The divine Moon.
On a divinatory level, the card of Hecate, the moon-goddess, augurs a period of confusion, fluctuation and uncertainty. We are in the grip of the unconscious and can do nothing but wait and cling to the elusive images of dreams and the vague sense of hope and faith. Thus the Fool awaits his rebirth in the waters of a greater womb, dimly aware that his journey of personal development is only a small fragment of a vast, unknowable life which spans millennia and which remains eternally fertile yet unformed.
Meaning:
A subtle and magical card. Dreams, intuition, imagination and psychic abilities all flow freely with it. A time in your life where you are reconnecting to your subconscious mind, through dreams, symbols and strange coincidences. At this time, the arts may influence you more than normal, and through poetry and water colors you may be better able to express you feelings than with words. For career issues, the areas of film, visual arts, writing, healing and anything connected to beauty will be influenced for the better. Your mind is filled with rich ideas and you have an uncanny ability to connect with people right now. Sometimes this energy can be draining any your body may require more sleep than normal. Treat yourself gently and allow the ideas coming to you to settle in.
Reversed Meaning:
When the moon is reversed, you are entering a period where the line between dreams and reality have become blurred. You may have false people around you or find it hard to be honest with yourself. In the resulting chaos, nothing is concrete and everything is more than a little confusing. It’s not the time to bet on anything. Job offers will evaporate, potential homes turning out bad investments: nothing is what it seems. Keep ideas to yourself, and be wary of advice you receive. Depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, and illness can all appear when the Moon is reversed.
The inner Moon.
On an inner level, Hecate, the moon-goddess, is an image of the mysterious watery depths of the unconscious. We have already encountered this strange and elusive realm in two other cards in the Major Arcana: the High Priestess and the Wheel of Fortune. These three cards are linked in meaning and represent a progression in deepening Through Persephone, the High Priestess, the Fool became aware of an ordinary mundane life. Through the Moirai who preside over the Wheel of Fortune, he experienced the power which we call Fate, through sudden changes of fortune that reveal an invisible law or purposeful pattern within. Here, in the card of the Moon, we find in the image of Hecate is more than a portrayal of personal depths. She embodies the feminine principle in life itself, and the three faces and three lunar phases reflect her multifaceted power over heaven, earth and underworld. In psychological terms, it is from this oceanic realm of the human imagination that the great myths and religious symbols and works of art are born over the centuries. It is chaotic, confusing, unbounded world of which the individual with his personal journey and search for self are only a tiny part.
The meeting with Hecate, the moon-goddess, is a confrontation with a transpersonal world, where individual boundaries dissolve and the sense of direction and ego are lost. It is as though we must wait submerged in the waters of this world while the new potentials arise which will eventually become our future. But the dark waters of the collective unconscious contain both negative and positive, and it is sometimes hard to distinguish its shifting movements from madness and delusion. It can be a frightening, anxiety-provoking world, for living in the realm over which Hecate presides means living without knowledge and clarity. Something has washed over us which cleanses the past and prepares the way for the future, but we must wait as the fetus waits in the womb. The only road to Hecate’s world is the ‘royal road’ of dreams, which like the crab tantalize us with a glimpse and then slips back into the water again. The card of the Moon is a card of gestation, full of confusion, anxiety and bewilderment. We have nothing but the dream-world and the Star of Hope to guide us, for this image of the feminine is not a personal one like that of the High Priestess. It is vague and elusive and impersonal, embodying itself as shifting moods and confusion. Hecate is never really graspable, for she is a goddess of magic, and initiates the Fool into a world greater than himself, that primal water out of which all life comes.
Hecate’s Moon.
Here we meet the ancient underworld goddess Hecate, ruler of the moon, magic and enchantment. In myth Hecate was sometimes interchangeable with Artemis the moon-goddess, although a much older deity, and was powerful both in the sky and beneath the earth. The child of Zeus and Hera, she incurred her mother’s wrath by stealing a pot of rouge. She fled to earth and hid in the house of a woman who had just been brought to bed with a child. Contact with childbirth rendered her impure, and she was thus taken to the underworld to be washed of her stain. Instead she became on of the underworld rulers, and was called and Invincible Queen, presiding over purifications and expiation. As a goddess of enchantment, she sent demons to earth who tormented men through their dreams. She was accompanied by Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the underworld’s gate, who was her animal form and familiar spirit. The places she most frequently haunted were crossroads, tombs and the scenes of crimes, and three-headed images sacred to her were erected at crossroads and worshipped on the eve of the full moon.
