The Moon

The path connecting Malkuth and Netzach is associated with the Moon Tarot card. The path portrays the journey from the world (Malkuth) to the Pillar of Mercy. It represents the start of your Christian walk and the confusion, fear, and/or uncertainty you might experience at the start of your journey. The image on the card contains a dog, a wolf, and a lobster, and implies evolution; the animals are out of their element, or will be shortly as they leave what is familiar and begin their journey into the unknown. There is a path between two towers, and the path leads up a mountain. The mountain represents the Mountain of God and the path is the narrow path of the Lord that you must strive to enter.

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Isaiah 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it…

Isaiah 2:2-3 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 30:25-27 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire.

The towers on the Moon Tarot card are guard towers, which appear in the distance on the Death Tarot card (also having to do with transformation). The fifteen yods (the first Hebrew letter in the Tetragrammaton) represent God’s judgment, which the journeyers will need to pass through in order to climb God’s Holy Mountain. The guard towers represent the entrance on the ‘Way of Holiness’, and nothing unclean shall pass through it. The journeyer may be apprehensive, not knowing if he/she will be able to complete the journey he/she is about to begin.

Luke 14:27-35 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

In order to overcome the world (Malkuth) and obtain victory (Netzach) over sin, the traveler must order come his/her sinful nature; just as the dog and wolf represent differing natures of a similar animal (wild vs. domesticated). The Moon is often associated with the subconscious or unconscious mind – as symbolized by the sleeping face on the moon. In order to be perfect, we must overcome our unconscious desires, which may seem to produce a war within us.

Romans 7:17-26 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

When a person first embarks on this spiritual journey there is confusion, fear, and apprehension. The traveler does not have all of the answers and must rely on faith and may need to struggle against his/her own nature.

Roman 5:14 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

The Pillar of Mercy offers grace and forgiveness, but in order to reach it, the traveler must first have faith. The path between the towers is unknown, but in order to reach the Holy Mountain, the traveler must follow the Narrow Path of the Lord. Abraham is an example of faith; because he answered God’s call and left everything he knew and followed God into the unknown.

When first embarking on this spiritual journey, the traveler does not yet possess a full understanding of all of the concepts and precepts found in the Bible. Much of what lies ahead is unknown, and only partially illumined (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). The light given off of the moon is only a reflection of the true light (the sun). The moon is a false light; though it may seem to light up the night, the moon produces no light on its own. The moon is a lifeless rock orbiting the earth. Through the ages, different cultures/societies have attributed qualities to the moon that it doesn’t possess, and the moon, the sun, and the stars have all – at some point in time – been worshiped in place of God.

Deuteronomy 4:19-20 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

Psalm 74:15-17 It was you [God] who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever-flowing rivers. The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon. It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.

The sun and the moon are part of God’s creations (Genesis 1:3, Isaiah 47:7), and through the ages some people have mistakenly worshiped the creation instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25). The light produced by the moon is only reflected light, and the Moon Tarot card has 32 rays of sunlight being reflected off of it. This is a reference to the Qabalah, since the Qabalah is made up of 10 sphere and 22 paths – providing the seeker with 32 areas of reflection relating to God, as they climb the Tree of Life.

We are not supposed to have all of the answers when we first start our journey. We are to trust in God and follow Him out of faith. We may not have Jesus physically with us to light our paths (explain things to us), but like Abraham, we can follow God into the unknown. When we first begin our journey, we may only see by reflected light, but even then, things will become clearer to us as we move closer to our destination. However, it is impossible to obtain victory if we do not begin the race.

John 12:35-36 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

John 3:19-21 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Jesus is the light of the world, and we are to follow Him and walk in His light. Our goal is to transform ourselves into children of the light (Romans 8:29). At the beginning of our journey we might barely even be able to see the light. As we progress along the path, we will start to become reflections of the light – as we begin to live by the precepts in the Bible. Our desired result is to be transformed into children of the light, so that we shine as lights in the world.