelessness, will, clarity of mind.
Negative value: confusion.

Abundance of Yellow
A sign that our fears about this Arcana are far-fetched.

Number 18
The symbolism of this number dates back to the days of the Druids. The Druids had a secret alphabet of 18 letters. Each letter had a sacred meaning and magical power. This alphabet was used in rituals dedicated to the Moon Goddess and served as the basis for the calendar. An interesting observation: lunar and solar eclipses are repeated in the same order every 18 years.
In occultism, it was considered a number that brings misfortune and punishment, personifying fate. Arcanological tradition associates it with the concept of “occult enemies”, and even “envolation”, as well as with the action of a hierarchical law, which in this case may have a negative connotation.
The mystical root of this number, to which the theosophical addition of the two numbers that make it up (1 + 8), is the number nine – the last single-digit digit of a natural series of numbers and, accordingly, the last archetypal single-digit number.

The Moon in Tarot makes hidden feelings more real and evokes deep sensations. Our inner self-perception and intuition is power. In Tarot cards the XVIII Arcana symbolizes fears that can be reflected in the future. The Moon is a symbol of the transition from wakefulness to sleep.
The Moon shows the way into the depths of the unconscious, a journey through the labyrinths of the soul into the hidden corners of consciousness. It symbolizes feelings. You need to immerse yourself in them, experience, accept, drop the framework of consciousness. A person returns after such a journey purified and renewed. The fire of emotions and experiences has burned all negativity.
This Arcana assumes the existence in everyday life of envy, deception, jealousy, prejudice. This is Arcana means caution and danger.
Moonlight is deceiving. The Moon demonstrates its power over water.
The Moon reveals the power of external influence. A person living in his towers is subject to many influences. He is influenced by the Moon, he is distracted by the barking of a dog and the howl of a wolf, and, finally, he risks being caught by the tricks of an insidious cancer.
The dog has adapted to life with humans, but continues to pose a threat due to its sensitivity to the influence of the Moon.
This Arcana is a warning, it indicates that events taking place at the present time may have unforeseen consequences as a result of unexpected influences.

The Flower line. Tarot

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1 thought on “Symbolism of The Moon in Tarot”

  1. The moon in its literal meaning for pregnant women is a threat of miscarriage. And because of the inverted moon, I recently spayed a cat so that she wouldn’t scream at the moon endlessly….

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