The Moon often symbolizes our unconscious mind and inner self.   It can herald a time of inner transformation, initiation or awareness.  The Moon is connected with the night and dreams.  It is the gateway of the soul representing the tides of emotion and consciousness.  It is the primal source of intuition and initiation.  The Moon is the 18th Trump card of the Major Arcana.  18 reduces down to 9 (1+8=9) which is a mathematically magical number - its square root is three and the sum of any number multiplied by nine equals nine when added together (e.g.. 9 x 8 = 72, 7 + 2 = 9).  The Moon is often a card of intuition, mystery, magick and inner consciousness.  It symbolizes a need for introspection; listening to the voice within but doing with a wary approach so that you are truly heeding your inner wisdom and not following false desires or illusions.  

How appropriate to draw The Moon the day after I drew the High Priestess.  The two are very interconnected in my mind.  I guess I've always viewed the High Priestess as the guide who can lead us safely through the lunar landscape.  With her guidance and training we can move beyond the illusions and tricks the night can play on us and connect with that well of inner wisdom that is within us all.

I don't really connect with The Moon whether in an astrological sense or in a Tarot sense.  As I pointed out when talking about the High Priestess, introspection isn't really one of my strong suits.  On the plus side I also don’t' delude myself about my motivations or anything.  I might not share it with others, because quite frankly it's no one else's business, but I very rarely lie to myself about anything.  Okay, there may be times when even I don't really know what my motivation is for some things or what drives me, but 75% of the time I do.

What I also know about myself is that I mistrust the energies of the Moon.  Despite my affinity for Tarot, I mistrust the unconscious and the claim to be psychic.  I'm not always willing to swim in the waters of emotions and the unconscious mind.  If I jump in, I try to get out as quickly as possible.  It's messy and disordered and doesn't respond well to reason and efforts to control or contain it.  

I prefer the route that is clearly lit and makes sense.  I understand that the unconscious needs to exist but I don't always feel the need to wallow in it.  In fact, I prefer to stay as far from it as possible because in my experience you can't save people from their own crap and that's what tends to be lurking beneath the surface of the lunar landscape - crap.  Obviously I don't mean real crap, I'm talking about people's unresolved issues, emotional mishegas and other detritus that lingers in our unconscious and sabotages us when we least expect it.  Some people are very comfortable in this realm and I admire and envy them, but that is not my comfort zone.  

Ironically, in real life I love the night.  I can think of nothing more beautiful than a full, radiant moon hanging in the velvet darkness of the night sky.  I have always been a night owl and find myself fighting sleep while the moon is up and finally succumbing only when the sun starts to rise.  So why this split?  I'm not sure.  It's something I'll need to explore further in the future.  But for right now I'm too tired and sick to figure it all out.