Moon (XVIII) Lobster?

So... Lately I've been enthralled by the lobster on the Moon card but can't seem to find the meaning behind it (original/traditional).

I see it as a being who resides in deep waters, is resourceful, makes the best of a challenging situation and ingests "garbage" to survive -- a real survivor!

What do you think?
Do you have info on the original intention of including the crustacean?

Try this link (am not affiliated to this blog)

http://www.tarotteachings.com/moon-tarot-card-meanings.html

It was also discussed way back in 2002 here at AT

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=9226

and again in 2011

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=153842

Hope that helps!

Thanks Padma!

I always saw that lobster as a throwback to our own natural history. The Moon deals with our subconscious fears and desires, it is among the most animalistic and barbaric cards in terms of how raw and robust it is. Humanity started out as rising out of the sea, through many cycles of evolution.

It is interesting that even before modern science many different cultures had creation myths that began with deep waters. In Genesis Yahweh is described as the spirit of god floating on the waters. In some Egyptian mythologies, the world began with Sobek the crocodile rising out of the waters and then creating the world.

I also wrote about this on my blog - it is a fascinating inclusion on the Moon card and has caused no end of debate.

This 17th Century painting - an Allegory of Inconstancy - is a wonderful image which always feels to me like the missing link with the tarot Moon, although I know even very early card sheets had this creature.

It's a superb image and I am totally in love with it. For me this is explanation enough as to why the lobster /crayfish is there. For me it is largely inconstancy -other things maybe - but I go with fickle, inconstant, fluid, flighty, irrational - and then it takes us to many more modern meanings.

You guys are fantastic! I'm relatively new to AT and I'm just thrilled with the level of thoughtfulness and intellect that goes into this forum!

I wish I had more time to haunt this place and absorb it all!

Le Fanu said:

This 17th Century painting - an Allegory of Inconstancy - is a wonderful image which always feels to me like the missing link with the tarot Moon, although I know even very early card sheets had this creature.

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That is a wonderful painting, Le Fanu! Thank you for sharing it. I feel very drawn to it, connected somehow, and now want it on my wall!

Le Fanu said:

I also wrote about this on my blog - it is a fascinating inclusion on the Moon card and has caused no end of debate.

This 17th Century painting - an Allegory of Inconstancy - is a wonderful image which always feels to me like the missing link with the tarot Moon, although I know even very early card sheets had this creature.

It's a superb image and I am totally in love with it. For me this is explanation enough as to why the lobster /crayfish is there. For me it is largely inconstancy -other things maybe - but I go with fickle, inconstant, fluid, flighty, irrational - and then it takes us to many more modern meanings.

Click to expand...

Leffy that's an amazing image - thanks. Maybe I need to follow your blog...

the kingdom of night

Saelyn said:

Do you have info on the original intention of including the crustacean?

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As others have noted in all those past threads (and this present one), the crustacean serves the same purpose as the wolves. Both are from the deepest, darkest areas of their wild landscapes. So they represent the unconscious, the dreams, the primal-ness of the Moon.

This as compared to what you'd expect astrologically (the crab). In the tarot, the Moon is Pisces, not Cancer. This is in part because crabs go to and from land, unlike lobsters. (Note that the Chariot--which is cancer in the tarot--has a sun/moon symbol as well as black/white steeds--the crab and chariot transverse from day to night, from sea to land, moon to sun and back). The Moon is all about one kingdom--the kingdom of night. And so its representatives are those that "rule" the night--in the lobster's case, the "night" area of the lightless bottom of the ocean.

In the Thoth the lobster is replaced by a scarab holding the sun beneath the waters. From Wikipedia:

"In ancient Egyptian religion, the sun god Ra is seen to roll across the sky each day, transforming bodies and souls. Beetles of the Scarabaeidae family (dung beetle) roll dung into a ball as food and as a brood chamber in which to lay eggs that are later transformed into larvae. For these reasons the scarab was seen as a symbol of this heavenly cycle and of the idea of rebirth or regeneration."