Zeus himself honored Hecate so greatly that he never denied her the ancient power which she so greatly enjoyed: that of bestowing or withholding from mortals any desired gift. Her companions in the underworld were the three Erinyes or Furies, who punished offenses against nature and represented in a more threatening form the three Moirai or Fates. Thus Hecate is one of the most archaic images in myth presiding over magic, childbirth, death, the underworld and fate.
The divine Star.
On a divinatory level, the card of the Star when it appears in a spread portends the experience of hope, meaning and faith in the midst of difficulties. Although the Star too can be ambivalent, and can warn against blind hope without the necessary action to build upon it, the card of the Star is an augury of promise, an altogether welcome experience for the Fool who has passed through the collapse of everything which he believed to be of value in his life.
Meaning:
Insight, understanding and hope for the future. This card will be a good indication that wishes will be fulfilled, not always as one expects, but even so, the unexpected can have a good result. Shows good health and that gifts will be given. Shows good health and that gifts will be given. The spiritual dimension of life should not be ignored. Old problems can be solved, wounds heal and you are refreshed and ready to try again when the Star appears. A time when you will heal and connect with others, giving them a gift of help and helping yourself in the processes. Assistance will come soon. At this time, nature will become more important to you and you will want to head out to the country. Working in a garden or with animals could also reconnect you with a natural life; being involved in this will bring you down to earth in addition to making you happy. The Star is motivated by social issues environmental causes, human rights, and helping others. Relationships affected by the Star are joyful and balanced; pleasure is reciprocal and there is never a lack of things to talk about.
Reversed Meaning:
When this Tarot card is reversed, its meaning connects to the dark moments of the heart when it feels like nothing will ever work. At this low point, you may doubt your ability and what you can achieve while this is connected to recent events you perceive as failures, you’re also worn down and need a break. The Star still offers a chance of success. It is a time where you would benefit from removing yourself from the situation and taking a change to reassess before continuing. The Star can refer to a period were emotions are detached and there is a lack of sharing in a relationship; tension and pessimism may play a role in this.
The inner Star.
On an inner level, the image of Pandora and the Star of Hope is a symbol of that part of us which, despite disappointment, depression and loss can still cling to a sense of meaning and a future which might grow out of the unhappiness of the past. The Star does not represent a fully formed conviction of future plans, or solution to one’s problems, or a guide to action. Like the cards of the Hermit and the Hanged Man, the card of the Star is a card of waiting, for the sense of hope is a fragile light which glimmers and guides but does not dispel the darkness altogether. Hope is therefore shown as a female figure, because it is the irrational side of us – the intuition – which perceives the Star in the middle of the noxious swarm of Spites. Hope does not make the Spites go away, or undo the vengeance which Zeus has unleashed. But somehow, in some mysterious way, it offers faith, and therefore in the image Pandora’s eyes are fixed not on the unhappiness of the human condition, but on this vague, irrational, inexplicable sense that soon there will be a dawn.
This quality of hope has nothing to do with planned expectations. It is connected with something deep within us which has sometimes been called the will to live, and which – despite being a subjective experience with no visible with no concrete reason – can often make difference between life and death. Physicians know this about an ill patient – that the individual who has a sense of hope and a will to live can often find the inner resources to battle with a disease which would otherwise kill. Likewise individuals who have suffered tragic circumstances or been faced with challenges which are far greater than the ordinary human capacity to cope – such as those who experienced the imprisonment of concentration camps in Germany and Poland during the Second World War, or saw families destroyed in the Russian invasions of Czechoslovakia in 1948 and Hungary in 1956 – have often expressed their belief that it was some inner feeling of faith and meaning that meant the difference between survival and complete collapse and death. Hope is a profound and mysterious thing, for it would seem that it can transcend anything life offers us in the way of catastrophe. Yet it does not arise from an act of will, any more than the Star of Hope appears in the myth of Pandora through any deliberate action on her part. It is simply there, mysteriously locked in the chest along with all woes, and if the individual can perceive its delicate glimmering then one’s response to difficulties is radically altered. Thus the Star, the guiding vision of hope and promise, arises not from intention but out of the ashes of the Tower which has been destroyed. The Fool waits amidst the rubble, without any clear sense of how or what to rebuild. In the midst of this confusion and collapse of old attitudes and structures, the faint, elusive yet potent Star of Hope rises.
