Moonlight Becomes You – #18, The Moon

                                                        “If I say I love you I want you to know 

It’s not just because there’s moonlight

Although, moonlight becomes you so”

“Moonlight Becomes You”

by Jimmy Van Heusen 

               and Johnny Burke  

 

#18, The Moon, imagination, illusion, fear
and confusion - RWSC by US Game©

Romance and lunatics – yup, those things pretty much go hand in hand. Tarot’s major arcana card, #18, The Moon is the stuff of dreams. Everything looks better in the moonlight. Unless, of course, you wake up in the middle of the night and the moonlight streaming through your bedroom window turns your pile of discarded clothing into a gargoyle perched at the end of your bed.  Which brings us to one of The Moon’s primary keywords, illusion.  

Moonlight paints our world with a fanciful glow. That can be a good thing as long as living in illusion doesn’t become a way of life.  The Moon also represents our imagination which can work for us as creative muse, or turn against us by summoning up our fears.  In the RWCS depiction of #18, we see a deep pool of water in the foreground.  This pool represents the our subconscious self, or Freud’s id.  The crayfish (or lobster if you prefer) is a creature crawling from the depths of our subconscious – a monster from the id.  (Just like in “Forbidden Planet,” a 1956 science fiction retelling of Shakespeare’s, “The Tempest.” If you haven’t seen it, what’s wrong with you?)  The creature never fully emerges from the shadows just as our fears rarely emerge into the light where we can deal with them by dispelling their illusion. Another lunar keyword revealed – fear.

A path runs from the bank of the pool, dividing the realm of

#2, The High Priestess is tarot's associate card
for Lady Moon. Depiction from Aly Fell and
Barbara Moore's, legendary "Steampunk Tarot"©

shadows in half.  One side, ruled by the domesticated dog, represents our civilized selves. The other side, where the wolves run free shows us our wilder, less tamed natures.  Both animals look to the sullen Moon for answers.  However, The Moon remains silent.  We brought ourselves here and it’s our job to get ourselves out.  The Moon’s job is to simply illuminate the pathway through the shadows with reflected light. Its illusionary light cannot provide us with genuine insights like the direct light of The Sun. (#19, The Sun) We must follow the path towards the horizon and the sunrise.  Here we discover two more keywords of the Moon; confusion and disorientation.  The Moon doesn’t abandon us, though.  We have our guides.  Moonlight enhances intuition and carries a spiritual connection to the Divine.  Note the yods used to illustrate the moonbeams. Yod is the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet representing Divine presence and life force.  

#18, The Moon as depicted in
"Wizard's Tarot"© from the amazing talents
of Corrine Kenner and John J. Blumen

Two sentry towers act as a gateway into the deeper shadowland. Notice that as the path runs towards the horizon, it remains clearly visible, as though widening out into an actual roadway.  The symbolism here is clear.  Stay on the path. Stay balanced. Don’t let your imaginary fears bind you into blind obedience making you incapable of using your own reason to guide yourself (the dog side). Likewise, guard against allowing your fears to drive you wildly into the shadows, frantically searching for something real to grab onto (the wolf side).  

The Moon is a tremendous source of Divine energy and creativity.  By pulling its energy we can intuitively avoid pitfalls and make conscious decisions that have a positive impact on our lives.  When you find yourself traveling through the illusionary landscape of #18, The Moon, ask yourself one thing.  With an infinite amount of reactions available to you as the shadows twist and turn around you, why choose fear?

LADY ORACLE   

Here's a link to YouTube and the wonderful trailer for "Forbidden Planet."  Watch this movie! I love Robbie the Robot!