The Moon (tarot card)

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The Moon (XVIII) from the Rider-Waite tarot deck RWS Tarot 18 Moon.jpg
The Moon (XVIII) from the Rider–Waite tarot deck

The Moon (XVIII) is the eighteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.

Contents

An original card from the tarot deck of Jean Dodal of Lyon, a classic "Tarot of Marseilles" deck. The deck dates from 1701 to 1715. Jean Dodal Tarot trump 18.jpg
An original card from the tarot deck of Jean Dodal of Lyon, a classic "Tarot of Marseilles" deck. The deck dates from 1701 to 1715.

Description

The card depicts a night scene, where two large pillars are shown. A wolf and a domesticated dog howl at the Moon while a crayfish emerges from the water. The Moon has "sixteen chief and sixteen secondary rays" and "[is] shedding the moisture of fertilizing dew in great drops" (totaling 15 in the Rider–Waite deck) which are all Yodh-shaped. [1]

Interpretation

According to A.E. Waite's 1910 book The Pictorial Key to the Tarot , "The card represents life of the imagination apart from life of the spirit... 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 intellectual light is a reflection and beyond it is the unknown mystery which it cannot reveal." Additionally, "It illuminates our animal nature" and according to Waite, "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.'" [2]

Waite writes that the Moon card carries several divinatory associations: [3]

18.THE MOON--Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error. Reversed: Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.

In Astrology, the Moon card is associated with the mutable-water sign of Pisces and its ruling planet, Neptune. [4]

Alternative decks

In Other Media

In the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, tarot cards are used to name the character's powers, which are called 'Stands'. One of the characters in Stardust Crusaders, Imposter Captain Tennille, has a stand named Dark Blue Moon.

The Persona series includes various characters represented by tarot cards. In Persona 5 The Moon card belongs to Yuuki Mishima, a secondary character.

In the Adventure Time miniseries Stakes , one of the members of the Vampire King's court is named after The Moon.

In The House of the Dead, each of its bosses in the mainline series are named after the Major Arcana Tarot Cards (excluding The Devil.) The final boss of its fifth installment, House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, is named after The Moon card.

Related Research Articles

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<i>The Pictorial Key to the Tarot</i> 1910 book by A. E. Waite

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hierophant</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheel of Fortune (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Devil (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Star (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

The Star (XVII) is the 17th ranking or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sun (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

The Sun (XIX) is the nineteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The World (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

The World (XXI) is the 21st trump or Major Arcana card in the tarot deck. It can be incorporated as the final card of the Major Arcana or tarot trump sequence (the first or last optioned as being "The Fool" (0). It is associated with the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet, 'Tau', also spelled 'Tav' or 'Taw'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judgement (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fool (tarot card)</span> Tarot card of the Major Arcana

The Fool is one of the 78 cards in a tarot deck. In tarot card reading, it is one of the 22 Major Arcana, sometimes numbered as 0 or XXII. However, in decks designed for playing traditional tarot card games, it is typically unnumbered, as it is not one of the 21 trump cards and instead serves a unique purpose by itself.

References

  1. "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot: Being fragments of a Secret Tradition under the Veil of Divination".
  2. Waite, A. E. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot: Being fragments of a Secret Tradition under the Veil of Divination. London, W. Rider, 1911.
  3. Waite, Arthur Edward, 1857-1942. (2005). The pictorial key to the tarot. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN   0-486-44255-1. OCLC   57549699.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "A Taste of Tarot: Pisces and The Moon". Tarot.com. Retrieved 2023-07-15.