Key 18 – The Moon

On the previous card called the Star we explored meditating. Here on this Key, called the Moon, we’ll learn how the information received through meditation has an affect on our bodies. The Moon is found at the bottom of the fourth column of three cards on the Tarot Tableau.

The two cards above the Moon are the Emperor at the top and Justice in the middle. They constitute the fourth stage of spiritual unfoldment called Organization. According to Paul Foster Case the Emperor is the principle, Justice is the agency through which that principle works, and the Moon is the result. So, what are we organizing? Yes, you’ve probably guessed, we’re organizing our bodies.

Let’s retrace our steps so far. In the first stage of spiritual unfoldment, ending in the Deceiver card, we became aware of our bondage to the world of appearances, but soon discovered that our bondage was just an illusion. In the second stage, ending in the Tower card, we were struck by a flash of spiritual illumination which forever changed us, overthrowing our false concepts of thinking and action.

Then in the third stage, ending in the Star card, we entered a period of calm, like after a violent storm, which revealed to us new relationships with the world around us. So, now we’re ready to begin reorganizing ourselves with what we’ve learned up to this point. And this reorganizing is taking place not just in our minds, but also in our bodies. Organization is the function of Key 18 The Moon.

Throughout time evolution has changed the human body to adapt to the conditions around it, and to the conditions of our ever-changing consciousness. Evolution is pretty spontaneous. When you step on the path of the hero’s journey you begin to actively take part in your evolution.

In order for your illumination to take place and grow, you will need to transform your body into a more highly tuned vehicle. There’s no separation between your spiritual nature and your physical body.  So, you will have to learn how to take conscious, directing charge of this task. And you will accomplish it through the use of your imagination.  There is an art to this magical endeavor.  According to Paul Foster Case, the alchemists called it the “Great Art.”

Here’s where you’re being the Magician comes in. You didn’t inherit this ability to take conscious, directing charge of your life.  You will need to learn how to use your will power in order to do it. You will need to learn how to apply and understand the principles of the power, force and energy of the cosmos for its accomplishment. No small task. But you don’t do it alone.

We have discussed before, on the Strength Key, the importance of the use of the subconscious mind in controlling our environment. In the Hermit card we spoke about the importance of a healthy body, and the interaction between your small intestines and the health of your nervous system. We discussed how the application of the sub-conscious mind worked on that card to bring about your healthy body.

So, let’s take that a step further. We create mental images. We imagine things and events. Those mental images become the foundation of the activity of the sub-conscious mind.

We saw on the Empress card what can happen when the sub-conscious mind reciprocates, or returns to us, our creations back into our lives. The warning is: Be careful what you think; the Empress will give back to you what you think about, and focus on, or project onto others, in a multiple of creations directed at you! If it’s a good thing – yay! If not, then, start running for your life!

Add to this, the sub-conscious mind is the builder, and restorer, of your body. In other words, it controls all the functions of your body. OK, so what does that mean? Think of your subconscious mind as your Secret Agent of Physical Transformation and Regeneration! And, if you remember the activity of the Empress, your Secret Agent will draw to you, attract to you, what you will imagine that you need to make these changes possible.  It will rehabilitate your body and your mind through your willful direction. You choose!

Let’s look at talented businesspeople, athletes, and musicians. Here are people who have spent hours and hours practicing and studying their chosen endeavors.  Over the years their bodies and minds have changed in order to accommodate their chosen field and the information they’ve acquired.

Originally, possibly as children, they imagined a life in a particular field. As they grew and attained mastery in their chosen fields, they used their imagination to help them grow. This applies to anyone who has a dream. It is up to you to transform your body in such a way that the Life Force can express through it to accomplish what you want in life. And that includes illumination.

The number 18 of this Key becomes is 9 by adding together 1 + 8. The number 9 brings us to the Hermit card.  The purple mountains, the goal of the yellow path in this Key, are where the Hermit resides. The Hermit represents the Primal Will and he showed us how to use it to arrive at the mountain top.

