The Moon: Contemplating The Feminine and Beyond

Mysterious, beautiful, shimmering, vague, yet profound. The Moon is admittedly for me, one of the most elusive cards in the tarot. I recently took a much needed break from readings, my writing, and pulling cards in general. I left myself open to the tarot speaking more through my daily encounters with my environment, the animals, the planets, and the offerings that arose spontaneously.

One evening, I came to my cabin on Lac Gauvreau where a thick fog had settled over the entire forest and lake. It was the evening before the Full Moon. I went down to the dock to sit and meditate in that envelope of stillness. Everything was so quiet and the lake was black as glass.

As I sat there, I noticed the fog lift ever so gradually. As if removing a veil with such delicate movements, the moon appeared just over the edge of the tall forest trees on the opposite bank. Glowing in a tone of yellow and orange, it glistened over the reflective pool in front of me as a shy, elusive presence.

I was awestruck. I had no words for what I was witnessing. The timing of my arrival was so perfect that I felt such humility and gratitude that I could be invited into this mandala of energy and beauty. Coming from the city, I realized the rarity of such an experience that relatively few get to engage with. My whole being was craving a break from the tension and sensory overload of the past months. But this was far beyond anything I had remembered feeling in a very long time, if ever.

What held me in this captivating trance was the softness of the moon’s energy. Everything was so tender around me. The fog, the glow, the moon beams coming down from the tall pines – all of it. And in just moments, I felt an invitation to consider the moon both as I know it from the tarot, and as an archetype of the feminine.

When the sun rises, the landscape changes, the sky becomes lighter and lighter with the animals responding and birds heralding the new day. It is a feeling of consciousness bursting forth. When the Full Moon rises, it is the opposite. The environment becomes darker and darker, growing ever more silent and whispering. Then in that darkness arises light. A glowing torch, a beacon, hope, the message, and the approaching oracle.

As I sat in this sacred space, many things went through my mind as if I was being given a small glimpse into something so beyond conceptual thoughts. What came to me is what I share below. They are my interpretations in my own words of what I heard in my mind.

“Under the moon, you can’t always trust what you hear. Be careful of what you see because not all is as it seems. Under the moon, the path is dark and dimly lit, yet it is not without merit to follow. One must know one’s emotions and become familiar with what truly appears and why, with what is truly heard and why, to know what is stirring us, making us mad, making us cry out, and what is calling us forth. It is the journey into ourselves, into those dark and hidden places, and what we bring back that is the message of the moon. The entrance into these dark regions, the moon’s magnetism pulling us in, is an initiation.

The moon is a young girl laughing and playing in the grass; she is the young woman, fertile and vibrant with her sexuality flowing all around her; she is the mother who protects us and cares for our future and our hearts; she is the wise old crone, the oracle, the sacred grand mother who speaks in tongues, riddles, games and tests. And she can also be the siren, alluring and seductive, mischievous and deceptive.

She is never the same; always transforming. You can’t hold on to her for she will slip through your fingers. She has the power to open you to the depths of the universe, or to leave you shrouded in a mire of mist and despondency.

The moon, in all her glory, frustration, madness and passion, is to touch your unconscious. It is to touch these things that we have hidden away from ourselves. It is to feel the fear of all our anxieties, depression, shame and guilt.

She is the flowing river, the ocean abyss, the cool refreshing pool, and the torrential flood. She moves the tide, filling herself and emptying herself in an ever repeating menstrual cycle of purification and manifestation, waxing and waning into the fullness and newness that we witness as the moon’s journey across the sky.

Her ultimate message to us is: Know Thyself. She is the Grand Oracle. But we cannot remain in her lands forever. We must reemerge into the light of day like the sun rising in the east. If we stay, we lose sight of the shore, and the pathway back can be lost like a forgotten dream, vanishing as soon as we awake.

The danger of the moon is to become disassociated with reality. The power of Luna can be incredibly strong and we must take care that we work with her in doses that we can handle and respond to positively. Too much of her can distort our grasp on our lives and warp our psyche to a detrimental degree, stirring our passions, our anger, our sadness, creating even greater confusion.

When you emerge from the moon’s waters, you will be changed. Her presence will stay with you for many lunar cycles, and she will help you to integrate what you have touched while you were in her realm. You will have embodied your inner wild animal, forming a deep allegiance with the howling and growls that have echoed unheard and unacknowledged.

Now that power is claimed by you, and as you come forth, you will know yourself, your power, your light, and your dark as one fully empowered individual that cannot be deceived, blinded, or shunned. It is the moon’s gift to you.”

The next night was the Full Moon in Aquarius. I came again to the lake, this time on a canoe. It was dark but there was no fog or mist. It was a cloudless sky with not a breeze to be felt. Everything was profoundly serene. Just as I needed to return to the dock for fear of not seeing where I was going, there it was, this orange glow rising so slowly, gradually making itself be seen. All along the shore, a noticeable glow emerged from the blackness. In a few moments, the Full Moon was shining in all her majesty, reflecting herself on the still black lake.

You could not help but be transfixed. One can live a hundred years and never tire of this beauty. She is beyond words. Much like the tarot card, elusive and full of a multitude of meaning. One can live a hundred years and have a hundred different meditations on her.

Later that night, I awoke at around 2:00am. I was in a half awakened state but clearly saw her bright moonglow shining in the surrounding forest. But something was different. I didn’t want to go outside. Luna was high in the sky and was dominating everything with her light. Perhaps I had already spent too much time with her and I felt sensitive to her energy. Or I was fearful of upsetting my psyche and my sleep. I didn’t want to stare up at her, she was too strong. No, I let her be her, and let myself be me, and I went soundly back to sleep.

Thanks for reading,

Daniel