Major Arcana 18, the Moon, has amongst its keywords, ‘confusion’. This is apt since this card can be extremely confusing when it appears in a reading.

Recently a friend reached out to me with this question about the Moon.

I am studying the Moon today and the keywords I have are very confusing: intuition, illusion, deception, darkness, reflection, fear, subconscious, dreams, difficulty, imagination, journey, spirituality, mystery, and psychic awareness. How do I decipher this card among all these unrelated descriptions?

I think it is fair to say that the Moon is one of the deepest and most confusing cards of the tarot. Our collective relationship with this card has changed over time. Go-to interpretations seem to vary depending on each reader’s cultural background.

I blame misogyny and fear of witchcraft for some of the negativity historically associated with this card. The moon in the sky has always been associated with feminine spiritual power. What was and is feared and persecuted by some as witchcraft is practiced and celebrated by others. This easily explains the dichotomy between deception and spirituality.

The moon in the sky ‘steals’ its light from the sun. The full moon has long been associated with insanity. The words ‘lunacy’ and ‘lunatic’ have ‘luna’ as their root word.

This makes sense, too. I often say that there is a thin line between psychic and psychotic.

There is a deeper and more provocative consideration with the Moon as well. We can see the twenty-one numbered cards of the Major Arcana as three groups of seven, and the final seven as the journey toward spiritual enlightenment.

The Devil is the gatekeeper. To begin this journey, we must see ourselves as we truly are. The Tower is the first step toward releasing false foundations. The Star allows us to heal. Then we approach the Moon.

The Moon represents spiritual truth. As we walk through the moonlight, we know that things do not appear as they do in the sunlight. Walking at night is fraught with danger. The path to spiritual truth is likewise fraught. There are cults, fundamentalism, and scams. There is egotism, and spiritual bypassing. There is greed and lust for power and control. There are many ways to be trapped as we pursue the spiritual truth and knowledge that leads to enlightenment.

The Moon shows us the path, and the Moon shows us that there are dangers along the path.

As part of this search for spiritual truth, the Moon speaks of intuition. How often intuition can be subverted in favor of fear and desire!

In a reading, the Moon may speak of this deep, dark, and important journey. Yet, as with all tarot cards, the Moon may speak of more mundane things as well. The Moon may appear to tell us of simpler hidden dangers, such as a false friend, or an infestation of termites.

The Moon may encourage our psychic development. The Moon may tell us to pay attention to our dreams. The Moon may encourage us to practice magick and witchcraft. The Moon may warn us about someone’s ill intentions toward us.

The Moon may simply make note of the confusing mysteries of life. Sometimes when the Moon appears regarding a particular department of life it is an invitation to dig deeper into that department to reveal something that has been hidden. The Moon might indicate that we are confused about something, or that something will turn out differently than we imagine.

The obvious question is this. When we see the Moon in a reading, how do we know whether to encourage psychic development, call an exterminator, or deeply explore hidden aspects of our romantic relationship?

As with all tarot interpretation, context is the key. We need to look at the spread position meaning, or the question that was asked. We need to consider the surrounding cards, and our intuitive reaction to the card. The person for whom the card is drawn also provides context. For a devout Catholic, the Moon may offer a suggestion to light a candle in church and pray for a loved one. When drawn for a practice Pagan, this card may be a directive to dance naked in the moonlight. When drawn for a person who is seeking consultation regarding a career situation, the Moon may indicate confusion about career goals and direction, or a coworker or boss who is stealing credit or sabotaging projects.

It is possible, too, that the Moon will have more than one message for us. We can interpret the same card multiple times in a reading.

Tarot study is different than tarot interpretation. Tarot study teaches us, in theory, to interpret the cards. Tarot study also gives us access to the spiritual lessons inherent in the cards. Our spiritual understand of each card can be expansive. That understanding can become part of the spiritual code by which we live every day. The interpretation of a card in a reading will likely not involve all aspects of those deeper spiritual lessons.

While the possibilities for interpretation of Major Arcana 18 are vast, there is a simple thing we can remember about this card. Whenever the Moon appears, we might consider that things may not be as they seem.

When we study the Moon, we learn vital lessons about our path to spiritual understanding. We learn to avoid cheap and easy answers that pose as simple spiritual truths. We learn that we must dig to expose the depths of dark murkiness pierced by glimpses of light that spiritual growth truly is.