XVIII - The Moon

Description:

At the top right of the card is a crescent moon, white tinged with rose.  Behind the moon is the silhouetted head of a woman, with grayish blue skin.  Her eyes are closed in meditation.  She appears to be wearing black form-fitting tights, which also covers her head like a hood.  At the back of head is a blue and purple chignon.  Behind her head is another sphere looking like a full moon, from which radiate waves of purple, violet and blue. 

At the center of the card are 18 blood-red droplets, in the shape of the Hebrew letter Yod.  Below these droplets is a blue sphere, positioned in the abdomen of the woman.  The sphere contains what looks like coral.  A crustacean crawls out of this sphere.  To the left of the lower sphere is a black wolf, and to the right is a white wolf, both howling at the moon. 

At the bottom left of the card is the Hebrew letter Qoph, and to the right is the astrological symbol for Pisces.

Symbology:

The Moon is associated with the 29^th path on the Tree of Life, connecting Netzach (the sphere of feeling and personality) with Malkuth (the sphere of physical manifestation).  The moon sphere on the top right of the card and the earthy sphere on the bottom left reflect this path, and there is a barely visible path flowing in the darkness between the two spheres. 

The woman by the Moon is Binah, the universal mother of all creation.  She waits in meditative gestation for the seeds (manifested beings) to sprout in the darkness of her womb (the earth).  Like the moon, she provides the guiding light in the darkness, as a reflection and reassurance of the source of All Light from above. 

The 18 red Yods falling from above represent the seeds of manifestation.  Yod means “hand”, and the Yod hands symbolize the hand of divinity guiding and reaching for the hands of humanity. 

The black and white wolves represent the connection to our core animal and intuitive aspects, the black wolf symbolizing the shadow and the white wolf symbolizing the spirit.  The crustacean crawling from the earth sphere represents the evolutionary urge to move out of the formative mud towards the light. 

Divinatory Meaning:
(from "Tarot of the Spirit" companion book, by Pamela Eakins)

• You cannot see the future clearly, but you must stay on your chosen path

•  Trust your intuition

•  At your darkest hour, you will find that you hold your own light; use your own light to overcome your fears

•  Shedding light on your fears will propel you toward self-understanding, strength and self-confidence.  Through this process, you will heal and move forward into happiness.

Personal Reflections:

The Moon is the beacon, the light at the end of the tunnel that guides us through the dark night of transformation.  Through the vehicle of the body, we emerge and evolve from the mud, experiencing physical, mental and spiritual challenges.  The Moon in its phases reflects both the constancy of change, and the renewing source of Life and Light within us all.