Let’s also look at Keys 8 and 1. Key 8, Strength, expresses the Law of Suggestion. Key 1, the Magician, expresses directing, focused attention. So, it appears that the number 18 is the Law of Suggestion being applied to where we direct our attention, focus our gaze. This can be either within ourselves or without.

As an aside, just repeatedly going over the Tarot cards, and reciting aloud the Pattern on the Trestleboard, created by Paul Foster Case, on a regular basis, these two activities alone will have the affect of transforming you. By doing this, you are acknowledging who you are. And you’re taking responsibility for who you really are. Your sub-conscious mind, your wonderful Secret Agent, takes this to heart, because you acknowledge to your Secret Agent just how powerful you know it to be.

Let’s look at the Hebrew letter Qoph, which means “back of the head.” Here are found the posterior lobes of the cerebrum and cerebellum. The cerebrum contains the sight center, so you could say that we see with the back of our heads. Just below it is the medulla oblongata, commonly called the brain stem.  The brain stem connects to the spinal cord and its branches. So here we see that the medulla oblongata connects the brain with all of its sense centers to the subordinate centers located in the body. It turns out that the medulla governs respiration, regulates the heart, and controls the circulation of our blood. It carries on even when we sleep.

This is what brings us to the Hebrew letter Qoph, assigned to this card. Qoph’s function is sleep. Its shape even reminds us of the shape of the brain, with the brain stem at the bottom. When we sleep we allow our body to rest and regenerate. The old dead cells are removed by the activity of the medulla. New cells replace them. All of this while we’re resting. This reminds me of the final, but most essential, pose in a hatha yoga class called savasana, or corpse pose. Savasana is used for the same purpose. The body rests and absorbs the class,  allowing the body to become structurally changed. You want to still your mind while in savasana. Let your Secret Agent do its job.

While we sleep we dream. All that has gone on during the day is digested and assimilated by the subconscious mind while we are still. While our entire body is removing old cells, it is also being influenced and changed by our thoughts of from the day. This is why it is advantageous to review each day before falling asleep. This is a very important tool.

As a young initiate, I was instructed to do what my teacher called, “a retrospection of the current day”, right before falling asleep. It goes like this: Lie down in bed comfortably. Begin by imagining your morning. See where you’ve fallen short and determine to do better the next time you find yourself in a similar situation. I recall saying to myself, as the day passed before my mind, “I’ll keep this and that, and I’ll toss out this and that”. I didn’t dwell for long on any one item. This is more like taking out the trash. “Let go and let God!” This should only take you a few minutes.

This mental exercise helps clarify in your mind, and to your sub-conscious mind, what was important about your day. You may repeat a positive affirmation after doing this if you wish. The Pattern on the Trestleboard is a great affirmation; reminds you who you really are. Then let go, have a pleasant night’s rest, and let your Secret Agent do the work while you sleep!

The ruling sign of this Key is Pisces. Pisces is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of the Wheel of Fortune, which expresses the Law of Rotation. Pisces is also ruled by Neptune, the planet of the Suspended Man, which expresses the Law of Reversal. So, what happens when Jupiter and Neptune are combined here on this card?

Just to remind you, the function of the Moon card is the reorganization of our mind and our body. The Law of Rotation is about cycles and rotations, ups and downs. It also includes the four fixed signs of the zodiac, where the underlying foundation of the cosmos doesn’t really change.  The Law of Reversal expresses a point in our evolution where we become aware that we do nothing of ourselves.  We see the Suspended Man’s hands are behind him, out of sight. To sum up, with the combination of these two Laws on the Moon card, we are now evolving through the cycles of life to the point where the underlying foundation of our personality, and our body, doesn’t really change, and becomes the perfect vehicle for the expression of The All.