The Star and Pandora.
Here we meet Pandora, who in myth opened the chest which Zeus had maliciously given to mankind, and released all the Spites. After the Titan Prometheus had stolen the sacred fire of the gods to give to mankind, the king of the gods resolved to inflict severe punishments on the human race, which culminated in the great flood described in the card of the Hanged Man. Before this flood, however, his anger was more subtle, although not yet satisfied. Zeus ordered Hephaestus the smith-god to fashion clay and water into a body, to give it vital force and human voice, and to make a virgin whose dazzling beauty would equal that of the immortal goddesses. All the divinities heaped their special gifts on this new creature, who received the name of Pandora. Hermes, however, put perfidy into Pandora’s heart and lies into her mouth. This woman Zeus sent to Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus, along with a great chest. But Epimetheus, having been warned by his brother to accept no gifts from Zeus, respectfully excused himself. However, having seen the terrible vengeance which the king of the gods then inflicted upon Prometheus, Epimetheus (whose name means ‘hindsight’) hastened to marry Pandora.
Prometheus, before he was seized and imprisoned on his lonely mountain peak, managed to warn Epimetheus not to touch the chest, and Epimetheus conveyed this warning to Pandora with frightening threats. But Hephaestus had made Pandora as foolish, mischievous and idle as she was beautiful. Presently she opened the lid of the chest, and the terrible afflictions which Zeus had gathered – Old Age, Labour, infecting the whole of mankind. Hope alone, which had somehow got locked in the chest with the Spites, did not fly away.
Prometheus the Hanged Man.
Here we meet Prometheus, the Titan who defied the law of Zeus and stole the fire of the gods to give to man, knowing full well that he would suffer for his deed. The name Prometheus means ‘foresight’, and the Titan possessed the gift of prophecy. He was also said in myth to have created man out of earth and the water of his own tears, while Athene breathed life into the creation. Thus Prometheus had a deep sympathy for the lot of humankind, for he made them.
But Zeus asserted his divine supremacy over men by withholding fire from them. This meant that there was condemned to live like the beasts, eating raw meat and hiding in caves. Prometheus took some of the holy fire from Hephaistos’ forge, hid it in a hollow fennel stalk, and carried it to earth. Outraged by the theft, Zeus resolved to annihilate mankind by flood to destroy the offenders, for not only was his pride injured but with fire man might attempt to become godlike. But Prometheus warned his son Deucalion, who built an ark and went on board with his wife, Pyrrha. The flood lasted for nine days and nights, but on the tenth day the deluge ceased and Deucalion offered up sacrifice to Zeus. The king of the gods, touched by his piety, agreed to his request to renew the human race.
But Prometheus did not get off so lightly. As he had foreseen, Zeus seized and bound him with indestructible chains to a high cliff in the Caucasus mountains. An eagle flew down each day to devour Prometheus’ liver; each night the liver was renewed and the torture continued. After thirty years, Zeus permitted his rescue by the hero Heracles, who slew the eagle and broke the prisoner’s chains. Prometheus was made immortal, while grateful mankind, honouring their benefactor, raised altars to him and for the first time wore rings, in commemoration of his bondage.
The Wheel of Fortune.
