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Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot- Key 18-The Moon
B.O.T.A. Tarot- Key 18-The Moon
In Western Magic and Tarot, it is known that the way of attainment is the way of return; you reap what you sow. This a main attribute of the Moon, that reflects back into the Sun what the Sun radiates. On both Rider-Waite-Smith and B.O.T.A. Moon cards, the crayfish that is climbing out of the pool, represents instinctive energy, as does the wolf and dog, but in a higher form of intelligence, resulting from evolutionary modification. Also, the wolf is a symbol of nature, and the dog, of art because he is a product of human genetic manipulation and/or adaption. The Path (Waite) or Stream (B.O.T.A.), that is between dog and wolf, because the way of balance, goes neither to far toward artificiality nor allows everything to be influenced by ungoverned natural impulses.
The path wanders through well tilled fields to the unknown heights beyond the 2 towers of present human achievement. The undulation of the ground, represents alternate periods of rest and action. Therefore, the stage of unfoldment is Organization. This is the Path of Qolph, a Hebrew letter, shown on the bottom of the B.O.T.A. moon card. The Path of Qolph, is called by Dr. Paul Foster Case as the Corporeal Intelligence, meaning body consciousness, which is the body collective or aggregate intelligence generated by the individual cells. Also, the Hebrew word "corporeal" means to "rain apon" and this is shown by the raining of the Yod shaped solar radiants.
The Moon represents the reflected light of the subconscious (animal mind). The 18 Yods, falling from Sun-Moon image, represent the Key number as well as "falling raing". !8 is also the Hebrew number of the noun Chi; Chi signifying "Life". Hence, the falling Yods, represent the life-force from above to the below of the living and/or the conditions of corporeal existence. The Pool below (Moon Pool) symbolizes the "Abyssal Womb" and/or "Great Deep" of Cosmic Mind-Stuff, out of which emerges "dry land" and/or physical manifestation. This pool also signifies the 9th Sephiroth-Yesod, "The Sphere of the Moon" and is the seat of the Vital Soul, manifested in the human as the automatic consciousness, commonly known as the subconsciousness.
Aleister Crowley disagrees with the Rider-Waite-Smith representation of this Key 18, as Waite believed the Moon to be on its increase. Waite's rational being that, on one level, the crayfish crawling out of the water (On his card) is the symbol of Cancer, meaning that when the Sun is in Pisces the Moon will be increasing in Cancer. As he stated," the Sun below the horizon, as he ever is when the Moon is increasing above." Crowley developed the idea of the Crayfish as a representation of the Dung Beetle, or Scarab, making the Scarab central to his card emphasizing the darker aspects of the Moon Key 18, on its last dark cycle.
Basically, the Moon -Key-18, symbolizes the rebirth of light out of hideous darkness; bright intellect overcoming the dark denizens of our subconscious, i.e. the illusions of instinctual fears.
In the Qabalisitic Thoth Tarot, THE HIGH PRIESTESS, is a source of pure, crystal clear waters (consciousness) emerging from the Godhead-The Father, to God the Son. The Same waters of consciousness are seen here on the Rider-Waite-Smith and B.O.T.A. Tarot Decks-the Moon card, but in the Thoth Tarot they are polluted with the dark subconscious fears of mortality, something that physical manifestation bestows on consciousness. However, as I have stated before, the traveling up the Path of Qoph, towards the "Sun/Son Consciousness", notably changes the body physiology, as the Bright Beautiful Light Intellect of the Son/Sun (Tiphareth) descends into it. When traveling up the Path of Qoph, the Personality becomes increasingly aware of the Higher Self and less control by the dark fears of the body, the "lower self" where they are felt.
Basically, the Path of Qolph, is were we meet the Animal's fears of being preyed on. Here the Survival Mind (subconscious) has stored the deep dark fears of being "eaten" and/or of Death. Hence, the aspiriant not only must conquer their own "nightmares" but also those of the human race. Without this face to face with your shadows, you won't be able to "push" the subconscious up the "Tree of the One MInd" into higher and higher states of SELF. It is funny, we will train our dog, but not our own "inner dog" that is the subconscious. You are a Higher Psyche called a Soul (Solar Self) and the subconscious, is but a "reflection" of that Powerful Radiant Mind. It is time to redirect your animal fears of death, to the greater enlightenment of I AM the Alpha and the Omega of manifestation. As Spirit, we know death to be a transformative, not an end of Being. In Qabalah, a "Being" is an immortal Intelligence, while a entity is but a "self-reflection". It is now time to strap on your Golden Chariot armor and defeat your inner dragons. It's obvious that ships need their anchors tied down on their decks, not buried in the mud, in order to steam onward and travel the ever-wonderous seas of the Mind. Hence, one needs to "raise" the body out of instinctual fears, in order for it to be our companion among the stars.
When the Moon, Key 18- is thrown during an divination, it implies:
- Journey into subconscious depths.
- The eerie path into the dark depths of the Soul.
- Confrontation with the night.
- Encounter with fears.
- Deepest self-knowledge.
- Devotion to intuitive knowledge.
When Reversed:
- Illusion.
- Hysteria.
- Persecution complex.
- Hallucinations.
- Drug abuse.
- Flight from reality.
Thank you for your interest, comments, and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper.
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