Ooh, now we’re slipping into the dreamworld… 🌙✨
The Moon is one of the most mysterious and emotionally charged cards in the Tarot. It’s the land of shadows, symbols, illusions, and intuition — where not everything is as it seems.
🌕 The Moon – Major Arcana XVIII
- Card Number: XVIII (18 = 1 + 8 = 9 – introspection, culmination)
- Element: Water
- Planet: The Moon (naturally!)
- Astrological Sign: Pisces (dreamy, spiritual, emotional depth)
🌊 Imagery & Symbolism
In most decks (like Rider-Waite), The Moon is depicted with:
- A full moon overhead — source of light, but indirect, casting shadows and illusions.
- A path winding into the distance — symbolic of the soul’s journey through confusion and the unknown.
- A wolf and a domesticated dog — our wild instincts vs. conditioned behavior.
- A crayfish or lobster crawling out of a pool — the subconscious emerging into awareness.
- Towers on either side — duality, gateways, boundaries between worlds.
This is a liminal card — it’s about what lies beneath the surface. Think dream logic, deep feelings, or a time when clarity is elusive.
🌘 Upright Meaning
The Moon in an upright position suggests:
- Illusion, confusion, or hidden information — not everything is what it seems.
- Deep intuition, psychic impressions, and symbolic insight.
- Dreams and the unconscious bubbling up.
- A time for inner reflection, not outward action.
- Proceed with caution, but also trust your instincts — even if they don’t make “logical” sense.
Keywords: Illusion, mystery, subconscious, dreams, intuition, shadow work, uncertainty.
🌒 Reversed Meaning
Reversed, The Moon can reveal:
- Clarity after confusion, truths surfacing.
- Facing fears, seeing through illusions.
- Alternatively, deeper deception, or being even more lost in fantasy or denial.
- Emotional overwhelm, anxiety, or distorted thinking.
Keywords: Release of fear, unveiling truths, mental fog, self-deception, emotional confusion.
💬 Common Interpretations
- Love: Things may not be clear right now — feelings might be misunderstood or hidden. Reversed could signal deception or clarity after emotional chaos.
- Career: Uncertainty, hidden motives, or misleading situations. Trust your gut. Reversed might mean secrets are being revealed.
- Spiritual: A time of deep inner work. Shadow integration, dream messages, psychic opening. Reversed may indicate resistance to seeing what’s in the shadow.
🪞 Descent Into Mystery
The Moon asks:
“Can you sit in the unknown without needing all the answers? Can you walk the shadowed path and listen to your dreams?”
This card is a portal to the subconscious — a call to trust your instincts, do your shadow work, and find your way not through logic… but through feeling.
Want a dream journaling prompt, a shadow work spread, or a ritual for moonlight clarity inspired by this card? I’ve got a cauldron full of ideas 🌚🦀
