A Journey through My Tarot Decks: The Moon

In this series of posts, I plan to discuss all of the Tarot cards in order, using a different deck for each card. Today I'm exploring Trump 18 -- The Moon -- from The Animal-Wise Tarot by Ted Andrews (Dragonhawk Publishing).

I love Ted Andrews's choice for The Moon card in this deck. I like the subtle reference to RWS-style decks, in which The Moon card often includes a wolf.

For Andrews, the Wolf / Moon card encourages us to "empower our verbal communication with appropriate body language" as well as to pay attention to body language or undertones that may contrast with another person's words. Wolves use both types of communication in fairly complex ways. The Moon / Wolf also emphasizes the importance of trusting one's intuition and inner voice to guide one along the way.

Reversed or ill-dignified, The Moon /Wolf may caution us that we are not seeing things as they really are or that our judgment is askew in some way. We may be in danger of letting our imagination run away with us. For these reasons, it may not be a good time to take chances or risks.

Every animal deck I own includes a wolf, so I thought I would do a brief summary of some of the meanings attributed to the wolf in those other decks:

• Knave of Wands (Wolf): Companion, friendship, good news; reversed = rivals in love, bad news, gossip (Tarot of the Animal Lords)
• Wolf: Community; teaching; cooperation; society; knowledge; nurturing; companionship; instinct; victory; ferocity; guidance; intelligence (Beasts of Albion)
• Wolf (Faol): Intuition, Learning, The Shadow, Sensitivity to the Otherworld, Shape-shifting, Earth element (The Druid Animal Oracle)
• Wolf: Creation, healing, purification (Animal Spirits Knowledge Cards)

Andrews offers the following "Questions to Ask" when the Wolf  (or The Moon card) appears: "Are we being clear in our communications? Are others? Are we responding, even though the communications and intuition is unclear? Are we being too sensitive right now? Are we allowing our fears to prevent us from stepping out into new directions?"

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Other decks mentioned:
– Tarot of the Animal Lords. Artwork by Angelo Giannini; Idea and graphics by Pietro Alligo; Instructions by Bepi Vigna; Editing by Riccardo Minetti; Translations by Studio RGE. Copyright © 2003 Lo Scarabeo.
– Animal Spirits Knowledge Cards. Paintings by Susan Seddon Boulet. Text by John Nagiecki. Copyright © The Susan Eleanor Boulet Trust. Pomegranate Communications, Inc.
– The Beasts of Albion by Miranda Gray. Copyright © Miranda Gray 1994. Published by Aquarian 1994.
– The Druid Animal Oracle by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm. Card Illustrations by Bill Worthington. Fireside: Simon & Schuster, Inc. Text copyright © Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm 1994. Card illustrations copyright © Bill Worthington 1994. This edition copyright © Eddison Sadd Editions 1994.