Navigators otMS study group-The Moon

rainwolf

As with all of her cards, this is strikingly different than most Moon cards. Turk defines it in her LWB as:
"...a state of flux and illusion. It is best to reflect on your lifestyle, for it may be damaging to you and to others around you. You tend to be moody and constantly change your opinion. This sort of oscillation in your emotional state causes confusion amongst family and friends. You may be repressing fellings of resentment, anger, or guilt."​

Some of the symbolism includes:
Twinned embryos
Budding lotus
Red owl
Influence from the moon
Rain
A pattern on the wings
Two mysterious rocks
The twin rocks
The hovering owl
Flowers
The harpist
The tension in the harp
Anubis
Bow around the neck
Two slip knots
Jar or vessel
Chimps
A green crab
The crab
 

Moonbow

The Moon - gratification
 

rainwolf

First half of symbols defined from Turks companion guide

Twinned embryos:"in the lunar womb are in the fetal position, indicating a return to beginnings"

Budding lotus:"unable to open fully as it is blocked by the retention of the children in the womb"

Red owl:"rules over the realm of the dead hours that the Sun crosses the sea of darkness"

Influence from the moon:"destroys forms--it is hard to make out objectgs in the moonlight--but not forces, which become stronger in the lunar glow"

Rain:"is a fertilizing agent and represents psychic condensation, where the energy/mass ratio tends to contract and become heavier"

A pattern on the wings:"indicates the trees of a pine forest, the metaphorical principle of the Great Mother in her guise as Empress"

Two mysterious rocks:"one on the left resembling...her final metamorphasis; on the right, a larger rock,...is similar to a mother who gazes solictously at her child--the maternal form"

The twin rocks:"or towers, on each side of the central path rise up as a warning that approach to the domain of the moon is beset by the very real psychic dangers"

The hovering owl:"reminds us of witchcraft and strange rites carried out under cover of darkness"

Flowers:"are opium poppies, from which heroin is derived, it is quite likely that the one who reclines is drugged...a needle remains in his arm"
 

rainwolf

I think its obvious that the moon represents the flux theme of the Moon.

I don't see how the pattern on the wings represents the pine trees, but it further explains in the book that it is an allegory when the "sky married the earth" yet under cover in the pine forest, there lurked creatures. This is referring to subconscious elements that "guide" us and sometimes mislead us. She then explained that offerings were given to bring back equilibrium. I think this is a mental offering in regards to the Moon card, meaning that when you understand your subconscious messages that it makes life easier. In a reading for someone that is unfamiliar with these kinds of messages, it would mean that you are ignoring your desires and are fooling yourself (not sure).

The advice for this card is to "discuss problems openly" and is an opposite of what the card stands for. The opposite therefore is the answer to the problem described as the Moon, and is to merge emotions, illusions, and reality to make the real world.
 

Moonbow

Well this is a really weird card (as are most of the Major Arcana to my mind) I cannot get to grips with all of the symbolism that appears in the card all in one go.

The womb, twin embryos, mentrual flow, crab, shadow and light.... yes, a reference to the Moon cycles. But the harp with it's crossed strings - a reminder of the crucifixion, the opium poppies and hyperdermic needle in the arm..... a monkey and the 'person' laying on the rocks.... all very strange symbolism to me. I know what she says these symbols relate to, but to me there is just too much in the card for me to be able to remember it all in one go.

But....because there is so much jam packed into this card, it gives the reader options as to what is homed in on for the reading in question. The imagination can run riot and this, for me, is one of the very best qualities of this deck.

I tend to look at the overall, whole picture for the reading and what strikes me in this card, are feelings of how different things can look by the light of the Moon, the silent hidden quality, and inability to see straight intoxicated by it's magic. Interesting that similar feelings could be brought about by the opium and needle. I feel as though the monkey is saying to [her?] "wake up, come back to reality", but she is deep into her dream state. Good keyword "gratification."
 

rainwolf

*Just a note: I wasn't saying anything bad about cancers in the last post, it was just a clarification to astrological attributions* :) :) :)
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I always look at the moon card before i buy a deck because it just strikes me of the epitomy of tarot-its mysticism, awe, and esotericness(?). There was a thread here which was about someone reading in a bar where they worked, and someone came up and started reading the cards completely differently, and almost solely by the symbolism. How this relates is because all the symbolism in Turk's tarot deck will only stand out several symbols at a time. What i mean is that for each reading, you will notice some symbols which will be important for that reading and with all these symbols, using this deck (once you work up to it LOL) will provide someone with vast amounts of information.

