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BASIC DESCRIPTION: Two
towers appear like standing stones on a rugged landscape. A
narrow path winds between them. A stream runs across the
front of the scene, and a crayfish climbs out of the water
and onto the path. On the grassy river bank, a dog and a
wolf appear to be contemplating a waning crescent moon which
is eclipsing the sun, whose corona shines out in "sixteen
chief and sixteen secondary rays." The "dew of thought" (or,
some say, yods) falls like flower petals.
What Waite says about the moon "increasing . . . on the side
of mercy" indicates that the towers are related to the
pillars Boaz and Joachim, severity and mercy, of the High
Priestess. I see a lot of resemblance to the High Priestess
card, with the yods being the veil between the pillars, and
the stream, and the colors, and the moon at top center, and
the face could look the same.
FIRST THING THAT STRUCK ME: I
was confused about the sun/moon image until I read that it
was an eclipse. Now *there's* a Pandora's box of symbolistic
possibilities!
TIME: Samhain/Halloween; also
nighttime, 28 days.
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TRADITIONAL MEANINGS UPRIGHT: Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror,
deception, occult forces, error. Illusion. Solitude,
imagination and creativity. Hidden talents emerge. Psychic ability.
Intuitive reasoning. Mystery. Danger. Secret loves.
ALSO: Love of mystery, secrets.
Creative person, emotional and prone to moodiness. Artistic talents.
Compulsive urge to create. Escapist. The compulsion to escape into
roles, the theater, arts, music, journeys, expeditions. Dreams,
messages.
TRADITIONAL MEANINGS REVERSED: Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of
deception and error. Imagination grounded by reality. Mishaps.
Unforeseen perils. Secrets revealed. Nightmares. Intense worries.
Inexplicable sadness or irritability. Angst, frustration. Mysteries
solved, deceit exposed.
BIBLICAL: Enter ye in at the strait
gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is
the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it. -- Matthew 7:13-14 (KJV)
Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road
leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through
it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into
life, and few are the ones finding it. (NWT)
MYTHOLOGICAL: "Scarab medallions
comprised a *coniunctio;* for the scarab (dung beetle) ruled Cancer,
and this royal beetle rolled the sun ball before him."--Roberts
ASTROLOGICAL: (1) Neptune--glamor,
illusions; (2) Pisces--visionary; (GD) Pisces
ANIMAL/INSECT: fish, all noctures;
beetle, firefly
Scarab. According to BRITANNICA ONLINE . . .
Latin SCARABAEUS, in ancient Egyptian religion, important symbol
in the form of the dung beetle (Scarabaeus sacer). This beetle may be
seen on sunny days forming a ball of dung and rolling it over the
sand to its burrow, where the ball is consumed in the following days.
The Egyptians apparently shared the widespread belief that the beetle
lays its eggs in this ball of dung and saw in the life cycle of the
beetle a microcosm of the daily rebirth of the sun; the ancient
sun-god Khepri was conceived as a great scarab beetle rolling the sun
across the heavens. The scarab also became a symbol of the enduring
human soul as well, hence its frequent appearance, often with wings
spread, in funerary art.
I also read somewhere that the larvae gestate underground, and
come into adult form at about the same time that the Nile floods; the
adult scarab appears to come out of the river, just like on the card.
This seems to me to signify the "reincarnation" of the land, sun and
soul. The Nile floods at the "hottest part of the year" which is the
time of Cancer/Leo (Moon/Sun).
This concept is reinforced by the canine symbolism. Also from
BRITANNICA ONLINE . . .
Sirius [the Dog Star] was known as Sothis to the
ancient Egyptians, who were aware that it made its first heliacal
rising (i.e., rose just before sunrise) of the year at about the time
the annual floods were beginning in the Nile River delta. They long
believed that Sothis caused the Nile floods . . . The hottest part of
the year was associated with the heliacal rising of the Dog Star, a
connection that survives in the expression "dog days."
PLANT: moonflower, poppy
CRYSTALS: Moonstone, pearl
SCENT: "Moon" by Planetary Perfumes
COLORS: the blue-gray of moonlight
MUSIC: Knights in White Satin,
Moody Blues
OCCUPATIONS: actor, web developer (!),
night shift; astronaut, psychologists & psychiatrists
PERSONAL THOUGHTS: This card makes me
think of standing stones marking the solstice (Cancer the crab),
while the Dog Star (Sirius) and other constellations observe the
phenomenon of the eclipse from their unique perspectives. My
impression is of the harmony of the lunar and solar cycles. Sun and
moon marry (eclipse) and all of nature dances at the reception.
