The Moon

TheMoon

Iam confused (which people who know me realize is a natural statefor
me!).I was looking through several decks for some inspiration about
TheMoon. Those of you who have read some articles about Aleister
Crowleywill remember his famous line, "Tzaddi is not the star".

Inthe RWS deck the numbering system begins with the Fool and that
cardis numbered 0. It is given the Hebrew letter Aleph, the first
numberof the Hebrew alphabet. The letters are assigned in a linear
fashionwhich brings us to the Moon card (numbered 18) and the Hebrew
letterQOPH, number 19 in the alphabet. My books say that this letter
means"ear", stands for the occult extension of sleep, thedirection
South-Below,the corporeal intelligence and the zodiacal sign Pisces.
Onthe face of it, this seems reasonable.

Now,lets go back to Tzaddi. The RWS (and the Golden Dawn) assignthe
letterTzaddi to the 17th card, the Star. Tzaddi means fish hookand
representsthought, meditation, South-above, and Aquarius. Again, this
seemsreasonable given the meaning of the card.

Nowfor the spanner in the works. I have a lovely deck calledthe
KazanlarTarot. It was designed by Emil Kazanlar. Mr. Kazanlar came
froma father of mixed Turkish and Persian background and aHungarian
mother.He lived in the countries of both parents and grew up in a
homewhere each parent followed a different religion. The deck isa
combinationof Asian and European influences. His illustrations and
cardmeanings can be quite different from what we are used to inNorth
America.

Inthis deck the numbering system begins with the number 1 card,the
Magician,which is given the first number of the Hebrew alphabet
Aleph.(This always made more sense to me but I do understand thatthe
placingof the Hebrew letters was very difficult and involved - they
don'treally belong there, it is a man-made convention that was used
totry to tie more symbolism into the cards).

Thisnumbering system brings us to the Moon card which in this deckis
assignedTzaddi! Hey! Tzaddi really isn't the Star :)

Nowwe know that Tzaddi means fish-hook. The author states that,"the
hookserves also to fix together something that is loose. It makesthe
uncertain,certain. A subtitle for the Moon is pleasant uncertainty;
moonlightsignifies uncertainty...It is reminiscent of a
will-o'-the-wispthat catches the eye and gives a vague premonition of
danger".

So,finally the questions! Do the attributions assigned to the cards
makeany difference to you? Does associating Pisces vs. Aquariuschange
themeaning of the card? Does anyone really care if the Moon is QOPH
orTzaddi? Does your interpretation of a card change when usingdecks
withdifferent symbols and associations? Just what is it in a Tarot
cardthat "speaks" to you?

Commondivinatory meanings of the Moon are voluntary change, mystery,
theoccult, dreams, the inner path, the subconscious, deception,fear,
unforeseenperils, hidden dangers, restlessness.
Ithink it also represents the dangers of the Spiritual path. These
areusually based on fear of the unknown, conditioning from society
andmainstream religion. We must take this journey; emotional
commitmentto a materialistic philosophy of life only creates an
illusionof safety and quite often manifests that which we fear the
most.It is inevitable that we make the journey to the light, we might
aswell have fun along the way!

Oh,I almost forgot. Some Moon lore for everyone. The Moon is theonly
astralbody which encircles the earth. The planets revolve around the
Sunand the sun revolves around the Galactic centre. That makes the
Moonvery special to us here on earth.

Radiant Waite Tarot and Kazanlar Tarot:
http://taroteca.multiply.com/photos

Posted by email from Sesheta's Place (posterous)