And the moon never beams
Without bringing me dreams....
—from "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe
Ah, yes. The Moon. We have been in this place before, very recently in fact, during our Summer Solstice three-card reading when The Moon came up as one of the supporting cards.
But that is the nature of the moon. Unlike the still and steady Sun, the Moon is a creature of motion and flux. Its appearance changes ever-so-slightly from moment to moment, moving through its phases: dark, crescent, full. Waxing and waning, waning and waxing, sometimes its face is invisible to the eye, hidden in the shadow of the Earth. Sometimes it shines in full illumination.
But regardless of whether or not we can see it, it is always there. And it will always return. Its approximately 28-day cycle moves it in correspondence to the female menstrual cycle, tying it to the process of creation itself. Birth and death and rebirth, chaos and order, dissolution and coagulation. These are the energies of the moon, and as such, The Moon.
This passage from The Druidcraft Tarot explains this card very well:
As we enter the realm of the moon, we come to a source of creativity: the world of the imagination and dreams—a mysterious and intriguing realm that can ensnare us in delusion as well as inspire us with visions. It is the realm of enchantment, which can be both positive and negative. It is here that we must use our powers of discrimination. The challenge offered by the Moon is to...separate truth from illusion, while at the same time allowing yourself to be open to the realm of the imagination and psychic vision.
This week, take a step into the moonlight. Ask one of your pet fears to sit with you in that pearly glow. There will be shadows. There always are. But just remember: a shadow is simply substance plus light.
The Earth is spinning her way around the Sun in a dance older than every story we have ever told, soon to be at one of the year's two solstice peaks. For those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the Summer Solstice approaching, the longest day of the year. The word "solstice" has its root in in stillness, and so that is what we are doing this week—slowing down and looking at the Universe in a grain of sand.
Or a spread of cards.
I've been analyzing the three-card reading I did over a month ago, one that turned out to be rather monumental—Judgment, The Moon, and Temperance (you can read my individual analyses by clicking on any of the previous). As in the above illustration, Judgment was the central card in the spread, the thematic statement of the reading, its message flavored by and echoed in the two supporting cards. So let's start there.
Judgment is the card of the calling, and as such, shows up at times when the Universe is delivering a summons (being "called" is a feature of all the cards in this spread, a through-line that gives us the major theme of the reading). Judgment features the angelic messenger Gabriel blowing upon his celestial trumpet, waking the departed from their graves, and as such it calls to parts of us that perhaps we have thought long-dead. It bids us to rise and come forth and—and this is the most important part—heed the call.
That's your first question—what are you being called to do? Since this is a celestial call, you'll feel it in your bones, which are made of stardust. This call might scare you—angels are not exactly the bland pastel presences that greeting cards make them out to be. They are the messengers of all that matters and can be frankly terrifying, with beating wings and rushing air. So there might be fear associated with this call, perhaps a deep existential kind. Your rational brain will probably try to hold you back from leaping to this call, terror being one of its clues that maybe you are venturing too close to the edge/the sun/the monster/the unknown. It responds to this cue like a dog to a whistle.
Such is fear, which is the most primal of protective responses. It's a huge part of the second card, The Moon, too. The Moon beckons you to move forward, from the waters of the subconscious and past the baying wolf and hound, up the crooked path and between the imposing pillars. The Moon send up the warning that whatever you are being called to do, it will have a nightmare or two attached. But all calls that matter come with fear because all calls that matter come with the threat of loss. So ponder for a while on these moonlit shores—what are you attached to that is preventing you from answering this call? What do you fear might happen if you say yes to it?
Take some time with this step. Call your fears up from the deep. Look at them clearly. Sit with them for a while. This is the hard part, but it is necessary preparation for the second angel, Temperance.
A
lchemists describe the process that Temperance initiates as solve et coagula—dissolve and coagulate—and as you might expect, people sometimes have a harder time with the breaking apart of things than the coming together. But breaking must happen. This is how the building blocks of whatever is coming next will be formed, in the ash and crush of something returning to source. Think atomic energy. Think combustion. Think raw materials. Temperance may be compassionate, and deliberate, but she is not necessarily gentle.
As you can tell, this is no fortune cookie reading. This is Big Deal Stuff. Yesterday I posted about love, and how this is the only thing that can save us in this burning world. This reading compels you to love as fiercely as you can through whatever art you make—writing, painting, singing, sculpting, playing, moving, acting, dancing, praying, storytelling—and to do it now. Release whatever you must to make room for that love to thrive in this world, even if that means letting go of a fear that seems to be keeping you safe. Share your art with others, and receive theirs in return. This will make you wildly vulnerable. Do it anyway.
You have been gifted. It is time to unwrap that gift and take it out of the box. It really really is.
And now we come to the second card in my Great Big Spring Into Summer Reading: The Moon. The first card was last week's Judgment; we'll get to Temperance next week. But for now, stretch out in a midnight shadow and look high above the trees—The Moon is beckoning.
The Moon is a card of the senses. It is lush, exotic, slightly taboo in its sense of otherworldly seduction. The Moon beckons. It pulls with tidal, irresistible power. This is the card of the subconscious, and as such, brings with it a knowing that is both deeper and more evanescent than conscious understanding.
It is mystery and emotion. It is fantasy and imagination. Writers should know the feeling it evokes very well. The Moon represents the times when our plot seems to twist away from our control, sliding its sinewy way into uncharted lands. Our characters refuse to cooperate with our plans, moving of their own agency in unexpected and perplexing directions. This is the time of fever dreams and rushing words, of barely being able to keep up with the story bursting onto the page. We feel possessed. Enthralled. Not entirely sane.
Such is the moon. It illuminates, but not in an entirely coherent light, which is something every lunatic understands (and we all have an inner lunatic, every one of us). But how does The Moon connect to Judgment and Temperance? What message could there possibly be in that trilogy?
One clue lies in the imagery of the card itself. The ocean represents the subconscious, the dog and the wolf the baying voices of fear. The path represents our journey out of the subconscious, past our fears, and into. . . . what? The card does not show us. The twin pillars in the distance represent the unknown, the boundary beyond that which you already know. You are being asked to walk through them.
Last week we looked at Judgment as a card of interesting times, of the call that pulls you out of the life you know into the life you were meant to have. The Moon is the portal you must walk through, past your fears and into The Next Thing. As such, both Judgment and The Moon function as cards of initiation.
And so does Temperance.
But we'll get to that dual-natured angel next week. Until then, pay attention to your dreams. Watch for synchronicities. Listen for whispers. The Universe is an engine of revelation, and it has an important message in the works for you.