That was just a thought--ill post the rest of the symbolism in a little bit.
 

rainwolf

The harpist:"can represent the magical abductor who leads the children to their disappearance and death"

The tension in the harp:"represents our everlasing striving towards love in spite of stressful and deceptive situations which crucify us in every momet of our lives"

Anubis:"howls and slavers mournfully at the Moon. Jackals are anti-solar, and are ever watchful in order not to be suprised by anything"

Bow around the neck:"represents the binding knot--an unchanging psychich situation which can only be resolved in the Hierophant"

Two slip knots:"symbolize duality adn calumny, as well as betrayal, as the knot ceases to exist when the end of the ribbon is pulled"

Jar or vessel:"is the receptive mind that waits, even in the unconscious, for the bubble of intellectual air that will resuscitate it"

Chimps:"may be dangerous and somewhat degrading [because they "murder each other on occasion"], but they are also credited with the power of granting good health, success, and protection....therefore, they may be a boon when least expected"

A green crab:"seems to reach up in warning to awaken him before the tide begins to come in"

The crab:"will regenerate any limb which is broken off, just as the human spirit will regenerate after any crisis and achieve equilibrium."
 

rainwolf

I think i disagree with the crab statement because I don't think the human spirit can recover after ANY event. I would attribute the regeneration to some instances, such as the holocaust. I think the victims were hopeful to survive for so long, but of course the effects cannot simply be "regenerated". The crab to me, would signify that the human spirit could make do with what little it could find, just as the crab bottom feeds, the human spirit has the capability of surviving with little.
 

Anne_23

I have some background in astrology and psychology and am a cancer sun/cancer ascendant (curse) and relate to this card.

Crab would symbolize repressed emotion. Cancers are known for being intensely emotional IF they are emotional but will repress if threatened, hiding into shell. Aside from cancers, it is in emotional times which we react not based on wisdom but on conditioning, or our shadow selves. Specifically when we repress emotion and it comes flooding down like rain, the situation will be further clouded. The owl, IMO, represents acting based on wisdom rather than emotion. IF we do not do the psychological work to heal and address our past, during emotional times, we will continue to act based on the wounds of past.

How often do people seemingly over react to a situation which is a trigger. They may look back or others may wonder why they acted so severely. It is always to do with a situation in our past which exists on a deeply subconscious level which we, as that individual, preceive as a threat. We develop those when we are children and do not understand the world. When our innoncence is threatened. Fitting given the piper symbolism leading children astray. It may be that the current situation is not at all like that childhood situation but it mimics, triggers and we react almost unknowingly and based on pure emotion.

When we react based on pure emotion and not wisdom, the person we play that out with is given choices....they can either react back further causing rift in the partnership or succumb or sacrifice themselves to a situation, causing a loss of self and stiffled expression (lotus not being able to open fully). Or embryos stuck in that form, a stiffled birth of the full potential of the relationship. I'm thinking of a couple where one goes on an emotional rampage and the other prostrates themselves in order to calm the situation. Relationships should not be based on self-sacrafice but a mutual sharing of light. Sun (masculine) provides light to the garden (feminine) and feminine grows. If feminine is dominant, it obscures the sun.

When emotion rules our lives, we can cloud so many siutations that we can not accept light. We are taught that emotion should not be repressed, and it should not, but it needs to be understood and used more productively. This is a call to dig deep into one's psyche and a warning that if one does not, they will not receive the light of others. Specific to a relationship reading, it would be emotional reactions preventing a union or coming together based on wisdom and truth.

In alchemy symbolism, when two come together, they are tied together in a passion and also extreme pain until they transform. In relationships, how often are two tied together in a painful and confusing dance....either they continue to repeat these patterns with each other or in a new relationship, or they transform. If, in relationships with others, we do not take these situations and dive deep into our subconscious to understand, we will continue to put on the facade of the monkey which is dangerous and could kill the relationship or sense of selves.

Emotional situations are a call to look at ourselves, not the other, for wisdom and transcendence.