La Lune (the Moon) - how may it be read?

The eclipse of the Sun, the conjunction of the Bride and Bridegroom, mixed as it is here with the concept of lamentation, calls to mind that part of the Osiris/Isis myth of the magical conception of Horus to Isis when she was in mourning [and perhaps there are parallels with the immaculate conception, the gateway of heaven between two pillars?]. I don't see this card primarily as being about 'horror and madness', but of initiation and rebirth, the realization of the illusionary nature of death and temporal time; a hierophany in which through the continuity of life the eternal is glimpsed.

"She carried the box back to Egypt and placed it in the house of the gods. She changed herself into a bird and flew about his body, singing a song of mourning. Then she perched upon him and cast a spell. The spirit of dead Osiris entered her and she did conceive and bear a son whose destiny it would be to avenge his father. She called the child Horus, and hid him on an island far away from the gaze of his uncle Seth."

Kwaw

Marvelous stories, everyone...

Probably, every culture down through the ages has "moon" myths...

Although I see the "dark side" of the La Lune as a card image, I also associate romance, nostalgia, longing for something beyond our reach...offering hope...but needing to find a way through to our dreams.

terri

roppo said:

. . . Recently I purchased an early 16th century leaf of printed Book of Hours which shows a typical IC image.

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That is really nice Roppo!

I just returned from visiting Tokyo and I'm quite surprised at the flow of this thread; it's very refreshing to read so many ideas, especially Kwaw's, Helvetica's and others.

MM ~ On a more mundane level, and without the beauty of all those moon myths, I had this card come up recently for someone doing a job search. Yes, they would find work, but it would be the night shift. BB, Stella

Moongold said:

I don’t accept without question the negative associations around Moon. They come from a European culture dark with the smoke of burning witches, politically chauvinist Christianity and smouldering patriarchy in many other forms. I could expand on this but won’t now. Pardon the full blown language! The image itself is full blown so perhaps it's warranted.

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An unfair and untrue comment about the European relationship with the moon. There are many Moon poems in European languages. Most emphasise her beauty, tranquility and mystery (read the Cyrano passage I quoted on Sunday - it is fairly typical).

The Greek and Roman goddesses most closely associated to the Moon were beautiful and independent (Artemis/Diana); the dark side is of course represented, as always in Myth (Hecate). Typically in European and near Eastern mythology, the Moon symbolised the feminine, the mother, fertility, cycles of life. She is also release from social bonds, douce folie, she shines over rites of passage that touch upon the unconscious - most initiatory cults (e.g. the Orphic) took place by moonlight. Shakespeare's most enchanting (and enchanted) play happens by moonlight. The Moon frees something in us that is held in check during the day. We go moonlight bathing in the nude, though nakedness is visible by the light of the moon, more readily than in the daylight.

I am not saying that everyone loved the moon. Her association with the feminine made her vulnerable to disdain and fear by those men who disdained and feared women. But this seems to have affected very little the cultural, artistic or folk responses to the Moon.

If anything, the danger is stronger now: in busy urban environments, how many people see or notice the Moon? How many people in the modern world have time for douce folie and poetry, for gazing at the moon, for falling in love by moonlight? Not with the telly, internet and smoky bars competing!

I think, also, a lot of people who wrote about the Marseille Tarot wrote at a time when Freudian theories of the subconscious full of repressed horrors were very much the craze and pervading the whole of culture. It's not representative of the long-standing love and fascination for the Moon but it has coloured later interpetations.

I cannot see the ghastliness of XVIII-La Lune. It's a strong image, but beautiful. There is a dark side - it's a symbol after all! - but I see the beauty and enchantment too. As for dogs howling at the Moon - a neighbour's Alsatian used to do that every full Moon and for a couple of nights before and after. I place myself in the shell of Diogenes the crayfish, and rise to watch the gentle glow veiling and revealing the countryside.

tmgrl2 said:

Marvelous stories, everyone...
Although I see the "dark side" of the La Lune as a card image, I also associate romance, nostalgia, longing for something beyond our reach...offering hope...but needing to find a way through to our dreams.

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terri ~

Of course you make these associations with Moon....... But where do you actually see these in the card? Where is the iconology for these in the card? That is my point. It is a little bit like the RWS III Swords, although I think that image is less grim than this one. Simply looking at this card as it is, it is quite difficult to make positive associations. In an actual reading, of course, a lot would depend on the other cards.

If the Tarot represents a journey to source or to individuation, there is a place for something to represent darkness because it is often only through darkness than one finds the light. It is logical that the moon was chosen to do this. If one looks the cards as a coherent system with star, sun and moon that is even more logical. In many ways the image of Moon complements a system of thought which existed at the time. I'm simply one of many people who would not normally have associated the moon with these things. In the middle ages I probably would have been burned at the stake.

What I have said is simply something to think about. The Fournier Moon is very dark, much darker and therefore perhaps more sinister than any other Marseille version of La Lune. .

Some contemporary decks do reflect how I feel about the Moon. In the Buddha Tarot the card is called the Full Moon and represents unconditional love, compassion, forgiveness, a time for rest. The Marseille La Lune captures a strong mythology about moon that I simply don't share, and that is OK. I am not going to stop using the Marseille because of this. . La Lune is certainly challenging, provocative.

Helvetica said:

An unfair and untrue comment about the European relationship with the moon. There are many Moon poems in European languages. Most emphasise her beauty, tranquility and mystery (read the Cyrano passage I quoted on Sunday - it is fairly typical).

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I am merely reflecting one aspect of European history and thinking which I think is reflected in this image. I know there are others. They are simply not reflected in this image.

I know the whole card is symbolic. In fact that is precisely my point. I know the moon can symbolize other things too, but this card does not show them.

Not to me ....... not yet anyway .

Moongold said:

I am merely reflecting one aspect of European history and thinking which I think is reflected in this image. I know there are others. They are simply not reflected in this image.

I know the whole card is symbolic. In fact that is precisely my point. I know the moon can symbolize other things too, but this card does not show them.

Not to me ....... not yet anyway .

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Ok, I'll agree to differ with you on this one. I just don't see what you see in the card. I see the bright and the dark side of the Moon, of instinct, intuition and imagination; a very complete and fulfilling symbol

I have the Dodal before me. The face looks like an old granny

By the light of the Moon

This is very interesting – to some extent what the Tarot is all about. Symbols and what they evoke in us. I’m sure there are images that others don’t like in the Marseille, as in all decks. Hey! No-one is saying that the Marseille is totally perfect …… or are they?

I have no desire to argue with what another person sees but am curious to know how s/he sees.

An interesting personal project for me late last year was to look at how the Moon is represented in the various decks that I have.

For those interested in comparison, here are just three:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/Firepeace/Moon-discussion.gif

The image on the left is from the Ancestral Path. The middle image is my Marseille Fournier. The one on the right is from the Buddha Tarot by Robert Place.

Moongold...I am posting the

Dodal (Left) and Noblet (Right) from Flornoy's letarot.com decks...

The whole feel of the coloring here is different....

Also, the sun is quite clearly prominent....

In the sequence Star, Moon, Sun...certainly the dark side of La Lune...can and does indicate the darker qualities we have discussed...and perhaps a sequence of these three cards being a mini Birth, Death, Resurrection...

But I clearly see a "longing" for the "Sun," for brightness and love and rebirth in these cards.

terri