We see a large Moon in the night sky, with a face looking to our left; the face may be frowning, or is perhaps just in repose. The moon is waxing, increasing in the direction of the Attribute of Mercy.
On the ground below we see two animals baying at the Moon. The one on the right appears to be a wolf; the one on the left is a dog. There is a duality here, the wild and tame aspects of ourselves, civilized and savage.
Between them a lobster seems to be emerging from a pool of water with vegetation growing around the edges. Waite says of the lobster that it represents, “…that which comes up out of the deeps, the nameless and hideous tendency which is lower than the savage beast.” This, I believe, is a reference to the Unconscious.
It is said that the lobster is never quite able to leave the pool. It is never able to reach consciousness.
Between the animals, running into the distance, is a winding road. This road passes between two Towers, leading to an unknown destination in the distant mountains. The mountains show that more obstacles must be overcome before the Fool’s journey ends.
The Moon’s light is reflected; it is not her own. The light she sheds illuminates and also conceals; it does not fully reveal what is there. It is a card of illusion and delusion – sometime self-delusion. Things are not as they may appear.
The Fool now has greater light to guide him, though his path is still unclear.
The Moon reminds us that we all have a Shadow that is a part of us, however much we would like to hide it away in darkness.
There are strange things in the half-light of the Moon, half-seen objects and creatures. They can be terrifying or repugnant, but they are there. It is necessary to recognize them for what they are and accept that they won’t go away. They are part of the Unconscious.
There are several small ‘flames’ that seem to be falling from the Moon; in fact, there are 15 of these. Their shape resembles the Hebrew letter ‘yod’. This is the first letter of the Name of God, Yod-He-Vav-He. The number 15 itself can be represented by ‘yod’ (10) and ‘he’ (5). This spells out another Name of God, “Yah.” It is possible that Waite and Smith intended this. It is sometimes difficult to know how far to take their symbolism.
More likely, though, is that they wanted to make a connection between the Moon, and two other cards. The Devil card is number 15; and 15 is numerologically equivalent to 6. Six is the number of the Lovers card. Somehow, Waite and Smith seem to have wanted to connect the Moon with the Lover and the Devil card.
Keywords: Hidden nature. Illusions. Delusions. The Unconscious.