Does anyone else feel uneasy when they see the Moon card?

Or for that matter, the Moon itself.

I always get the feeling of unresolved or unnamed fear in the Moon. It's like it holds secrets that we should know but don't really.

We are always told the moon is so romantic, and I think it is, but its not a serene kind of romantic. It's edgy and unpredictable romance. A little dangerous. And I think the sort of greeting-card image of the moon being for lovers has mislead us into false reading of the moon and the Moon Card.

Does anyone else get that sense of uneasiness I'm describing? How do you feel when you draw The Moon card?

(see The Moon card I designed here: https://www.cultofweimar.com/major-arcana )

Hi JMI_Tarot, actually I have the same feeling when getting The Moon in a reading. Once I saw it as related to romance, seduction and mystery, but lately nomore. I see it instead as referring mainly to fears and anxiety, leading you to surrender to your worst demons. The "positive" side is that it's all in your head, it's all unfounded, but you have to get there yourself, none can help you out to clear your own doubts, people can just tell you not to believe to The Moon lies but then it's up to you.

When I see the Moon card in a spread, I look at the message more closely. There's something there that isn't what it seems. I take it as saying, "Look again. You're missing something or assuming too much." When we're outdoors in the moonlight, we can see vague shapes and shadows, but we're not seeing them in their true colors and we aren't able to assess things accurately till more light is shed when the sun comes up and the bright light of day reveals everything as it truly is.

It took me a while to understand the difference between the Moon and the High Priestess when I started out with tarot. Probably I'm not the only one who was confused that they don't belong together astrologically.

I see many things in the Moon card. It could be called Night or Dreams and Nightmares or Moonshadow...

For me, it's the hidden part of Freud's iceberg where many things are hidden, many of them frightening, some embarrassing, all of them unacknowledged. Our illusions about ourselves and our lives are there, our defense mechanism's secrets, and the reasons for our failures. A bit like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter when functioning as storeroom of forgotten treasures, some broken, some dangerous, but all of them witnesses to the story of Hogwarts.

It's an uncomfortable card, yes, but it's part of who we are. Freud says that Id should become Ego - and when this card shows up, I recognize it's time to do some transformation work, to recover some of these old trash or treasures from the store room and dust them off.

All the tarot archetypes are present within us, and the Moon is the area where the torch of our conscious mind doesn't reach.

I don't think I've ever had the Moon for romance. As an act of being coy-yes, but not for romance. It has also signified that I'm thinking too much about a decision when instinctively I already know what I should do. Or as an alert to pay attention to my dreams. I don't get a feeling of dread or anything from it but depending on surrounding cards it can indicate not all is as it seems.

I don't have a whole lot to add to what's been said, other than to say I never see romance in the Moon unless its an unhealthy infatuation. "Moon madness" seems more pertinent than "mooning" over someone, although both imply a kind of sickly intoxication. (And there is nothing more toxic than Aleister Crowley's observations about the Moon, which are focused more on Hecate than Diana.)

I've experimented with swapping around the astrological correspondences for the Major Arcana to suit my own astrological sensibilities. Supposedly the High Priestess is a purer and more noble expression of "Moon energy" while the Moon card is more insidious and takes on the interior, secretive nature of Pisces. But as the second most important "planetary" body in astrology, the Moon should really be assigned the Moon in the same way the Sun applies to the Sun; the intuitive, psychic nature of Pisces seems like a better fit for the High Priestess. The secretiveness would still be there, but it would be more sublimated, not so untrustworthy.

This also seems to make better sense from a qabalistic perspective since the modern ruler of Pisces, Neptune, is a "trans-Saturnian" planet that seems better situated "crossing the abyss," and I also like the idea of associating Neptune with Da'ath on the Middle Pillar, so there is a convergence of ideas there.

So I am very curious what you think about my design for The Moon card.

My deck is based on the aesthetic of Weimar Berlin, 1920s. My card features Conrad Veidt from the expressionist silent film, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."

Everything about his character, the film, the style and times is a reflection of my feeling for The Moon card.

You can see it here: https://www.cultofweimar.com/card-composition-2

The character, Cesare, is a somnambulist and is probably a victim of what they used to call "shell-shock" and now call PTSD. German expressionist film was a reflection of post WW1 Germany.

Anyway, strong images! On the whole deck! But I'd appreciate any feedback if you have any.

The man on your card has the bug-eyed look of someone who has seen an apparition of some kind, which is entirely possible under the light of the Moon. I think it sums up the phantasmal spookiness the Moon can impart rather well.

Thank you!

It's a phantastic deck, and it's exactly the energy of the moon card. Looking into the abyss of the soul. I saw the film many years ago - remembered only Lil Dagover, Conrad Veidt not at all. (Didn't he play the Nazi in Casablanca?) A great actor, and a very good choice for the Moon. It's all the hidden part of Freud's iceberg of consciousness....