We all have cards we could talk about forever and others where we get stuck on a few interpretations.

I have had a challenging relation with the Moon card for some time. It is therefore no surprise that it keeps popping up in my readings quite often.

It has been my experience that using several decks often expand our interpretations of the cards.

I have therefore decided to look at the Moon card from The Osho Zen Tarot, The Rider Waite, Ancient Tarot De Marseille and Sacred Rose Tarot.
My intent was to look at the Moon from four distinct perspectives.

Let’s start with the version from the R.W.S. the one most are familiar with.

Here we have the pond representing our subconscious. There is a cray fish coming out of it, a memory from our past.

On the land there are a dog and a wolf side by side howling at the moon.
The dog is our domesticated side, the wolf our wild side.

Should the cray fish get out of the water and take the path to wisdom (mountains) it would have to get past the two animals first, the two towers later and up a very long winding mysterious path.

It is no surprise than that most of us get back into the water and stay stuck in our repetitive automatic response to challenges and surprises.

We also know that the Moon goes through cycles that repeat themselves. We know that in the reflective light of the Moon it is hard to see clearly. We can often get confused by the shadows, see something and think it is something else.

My interpretation.

The Moon suggests we look at situations carefully. We may easily make mistakes, confusing our perception with objective reality.
We may be facing a challenge similar to others in the past. To get a different result we need to change our response. We need to go past our first instinct.
What buttons are being pushed? Why?
We may be going through an emotional time. Dreams may be particularly vivid. Write them down. Think about them. Our intuition may be working over time. We may be involved in esoteric studies. We may also be a bit moody.

Ancient Tarot De Marseille.

This one is the first Tarot deck I used. The pictures are crude and the Minors only show the numbers of the element they represent. 9 cups, 3 swords and so on. A good thing of this deck is that it is functional. The pictures are simple, everything in them has a meaning and colors are no exception. Pink represent what you need to work on. In the Moon card the dog and the wolf are both pink. Finding balance between our wild and domesticated sides are keys. In other words, engage with the wolf to follow and understand your instinct, your urges, your connection to the Natural world around you. Engage with the dog also. Let the rational, educated part of you, question your intuitive hits, your perception, to avoid becoming delusional or disconnected from the present reality, the society you live in.
Falling from the sky we have blue, spiritual research/ knowledge. Red is passion. Yellow/ Gold is understanding and awareness.

So the goal of the card in this deck is to become objective, by understanding that truth may be subjective, shaped as it is by personal perceptions, culture and experience.

Sacred Rose Deck.

Here the picture is heavy with emotions, like some dreams often are.
The dancers confuses us with her movement and incredible posture. The cray fish is our attempt to get out of the confused memories and repetitive patterns to find light, clarity and a new response. Given that it is a water creature and not a land one, gives us the idea of how difficult that goal is.

Osho Zen Tarot.

The Moon card in this deck is called Past Lives.
The picture is totally different. Two hands contain people/ souls of different gender, ethnicity and age. Below them are more souls. The image reminds us of a womb, the porthole from one existence to the other. Here two colorful lizards replace the dog and the wolf. The lizards are the guardians of the unconscious. Past experiences have shaped us and condition our present through our learned responses. The key is to understand the effect of karma, without getting distracted by the details of our past lives. The author says that gaining a glimpse into the past would be a gift, more would be overwhelming.

That thought reminds me of extreme interpretations of the Moon card. Meanings I would apply in the presence of other troublesome cards.

Depression. Delusion. Extreme confusion.

I would like to close this post acknowledging my faithful apprentice and assistant, my cat Lovie.