Moon
From Tarotpedia
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[edit] History and Iconography
[edit] Early representations
The earliest known list of the Trumps (Sermones de Ludo Cum Aliis) calls this card La Luna (The Moon). The Visconti-Sforza Tarot simply depicts a woman who clutches a crescent moon in her right hand and looks at it with a bit of a sulky expression; with her left hand she plays with the cords around her waist. She is clad in a long, red dress with a blue one underneath and her feet are bare.
As with The Star, the Rosenwald Sheet keeps things particularly straightforward: it only portrays a large moon that has a face with human traits, with a motif at the top and bottom of the card. The image on the Cary Sheet is more elaborate and shows a crustacean in a pool of water, rising to the call of a radiant moon (again depicted with a face) in the sky above. On either side of the card is a hill with a tower.
In the Tarot de Marseille, La Lune (The Moon) also shows a crustacean, which in the Conver is coloured blue as if it is hidden in the depths of the pool of water. Two buildings or towers are again shown on either side of the card, with a striking moon in between: it has a face and emits brightly coloured "drops", twenty-two in total in the Noblet. Two dogs seem to want to have a taste and stick out their tongues in an attempt to catch them.
[edit] 20th-century representations
The Moon in the Waite-Smith Tarot is very close to its counterpart in the Tarot de Marseille. A crustacean is once again shown crawling out of the water, raising its claws to the moon’s calm, melancholy face. There is now also a path that runs from the pool, between the two towers in the background, and leads far into the distance. Instead of the two dogs in the Tarot de Marseille, the card depicts a dog confronted with a wolf, his untamed family member.
[edit] Suggested Divinatory Meanings
There is a sense of wildness to The Moon – somehow it brings us in contact with the subconscious and with our instincts and hidden fears. We all know how different things look at night in the moonlight, so this card may indicate mystery, secrets or even a time of confusion. With this card around, nothing is exactly as it seems and emotions may be running high.
[edit] Attributions
These are not accepted outside of those who follow such attributions
[edit] General |
[edit] Golden Dawn oriented (and derivatives) |
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Numeral : XVIII; 18
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[edit] In other languages
- Dutch: Maan
- French: La Lune
- German: Der Mond
- Hungarian: Hold
- Italian: La Luna
- Portuguese: A Lua
- Spanish: La Luna
