The Moon

illusion · fear · the unclear · intuition

Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.

Trump 18

In a few words

illusion
fear
the unclear
intuition

Moonlight makes shapes look like things they are not. Confusion, fear, and a path you cannot fully see.

Upright

Everything: Moonlight makes shapes look like things they are not. Confusion, fear, and a path you cannot fully see.
Love: Mixed signals, doubt, something not being said. Do not decide in the dark.
Work: Unclear terms, hidden agendas, a plan with fog on it. Get facts before you move.
Money: Do not invest in what you cannot see clearly. Deception is possible; check twice.
Myself: Old fears surfacing at night. Feel them, but do not steer by them.

Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

Reversed

Everything: The fog lifts. A confusion clears, a fear turns out to be smaller than it looked.
Love: Truth coming out, gently or not. Clarity is better than the guessing.
Work: Misunderstandings resolved. What was hidden is now on the table.
Money: A deception exposed, or a worry that proves groundless. Proceed with care.
Myself: You are seeing more clearly. Trust the daylight that is coming.

Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

The card, as Waite described it

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.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 140

The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.

Draw this deck ← The Star The Sun →Other cards

Upright

Everything

Moonlight makes shapes look like things they are not. Confusion, fear, and a path you cannot fully see.

Love

Mixed signals, doubt, something not being said. Do not decide in the dark.

Work

Unclear terms, hidden agendas, a plan with fog on it. Get facts before you move.

Money

Do not invest in what you cannot see clearly. Deception is possible; check twice.

Myself

Old fears surfacing at night. Feel them, but do not steer by them.

Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

Reversed

Everything

The fog lifts. A confusion clears, a fear turns out to be smaller than it looked.

Love

Truth coming out, gently or not. Clarity is better than the guessing.

Work

Misunderstandings resolved. What was hidden is now on the table.

Money

A deception exposed, or a worry that proves groundless. Proceed with care.

Myself

You are seeing more clearly. Trust the daylight that is coming.

Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 284

The card, as Waite described it

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.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 140

The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.