The Moon
The Moon lights a path through uncertainty and dreams, where fears, illusions, and intuition mingle and nothing is quite what it seems.
Major Arcana XVIII
Upright keywords
- illusion
- intuition
- uncertainty
- dreams
- fear
- the subconscious
Meaning when upright
The Moon shows a path leading from a pool, past a dog and a wolf and between two towers, toward distant hills under an uncertain, reflected light. It describes a time when things are unclear, emotions run deep, and imagination can produce both insight and illusion. Waite's meanings include hidden enemies, danger, calumny, deception, and error, so be cautious about trusting appearances. Yet the Moon also governs dreams and intuition, and moving forward slowly, feeling your way, is often the only path through.
On the card
- moon with a crescent face within a rayed disk
- Reflected light, intuition, and the shifting realm of dreams; Waite says the moon is increasing on the side of mercy, with sixteen chief and sixteen secondary rays.
- two towers flanking the path
- The threshold between the known and the unknown; Waite calls the path between them the issue into the unknown.
- dog and wolf baying at the moon
- Waite's fears of the natural mind: the tamed and the wild sides of our animal nature.
- crayfish crawling out of the pool
- Waite's nameless tendency rising from the deeps: primal contents of the unconscious striving for manifestation.
- path winding toward distant hills
- The uncertain journey forward, lit only by reflected light.
- drops falling from the moon
- Waite's dew of thought falling: calm and nourishment descending on the unrest below.
- pool of water in the foreground
- The unconscious depths from which instinct and emotion arise.
In Waite’s words
The distinction between this card and some of the conventional types is that the moon is increasing on what is called the side of mercy, to the right of the observer. It has sixteen chief and sixteen secondary rays. The card represents life of the imagination apart from life of the spirit. The path between the towers is the issue into the unknown. The dog and wolf are the fears of the natural mind in the presence of that place of exit, when there is only reflected light to guide it.
The last reference is a key to another form of symbolism. The intellectual light is a reflection and beyond it is the unknown mystery which it cannot shew forth. It illuminates our animal nature, types of which are represented below—the dog, the wolf and that which comes up out of the deeps, the nameless and hideous tendency which is lower than the savage beast. It strives to attain manifestation, symbolized by crawling from the abyss of water to the land, but as a rule it sinks back whence it came. The face of the mind directs a calm gaze upon the unrest below; the dew of thought falls; the message is: Peace, be still; and it may be that there shall come a calm upon the animal nature, while the abyss beneath shall cease from giving up a form.
- Divinatory meaning
Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error.
- Reversed
Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.
Correspondences
- Element
- Water
- Astrology
- Pisces
- Hebrew letter
- Qoph (ק)
- Path on the Tree of Life
- Path 29: Netzach – Malkuth
- Number
- Eighteen (1 + 8 = 9) takes the Hermit's solitary search into the dark: the traveler must now find the way by intuition alone.
To reflect on
- What am I afraid of that may not be real?
- What are my dreams trying to tell me?
- Where do I need more information before I trust what I see?
In your readings
Hasn’t appeared in your readings yet.
Ask about this card
Marguerite, the traditionalist, answers from Waite’s text, what is drawn on the card and its correspondences. You can choose another reader in settings.