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Significations of the Tarot Moon Card

Major Arcana card The Moon, number 18, is a card of intuition and illusion, instinct and confusion. It represents the assimilation of our wild unconscious and subconscious brought to consciousness, the harmonisation of all the moving parts of ourselves.

In this, it is still the moon, occurring in the dead of night, a time of natural liminality and difficulty in seeing clearly.

Thus, The Moon Tarot card is an oxymoron, a multitude of versions are possible, but ultimately it is about getting comfortable in the unknown and trusting that the sun always rises.

Read on for more significations of The Moon card:

The Moon Tarot Card Meanings

Following on from The Star, where we experienced rest and respite, now hopefully we have gathered our reserves of strength, regrouped, and are ready to continue venturing on our quest. As a final chapter in our Fool’s Journey, before we reach the warmth of The Sun and “enlightenment” of Judgement, to complete our cycle in The World, we are first confronted with our shadows in this Major Arcana Tarot Card.

The Moon is, of course, a card of the night, and as such represents things coming to light from the dark, but also the uncertainty we hold in the night- is it a stick or a snake? Usually our instincts don’t make time for second-guessing. This can be seen as a final pass, a chance to question everything we have learnt thus far.

As such, The Moon can represent our intuition and inner knowing, as well as the unknown. It can be a time of walking in the proverbial darkness, we can trust our feet one in front of the other, but we can’t yet see the whole path. It may foretell of one last Dark Night of the Soul.

On the Pamela Colman Smith Tarot deck rendition, we see that the Moon depicted is actually seemingly a Lunar Eclipse, the Sun and Moon aligned in opposition as harbingers of great change and major new beginnings and endings. Traditionally Eclipses were feared as times of chaos and inauspicious omens. Full Moons are said to cause “lunacy”, a heightening of emotions and rousing of werewolves in folktales. We can see this in the animals on the card, the wild jackal and domesticated dog, our inner and outer selves; and the lobster coming up from the depths, the unknown unknown within.

The water also correlates to our emotions and subconscious. It is the realm of feeling and sensing, it is liminal and slippery. There are no hard and fast answers here, only perceptions and hunches.

The two towers are the ones seen in the distance on the Death card, we have finally reached this threshold to be crossed. These are also reminiscent of the pillars of the High Priestess, another kind of intuitive initiation we take. Pillars are again seen in the Justice card, where things are coming into balance, and on The Hierophant, where we seek internal and external guidance and counsel.

Astrologically, somewhat seemingly arbitrarily (as we generally use the system assigned by The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), The Moon card correlates to Pisces, and not the actual Moon. There are similarities to be found here, however. Both Pisces and the Moon as a symbol relate to our intuition and mysticism. In general, the Moon represents our inner world and instinctive needs, the wisdom of the body that speaks without words. And so I think there are comparisons to be made with The Moon Tarot card and the Moon as a symbol too (this can also serve as a reminder that all of these correspondences are invented, they hold weight because we collectively agree upon them thus integrating them into the collective unconscious, I believe, but you are also free to come to your own conclusions)!

Numerologically, the number 18 reduces to 9, connecting it to The Hermit, the seat of our wisdom through learn experience and proactive introspection. This is an interesting link because the figure of the hermit is traditionally seen as retreating to a cave, both literally and figuratively, to uncover the gems hidden within. The Moon, too, is held in a place of darkness and can only seek answers with patience and trust.

The Moon in a General Tarot Reading

Generally, The Moon upright can be an invitation to sit with our intuition, instincts, feelings, emotions, sensations, and inner knowing; whilst also getting comfortable in the dark and the unknown. These answers are non linear or easily accessed, sometimes we simply need to wait for the sun to rise. How can you harmonise your inner wild self, your subconscious and unconscious, with your conscious self? Although I wouldn’t usually do a one card Tarot reading, in this case I would say The Moon would signify a “maybe”.

Reversed Moon Tarot Card

Sometimes, The Moon reversed indicates an even stronger invitation to check in with our perceptions, to ensure our intuitions are correct, and to take our time for things to come to light. How can we get comfortable with our “shadow side” and integrate all sides of ourselves, where might we need to sit with the different parts? It may be a time in life where we are called to not resist the unknown or darkness- The Moon card reversed can be a call to lean into the messiness and confusion.

The Moon in a Love Tarot Reading

In a love reading, The Moon can represent uncertainty or clarity. If this Tarot card appears, it can be an invitation to sit with your intuition and trust your feelings, but also to allow for the possibility of misguidance, of things not being quite what the seem. We may need to wait for things to become clear. As with all Tarot readings, it is also essential to read the surrounding cards and take into context the question and nature of the situation, what the spread was, and the perceptions of the querent (the seeker). It may not even indicate something about the health of the relationship per se but our own relationship to the dynamics (in general I always read the Tarot to be taken as personal and not relating to others).

The Moon in a Career Reading

In a career reading, The Moon can indicate a need for pause and allowing things to unfold, of tapping into our instincts and leading with the heart. It can also be a message to gain more information and ensure space for error. Perhaps it may be an invitation to be ore imagination and pay attention to what our dreams say. Things may be a mirror image or slightly obfuscated, go slowly. Again, with any Tarot card description, it is necessary to find your own meanings within that are relevant for your given scenario.

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So those are some of the meanings of The Moon Tarot card, I hope they’re insightful for you! Let me know in the comments section below if you have anything else to add or any questions.

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