Let’s go further with the sign Pisces. Look at the narrow yellow path winding up through the center of the card. First, yellow indicates the super-conscious plane of mental activity, so it’s “The Path”. Next, on our physical body Pisces rules our feet. So this, again, is a reference to The Path you’re on now. There’s an axiom that says, “you vote with your feet”. In the marketplace this applies to what you buy. Then the market responds by selling more things that you like.

When you begin to meditate, you decide what you’ll meditate on. And that determines what will be revealed to you by Isis, from the Star Key. She is another manifestation of the Empress. The Empress is ruled by the planet Venus. Venus is exalted in Pisces. This means that the Empress reaches her highest expression in the sign of Pisces. And the Empress is all about using imagination when using the Laws of Nature. The Hebrew letter on her card is Daleth, meaning door. That makes the Empress, and thus imagination, the door of manifestation. If you can imagine it, it will manifest. She’s also expressed on this card by her color green, indicative of growth and harmony, found under the wolf and the dog.

The Moon also reminds us of the High Priestess. Her authority, her crown, are the three different phases of the Moon, waxing, waning and full. The High Priestess is all about understanding the Laws of Nature, through using memory, duplication, reflection and the subconscious mind.

The Moon reflects the light of the Sun. This reflection is a returning of the Sun’s energy back to itself. This means that the yellow path displayed on this card is the Path of Return. As such, we should take a good look at what is being expressed here for our own edification as we move along that Path.

In the blue sky are 18 flaming Yods. They appear to be drops of light falling from the Moon. Because they are touched with red, they also appear to be blood drops. In addition, the number 18 is the value of the Hebrew word chai.  Chet ( ח) and Yod ( י), form the word “chai”, meaning “alive”, or “living”.

So, here we have raining down on earth the Life Force from “above” (remember, in Cabala above means within) into physical existence. They are suspended in a blue sky, the color of the subconscious mind and the High Priestess, and all that she represents. The reference to blood takes us back to the realm of  the management by the sub-conscious mind of the human body. All of the nourishment of the cells of the human body comes via our blood. Your entire body’s transformation will arrive the same way.

The Moon pictured here has a total of 32 rays. 32 is the total number of the paths on the Tree of Life.  And what are those paths? There are 10 Sefirot, Hebrew for emanations, which are shown as circles, through which the Ein Sof (the Infinite) reveals Itself.  The Ein Sof creates both the physical realm, and the 22 paths between them. The 22 Paths are the Tarot Keys.

So, the Moon Key is a reflects all that is going on in the Cosmos. 32 is also the number of the Hebrew noun liab, meaning “the heart, especially as the seat of knowledge, understanding, and thinking; also, midst, center.” You could say that the Tree of Life is the “heart of matter”. The Moon shows us 16 long rays and 16 short rays. Obviously not all are fully manifest on this Key. We are just beginning our adventure. We still have a ways to go.

The pool of water is the same as that in Temperance and The Star. It’s from the water flowing from the High Priestess’ robe, the liquid cosmic consciousness from which we have evolved over time. In the Moon card we find ourselves moving out onto dry land. This reminds me of the mathematician Pythagoras and the triangle later named after him. Let’s explore the background of this triangle so that you can understand why this is of interest to our evolution and how it’s expressed on this card.

That triangle was first known about in ancient Babylon and Egypt (beginning about 1900 B.C.) and was foundational in building the great pyramids. Pythagoras left his Greek island of Samos for Egypt in about 535 B.C.. He left in order to study with the priests of the Egyptian temples, where he was taught their secrets.

One side of the triangle is a measurement of three, the other two measure four and five. The one we’re looking at has a 90-degree right angle. Paul Foster Case goes into detail about this Pythagorean triangle in his The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order. Briefly, the side that is three is Osiris, the four is Isis, and the five is Horus.  It is a story of love about the gods Osiris and Isis and their son Horus. It is also the story about our Creator manifesting Its love to Its Creation.

