“It is only inconstant when you aren’t getting what you want.”
As a physical object that orbits the earth we live upon, the Moon is constant in its behavior and path. However, how we perceive that behavior varies from day to day, and in certain circumstances, minute by minute. This apparent inconstancy frames how the Moon card is perceived in a tarot reading and is a prism that changes how the question gives context to the answer.
At the briefest of reviews, the Moon card represents the darkness and obscurity of night, while also being a light that rules over and gives body to the shadows that inhabit that night. It is the opposite of the Sun card while also being a complement that provides what the Sun card cannot. The Sun’s light is trustworthy, but the Moon’s light is deceiving. Under the Sun, all actions are laid bare, but under the Moon, everything is obscured. The Sun requires everyone’s full attention and awareness, but the Moon gives space to dreams and dreamers alike. And where the presence or absence of the Sun determines if one is in day or night and sets the timing of the day, the Moon wanders through all hours without regard to dawn or dusk and instead sets the timing of monthly cycles.
This waxing and waning of the physical Moon is a signal to the reader that the Moon card can be both taken at face value on the table while also pointing to a deeper understanding that may take Reader and Querent time to uncover. Because of its ability to complete the sentence while contradicting the theme, the context and wording of the question is the most important part of the answer. The Sun card answers directly. The Moon card answers obliquely.
In a one-card reading, the Moon card intones, “Maybe”. What is asked of might happen, or it might not. It challenges the Querent to be honest about their intentions and their works. Are they seeking the answer they want versus the answer they need? Are they being forthright with their question in the first place. What are they avoiding that would reveal the fallacy they are trying to hold on to? And yet, what do they need to do in privacy to preserve their dream from those who would destroy it on sight?
When the query requires a direct answer, the Moon card says, “Not Yet”. When the query asks for direction and guidance, the Moon card says, “What strikes your fancy?”. In addition to all the common associations with night activities and events, the Moon card will also challenge direct action by answering, “Are you sure?”.
In a multi-card spread, the Moon can modify adjacent cards by either giving light to an otherwise obscure card, or by eclipsing an otherwise clear card. As the light in the darkness, it can reveal an overlooked aspect or action. As a usurper of attention, it can force an otherwise overwhelming meaning to give place to an interpretation that would normally not be considered otherwise.
If the deck is read with inversions, or if the framing of the questions or adjacent cards makes the appearance of the Moon card unwelcoming, the card then challenges the Querent more directly. The idea that the Querent has planned is based on self-deception and has no sound foundation to fall back upon. It is the seed of nightmares and the mark of advice given in bad faith. It is the grip of unwarranted doubt and the bitterness of fear in the back of your throat. It is a mark of bad timing, and the evidence that the Querent is over their head and should walk their endeavor back until more stable light can reveal the problem. But for all the ways that the Moon card can appear in a spread, mutable and modulating to the point that the very position it falls to can change how the interpretation is revealed, it remains like the entity it is named for: Unyielding. When the Moon card appears, it is the Querent who has to adjust to the revealed environment, and it is the Querent who decides if to continue through obscurity or to stop and wait for clarity.
Next Card: XVII – The Star– “Certain truths, like certain stars, require stillness and clarity to perceive.”
Noxporium’s Tarot Card Masterpost: 78 Tarot Cards
Previous Card: XIX – The Sun – “Regardless of what is happening here, the Sun is always there.”