There also seems to be an implication of cyclical (Moon) and linear
(path) time.
The crayfish appears to be crawling forward onto the land, but
crayfish also swim backwards with their tails.
QUOTES FROM OTHER SOURCES: All of
life is moved to increase by The Moon, whose rhythmical waxing and
waning tell of life's power to cast off the shadow of death through
tireless rounds of rebirths in unending cycles of time.--Joseph
Campbell
OTHER DECKS: The Thoth card is a more
Egyptian motif, with a scarab rather than a crayfish, and jackals and
Anubis "guarding" the gate.
SOME SYMBOLS: MOON corresponds with
spiritual gifts and their
application.--Mary Summer
Rain
Dog and Wolf: man's civilized/dependent and uncivilized/independent
nature(s); also, friends and enemies.
A RANT
What does the Moon have to do with darkness? The night is as dark
as it is, and the moon brightens it (or fails to brighten it). But
the moon doesn't *add* any darkness to the night. The moon is up just
as much during the day as it is at night. And also, there is no dark
side of the moon**. This is a geocentric
"illusion." Since the moon travels with and around the earth, each
side experiences equal exposure to the sun (with the possible
exception of the poles).
**According to The Nine
Planets web site: "the Moon rotates synchronously, i.e. it is locked
in phase with its orbit so that the same side is always facing toward
the Earth.
ÝÝÝ"Actually, the Moon appears to wobble a
bit (due to its slightly non-circular orbit) so that a few degrees of
the far side can be seen from time to time, but the majority of the
far side was completely unknown until the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3
photographed it in 1959. (Note: Some uses of the term "dark side" in
the past referred to the far side as "dark" in the sense of "unknown"
(e.g. "darkest Africa; but even that meaning is no longer valid
today!)"
Nine Planets is a very informative site at:
http://bill.nineplanets.org/offerings.html
The words "deception," "illusion" etc. keep coming up, but what
does that mean? This card kept coming up at a certain time when a
person was deceiving me, helped along by my own illusions. So I
always associated it's meaning more with interpersonal relations (on
the negative side). But this card brings to my mind the solar and
lunar cycles. And one of the things I most associate with deception
and illusion is the Gregorian calendar and all it's holidays (God's
Clock vs. Swiss timing!). I'm a holiday purist, and only mark those
which are marked in heaven. IMAGINE! There's a Columbus Day! For
what? Talk about deception! Here in Switzerland, we have off for
"Pfingstmontag."
So what I'm basically trying to say is, what about deception and
illusion on a grander scale. What about the top weapons exporters
being the top seven countries of the U.N. Security Council? How
backwards is that? Your money is so safe in a Swiss bank that if you
die, it will just stay there. And what about people who give money to
churches that kill and encourage killing -- and the average Joe
thinks he's being a really good guy by giving money to his church
because they are leading him to heaven. And Joe Average would tell me
I "think too much." Oops.
Well, they *say* the world is round, too. But the part I'm
standing on is thankfully rather flat, so I can walk upright. It's
all PERCEPTION.
Reminds me of the Moody Blues: "red is gray and yellow, white; but
we decide which is right, and which is an illusion."
On the positive side, I always thought of this card in a way
beyond words. Like when I wake up on the weekends, and let my dreams
linger in my head, and while I'm waiting for the coffee, I do my
daily reading and just let whatever other brain waves are still in my
head from sleeping float me along til I get inspired, then creative.
My dad always said I wasn't a good "waker-upper." And he always
stressed the importance of being a good "waker-upper." (He was *such*
an Emperor!)
The Moon: dreams/deceptions, fantasies/illusions, man-made
time/God-made time
Sorry if I've stepped on any toes, or if my point doesn't come
across. I guess it's something like: make sure you're in control of
your illusions. Because illusions aren't always necessarily bad. But
they should be your own.
I recall a book I once had that had a drawing of a woman standing
in a doorway, holding a lamp. She was wearing a hoop skirt, but the
sunlight shining through the doorway revealed her true, scrawny
figure underneath. The caption read: "What is true in the lamplight
is not always true in the sunlight." But what's true is always true;
the light just changes how we view it.
To me, the Moon shows that maybe there is not enough light being
shed on something, or that I should look at something in a different
light, i.e. what I'm being told vs. what I believe/know, in either
individual or societal interactions. The key phrase I've chosen for
this card is: "Choose your illusions." And this applies to all areas:
intellectual, spiritual, creative, emotional and physical.
This page is excerpted from my original contributions to an online
Tarot course discussion of this card graciously sponsored by
Pandora's Bookstore.
http://www.moonchild.ch/Tarot/major/Moon/18IMHO.html
