I really enjoy looking at the astrological correspondences of the cards, particularly the Minor Arcana. We get to see one planet express its energies differently in a variety of cards, as it combines with different signs. We can tease out common themes amongst cards that don’t, at first blush, seem to have much in common at all.
And just FYI, to be a fabulous Tarot reader, you do not have to know a damn thing about astrology. You don’t have to memorize these correspondences in order to read for yourself or anyone else. It can be so easy to get overwhelmed with this stuff, so just remember: it’s all optional. For me, it’s FUN and that’s why I like to play with these connections. It’s a thought exercise and a game, but it’s not an obligation.
So, if this is fun for you, too, let’s carry on!
I want to look at the Moon today. (The Moon isn’t a planet, of course, but it functions as one in astrology, as does the Sun.) It corresponds to 5 different Minor cards:
4 of Cups (Moon in Cancer)
9 of Wands (Moon in Sagittarius)
2 of Swords (Moon in Libra)
7 of Swords (Moon in Aquarius)
6 of Pentacles (Moon in Taurus)
In the Majors, the card that corresponds to the Moon is High Priestess (and not, annoyingly, the Moon card, which actually corresponds to Pisces). The High Priestess sits with the deep mystery of the world. They get comfortable with the both/and.
The High Priestess teaches us to move intuitively through this mystery, without really “knowing” (because what is there to know for sure? Everything is changing, always, and the Moon, in her phases, teaches us that well). This is difficult to say the least, and it can engender a lot of doubt. In this culture, we are not taught to trust our intuitive and instinctual nature. We’re “supposed” to be able to explain, to rationalize, to move through the world in a way that makes “sense”.
So, in all these Minor cards carrying the energy of the Moon, I see doubt as the common struggle, and developing trust as the common lesson.
In 4 of Cups, we’re often at emotional capacity, which can look like depression, melancholy, ennui, stagnation. We may doubt our own experience, telling ourselves that we’re just being moody and petulant and need to get over it already. We may doubt that there will be any emotional experience other than this one: 4 of Cups energy can feel swampy and sodden. So we’re asked to develop the trust that, first of all, our need for space, self-care, and dedicated time for emotional processing is legitimate (and we’re not just being a brat); and secondly, trust that if we take that time, our experience will shift.
In 9 of Wands, a card of weariness (sometimes of the spiritual variety) that is often called the card of the ‘wounded warrior’, the struggle with doubt is quite obvious. We doubt that we have the energy or will to continue on. Our fortitude is in question. The lesson is to learn to trust in the depths of our own energetic reserves; to trust that we can do what needs to be done without burning out.
2 of Swords can indicate a reluctance to sit with a difficult decision or face a hard truth. We doubt that we will choose correctly, or we doubt that we have the emotional resilience to look deeply at something painful. We doubt that we can move through something that feels impossible to solve. The lesson in trust here is that stillness and silence will not overwhelm us; we can sit in the difficulty without urgency. We can face our own heart.
I often call 7 of Swords the card of the ‘inner saboteur’. It often represents where shame and self-sabotage are at play. In 7 of Swords, we doubt our own ability to make the changes that we’re seeking. We’re trying to shift the story in 7 of Swords, to escape an old narrative about who we are, but chronic self-doubt keeps us stuck in the past, where we played small and kept our full selves hidden. The lesson in trust here is very plain; we must develop faith that we have it within us to re-write the script about what we’re capable of and what we’re worth.
Doubt may not be an obvious feature of 6 of Pentacles, and indeed, the Moon in Taurus is a Moon in exaltation, ie the Moon really likes to be in this sign. The Golden Dawn called this card the ‘Lord of Material Success’. But our culture has a real cognitive dissonance built into it which makes 6 of Pentacles a difficult energy to relax into: we are obviously wildly interdependent (because that is just the inescapable truth of being human), but we’re taught that we’re supposed to be “self-sufficient”. I pull this card constantly when I am fearful about my own security. I doubt that I will be safe and nourished in a culture that demands constant hustle lest you risk deprivation and security. The phrase that I like for 6 of Pentacles in these times is ‘trust that you will be fed’. There is a trust that we must develop in our place in the flow of energy, in the give-and-take, in the web of interdependence.
If you’d like to do a little Tarot exercise around these cards that correspond to the Moon, I recommend getting them all out and for each one, drawing for the questions:
What doubt is being faced?
What trust is being developed?
You may intend for these pulls to be very personal, or maybe you’re “interviewing” each card, and asking for a general lesson in its basic energy and meaning.
And a prompt for your personal practice:
I am doubting myself in this.
What will help me grow in trust?
Tarot Poetry Circle is this coming Wednesday, November 15th! Sign up info here.
Receipt from my first donation to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Half of all proceeds from readings will be donated in November. There are sliding scale options for readings, and you can book here.
Enjoyed this practice and these notes very much, and I liked having this lesson to tie these cards together. Thanks!