The story begins at the pinnacle where 3 and 5 meet, moves down the side of 3, across the side of 4 and then back up side 5 to the pinnacle.  The 3 is divided into sections which symbolize alchemical Mercury, Sulfur and Salt. The 4 sections are Fire, Water, Air and Earth. The 5 sections are, starting at the bottom right, mineral, vegetable, animal, man and, at the pinnacle, as super-man. When the story is fully understood, alchemists consider it a summary of the Great Work.

The Moon card is an expression of the side containing the 5 sections, named after the son Horus, and called the Path of Return. On this Key the pool of consciousness, which flows from the High Priestess, is surrounded by rocks and minerals, which are the inorganic elements. Next there’s small plants, which are the organic elements. The crayfish climbing from the pool is a symbol of the early stages of consciousness, and resembles a scorpion. It is the powerful force of regeneration, symbolized by the zodiacal sign Scorpio, which finally raises us up and out of the water into self-consciousness.

Next we see an Egyptian scarab beetle moving along the Path. Here we have pictured the god Khepri, who was a scarab-faced god in ancient Egypt, who represented the rising or morning sun. By extension, he also represents creation and the renewal of life. In ancient Egyptian religion the scarab was also a symbol of immortality, resurrection, and transformation. The life of the scarab beetle revolved around the dung balls that the beetles consumed, laid their eggs in, and fed their young; a true cycle of rebirth. Very appropriate to find him here at the beginning of the Path pushing before him a symbol of the Sun.

The dog and wolf are both from the canine family. The wild wolf is dangerous and threatening to man. Whereas the dog has been created by man from the wolf through skill and breeding. The wolf is ever-evolving nature, the dog is a result of culture. The path rises between the two, in their midst. This is a suggestion of the Middle Path, which is the central pillar on the Tree of Life and represents the path of the priesthood; the most direct path, straight up. The grass adorning the foreground is, once again, cultivated nature, thus relating to that which is familiar, the known world. Let’s follow the Path now and begin to enter a little less familiar territory.

The Path has many ups and downs, reminiscent of Jupiter, the planet of the Wheel of Fortune, with its cycles and revolutions. There will be times when staying on the Path will seem very difficult. Pauses for rest and regeneration will be necessary in order to keep going. The towers are at the edge of the known. They safeguard the familiar, and to the average person, going further is not comfortable. It’s perceived as dangerous, and it may actually be so.

On the side of the 5 sections of the Pythagorean triangle, called Horus, we are at the point of mankind living in a 3-dimensional world. All we see is all there is. The unknown is the 5th section, that of the super-man, where the fourth dimension lies. It’s also called Enlightenment. Preparation for that experience are the experiences that we’ll have once we’ve passed the two towers. Others have gone before us, to light the way for us, to teach us about the tools available to us, and to help keep us on the Path. Our sensual experiences will go beyond those received just through our body’s senses. Think of this: the step-up consciousness from animal to man, is the same step that needs to be crossed from man to super-man. It is truly a leap of faith.

The purple mountains in the background represent the two Sephirah called Wisdom and Understanding on the Tree of Life. The yellow, winding path on this card moves slightly to the left side of the mountain, toward the Sephirah called Understanding. This is the Mother, feminine column on the Tree of Life. Below Understanding are the Sephirah Severity and Splendor. Saturn implies discrimination. One of the Mother’s main feminine attributes is discrimination.

The Way of Attainment is the Path of Return. The Pythagorean triangle demonstrates that what we seek is really the Source. And as you travel along this Path, you will realize that the Source is closer to you than your hands and your feet. This will give you a sense in which “that which is before you, in the future, is also that which is behind you, in the past”. “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last,” for when the cycle is completed, end and beginning are one. You become the Fool. You may think that you’ve stepped off the cliff into the abyss, but you really don’t go anywhere, for there’s no where to go. And it’s all very lovely, especially when you have friends along!

At this point I would suggest getting to know and consciously direct your Secret Agent! Begin to use your new tool called Retrospection. Remember the Pythagorean triangle! Slowly, but surely, what you think is in the realm of the unknown will become all so clear. Just take one step at a time. Have a safe and pleasant journey!