Here we meet the three goddesses of Fate, whom the Greek called the Morai. In myth, the Moirai were the daughters of Mother Night, conceived without a father. Clotho was the spinner, Lachesis the measurer, and Atropos, whose name means ‘she who cannot be avoided’, the cutter. The three Fates wove thread of a human life in the secret darkness of their cave, and their work could not be undone by any god, not even Zeus. Once the destiny of an individual was woven, it was irrevocable, and could bot be altered; and the length of life and the time of death were part and parcel with what was called hubris, which means arrogance in the face of the gods. Such an individual could not of course evade his or her fate, and was sometimes punished terribly by the gods for trying to overstep the boundaries set by the Moirai. In one myth, it was said that Apollo the sun-god once laughed at the Moirai and mischievously made them drunk in order to save his friend Admetus from death. But usually it was believed that Zeus himself walked in awe of the Fates, because they were not the children of any god, but rather the progeny of the depths of the Night, which was the oldest power in the universe.
The Warrior Heracles and Strength.
Here in the card of Strength we meet the great Warrior Heracles, called Hercules by the Romans, who in myth was the most invincible of heroes. He was the son of Zeus, king of the gods, by a mortal woman called Alcmene. Zeus’ wife Hera was, as usual, jealous of the child born from her husband’s adultery, and persecuted the hero with terrible punishments. She drove him mad, and in his madness he inadvertently murdered his wife and children. Heracles begged the gods for some task to expiate his crimes, and the oracle at Delphi ordered him to subject himself to twelve years of arduous labors in the service of the evil Kink Eurystheus, who Hera favored. Thus the hero voluntarily bound himself to the servant of the goddess who persecuted voluntarily bound himself to the servant of the goddess who persecuted him, in expiation of a crime for which she ultimately responsible.
The first of the famous Twelve Labours which King Eurystheus required Heracles to perform was the conquest of the Memean Lion, an enormous beast with a pelt that was proof against iron, bronze and stone. Since the lion had depopulated the neighbourhood, Heracles could find no one who could direct him to its lair. Eventually he found the beast, bespattered with blood from the day’s slaughter. He shot a flight of arrows at it, but they rebounded harmlessly from the thick pelt. Next he used his sword, which bent, and then his club, which shattered on the lion’s head. Heracles then netted one entrance of the two-mouthed cave in which the lion hid, and crept in by the other entrance. The lion bit off one of his fingers, but Heracles managed to catch hold of its neck and choked it to death with his bare hands. Then he flayed the pelt of the lion with its own razor-sharp claws, and forever after wore the skin as armour with the head as a helmet, thus becoming as invincible as was the beast itself.
The inner Justice.
On an inner level, Athene, goddess of Justice, is an image of the uniquely human faculty of reflective judgment and rational thought. To the Greeks, this faculty was divine, because it differentiated man from the beasts. Thus they envisaged Athene from he head of great Zeus, uncontaminated by a corporeal mother who might link her with the physical and instinctual world which we share with the animals. Athene’s judgments are not based on personal feeling, but upon impartial objective assessment of all the factors contained in a situation, and on ethical principles which stand as firm guidelines for choice. Athene’s chastity may be taken as a symbol of the intactness and purity of this reflective faculty, which is not influenced by personal desire. Her teachings of the civilizing arts also reflects the capacity of the mind to hold untamed nature in check and transform it through clarity and objective planning. Her willingness to battle for principles rather than passions springs from the mind’s capacity to make choices based upon reflection, holding the instincts in control.
The card of Justic is the first of four cards in the Major Arcana which were traditionally called the Four Moral lessons. These cards – Justice, Temperance, Strength, and the Hermit – are all concerned with the development of those individual faculties necessary for us to function effectively in life. They all contribute to what psychology calls the formation of the ego, which means the sense of ‘I’ that each of us must have in order to experience a sense of worth and value in life, and to cope with life’s challenges from a stable and truly individual base. The Fool, having passed through the two great challenges of youth – erotic desire and aggression – now faces the necessity of building his character and developing faculties which will help him to deal with the great range of life’s experiences. Thus, when the Fool meets Athene, goddess of Justice, he must learn how to think clearly and how to cultivate the faculty of a balanced mind. He must learn to weigh one thing again – something he could not yet do in the card of the Lovers – and come to the most impartial judgement possible. Justice is not possible unless we respect fairness and truth as important ethical principles rather than a nice behaviour which we adopt because we want to be liked by others. Athene raises us above nature, and represents our striving toward a perfection conceived by the human mind and spirit.
Gypsy Magic 