I’ve written interpretations for every card in the Wild Unknown Tarot. As the box of the deck states, there are no rights or wrongs. These are simply my perspectives on the tarot card meanings. I hope you find them useful!
Click here for a directory of all posts in my Wild Unknown series.
Deck Creator’s Keywords: lack of direction, vivid dreams, fears
Carrie’s Keywords: bewilderment, imagination, altered consciousness
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The Moon Tarot Card Meanings in the Wild Unknown
A waning crescent moon hangs in the center of the sky, at the darkest point. It has a yellow hue, but doesn’t emit any rays of light to guide us. It is only a pale, partial reflection of the sun. As enchanting as the moon can be, it can be equally perplexing. Things aren’t always as they seem under the light of the moon.
The moon is positioned between two evergreen trees. The evergreens we saw in the Emperor and even the Tower were full and healthy-looking. The evergreens here, though, are sparse and have a more chaotic, lopsided appearance. In the realm of the moon things are trippy. Is it just your mind playing tricks on you, or is something abnormal really going on?
The ground is not visible in this card. The Moon is a energy that can make it hard to catch your bearings. Up might be down or down might be left might be right. This can lead to wildly imaginative adventures…or it can lead to confusion and anxiety. In the faint light of the moon, you question what is real and what is imagined, what is beautiful fantasy and what is pure madness.
The moon shows a nighttime world of imagination and psychic exploration. This can be a stunning psychedelic experience, offering you access to new dimensions. But it can also become misleading or bewildering. This is an untamed landscape where anything is possible. It is an intriguing place to explore – as long as you don’t become lost forever.
The Moon Tarot Card Meanings in General
In my deck, The Spacious Tarot, the imagery features mushrooms. Mushrooms inhibit their own kingdom. Some grow with no sunlight. Some nourish you. Some kill you. Some take you on a psychedelic journey. A perfect metaphor for the realm of the Moon.
Classic depictions of this card show a crayfish, a dog and a wolf between two pillars. The crayfish represents your ancient lizard brain, the most primal part of your consciousness. The wolf represents your instincts that are still wild, things that you still have even if “civilization” leads you to repress them. The dog represents the tamed parts of your consciousness, the parts that society smiles upon.
The Moon reminds you that consciousness is vast and deep. Some parts of your awareness feel safe and comfortable – other parts feel mysterious and scary. The Moon speaks to all of the ways the vastness of your unconscious can manifest: dreams, fantasies, visions, illusions, anxieties and instincts.
It can be daunting to explore the huge chambers of your consciousness. There are certain aspects of yourself that you may be terrified to face, leading you to deny and repress them. The Moon reminds you that when you refuse to integrate these energies, the energies can be destructive. But when you are willing to step gently into the Moon’s glow, you can integrate these unconscious energies into your conscious awareness. This is a continuation of the process that began with the Devil.
In a reading
When you see the Moon, it may be useful to consider where you are currently experiencing bewilderment. Your imagination is the most powerful tool you have when it is used with reverence. But when your imagination runs away with you, you may find yourself lost in the shadowy confusion of your unconscious mind.
It can be so healthy to make space for the trippy and the abnormal in your life. But it is also important to make sure you don’t lose your orientation completely. Look for ways that you can let your imagination roam while maintaining your connection to something solid.
Hi, I'm Carrie!
I'm a tarot reader and mentor. My purpose is to encourage your expansion. If you're new, start here.
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I got both the emporer and the moon today in my first reading. Interesting that if you look at the negative space between the two trees in the moon, the tree in the emporer would fit just about perfectly if inverted. Dunno that it means anything, just an observation. Also, it looks more like a lunar eclipse than a waning moon to me. Or more accurately an asteroid passing its shadow; a waning moon doesn’t have those crablike claws, but a smaller celestial shadow would do it. But it also may just be artistic license like how every superhero is insanely sexy for no reason. Call it what you will.
Don’t mind me, just replying several months late to this comment. I really like your observation about how the Emperor tree inverted could fit perfectly between the trees in the Moon! I never would have noticed that. Even if it wasn’t intentional on the artist’s part, it’s still kind of cool since the Emperor is all about order and the Moon is all about confusion.
OMG i know i’m so late, but i was looking bc the moon inverted and the emperor on the front, both, as if they were one, flown of my hands
That’s good. Thank you for posting a compliment to the card here in the wild unknown.
This is so weird. I had my pack of moon cards set up with today’s moon card which is waxing gibbous. I started shuffling the tarot card and the moon card jumped out. The crescent moon picture fits exactly into the dark section on the waxing gibbous moon . So odd , then I read the message about the trees on the 2 tarot cards fitting together like a jigsaw in the same way.
What could this mean?