Card XVIII, Major ArcanaThe Moon tarot card meaning
Upright and reversedThe Moon in shortIn short
The Moon is a night road. You can't see well, fear fills the gaps, and the only light is borrowed. Go slowly, trust what you sense, and decide in the morning.
- Illusion
- Fear
- Intuition
Piece oneThe moon
A calm face, its eyes closed, hangs over the restless world below. The moon has no light of its own; it only reflects the sun. Drops fall from it, which Waite calls the dew of thought.
"The face of the mind directs a calm gaze upon the unrest below."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe moon sets the light for the whole card, and it's borrowed light. Under it you see the towers, the path and the animals only by half. The dog and the wolf howl up at it, and the crayfish crawls toward it. Take the moon away and nothing below would move.
Piece twoThe towers
Two towers stand like a gate. Between them a path winds on to the edge of the horizon, and nobody can see where it ends.
"The path between the towers is the issue into the unknown."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe towers mark the way out. They stand at the edge of the known land, and the path runs between them toward the hills. The animals guard its start, the crayfish rises toward it from the pool. You have to pass all of them to leave.
Piece threeDog & wolf
Both howl at a light that is not their own. In Waite's card one is a dog and one a wolf; in our deck one is pale and one is dark. Waite reads them as the fears of the natural mind, standing at the way out with only reflected light to see by.
"The dog and the wolf are the fears of the natural mind..."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThey sit right at the foot of the path, so you can't reach the towers without passing them. One tame, one wild, both stirred up by the same pale light. They're the noise your fear makes when you can't see well.
Piece fourThe deep
Out of the water something crawls toward the land: the oldest and lowest part of us, trying to come into the light. As a rule, Waite says, it sinks back to where it came from.
"It strives to attain manifestation... but as a rule it sinks back whence it came."Waite, 1911
Why it is hereThe pool is where the path begins. The crayfish is the first thing trying to walk it, from the deepest water up toward the towers and the moon. It almost never makes it, which tells you how long that road is.
Colour, and where else it appearsEchoes
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The moon
Pale cream on deep blue: borrowed light on night. In the Eight of Cups a small moon watches a figure climb away into the dark. The High Priestess keeps a crescent at her feet. In the Two of Swords a thin crescent hangs over the sea behind the blindfolded woman. Here the moon fills the sky, and the whole card answers to it.
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The towers
Pale stone towers, a yellow path, the one bright line through the dark land. In Death two small towers stand on the horizon with the sun rising between them. In Temperance a path climbs from the water to a light in the hills. On The Moon the same road runs at night.
Also in -
Dog & wolf
One animal pale, one dark: the tamed part of you and the wild one. The Fool walks with a small white dog jumping at his heels, a friend on the way. Here the dog has a wild twin, and both howl instead of play.
Also in -
The deep
A red-orange crayfish, raw life, against cold blue water. In The Star a woman pours water back into a pool under a clear sky, and it heals. On The Moon the pool gives something up instead, and it's still half in the dark.
Also in
Colour notes are ours, read from the picture; Waite does not explain the colours.
The MoonUpright
You can't see clearly right now. Maybe you feel uneasy without a reason, dream more, or suspect someone isn't telling you everything. Waite's list is dark: hidden enemies, danger, darkness, deception, error.
The card doesn't say the danger is real. It says you can't tell yet. Your imagination fills the gaps, with insight one night and fear the next. Walk the path between the towers, slowly, and check what you think you see before you act on it.
The MoonReversed
The fog starts to lift. Waite's words get softer: instability, silence, smaller deceptions and errors. A fear turns out smaller than it looked, a secret comes out, or you admit what you already knew.
Sometimes the confusion just gets quieter: you're still unsure, only less scared. Name what frightened you, now that you can see it.
Yes or noNot yet.
The Moon isn't a clear no, but nothing here is settled. Ask "will it work out?" and the card tells you that you don't have the whole picture. Wait for more, or ask again later.
The Moon in your lifeIn your life
Love
Big feelings, plenty of guessing. You may read signs into small things, or someone may be hiding something. Talk before you assume.
Work
Vague plans, rumours, rules that keep moving. Get it in writing. Don't sign in a hurry.
Money
Read the small print. Skip bets and deals you don't fully understand.
Health
Worry and bad sleep feel bigger at night. A card can't diagnose you; if something's wrong, see a doctor.
Spirituality
Good for dreams and intuition. Keep a dream journal and watch what comes back.
Advice
Slow down. Don't decide in the dark. Check your fears against facts.
As a person
Sensitive, imaginative, intuitive. Sometimes anxious, sometimes hard to read.
Past, present, future
Past: a confusing time you got through. Present: fog, so walk carefully. Future: some uncertainty before it clears.
Written by us, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
Symbols and correspondencesAt a glance
- Number
- XVIII
- Hebrew letter
- Qoph
- Astrology
- Pisces
- Element
- Water
- Upright
- Deception
- Reversed
- Instability
QuestionsCommon questions
No. It's a hard one, full of confusion and fear, but it's also the card of dreams and intuition. It warns you; it doesn't condemn you.
Strong feelings and doubt. Something hasn't been said, so say it before you decide what it means.
Not yet. Wait until you know more.
Waite calls it "that which comes up out of the deeps": the oldest, most animal part of you, crawling toward land and usually sinking back.
Pisces, a water sign, in the Golden Dawn system. Its Hebrew letter is Qoph.
Waite calls The Moon the life of the imagination, apart from the life of the spirit. Its light is borrowed, and the path it lights runs into the unknown.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911Meanings and quotes: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911. Letter, sign and element: the Golden Dawn's Book T. We wrote the colours, life situations, yes or no and questions ourselves, from Waite's meanings and the picture.
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