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Thoth-ATU 18-The Moon

The ruler of flux and reflux;The child of the Sons of the Mighty.

THE MOON, which is the 18th Key of the Major Arcana or Trump, is called the Path of Qoph; Qoph is a Hebrew letter--meaning, back of head or ear. Connecting Netzach (Victory) with Malkuth (Kingdom) the Path of Qoph is described as the "Victory of the Material World" and/or the "deceptive effect of the apparent power of the Material World". This path, is also known as the "Threshold to life”: a spiritual birth that may be considered on two levels. On one level, it is the course of incarnation where the soul organizes the physical body of which it will inhabit. It is a kind of sleep (physical consciousness not yet formed), a kind of pre-consciousness, that differentiates into mater from the instinctual collective unconscious of 8th Sephiroth-Netzach. On another level, where the student is advancing spiritual awareness up the Tree of Life, it is a path of conquest of the phantoms (gods, demons, angels) of their "man-made" personality which are creations of the created.

The path is a probationary path, where the student must face the emotional phantoms hid in the dark recesses of their own mind, as well as those of the race. The moon symbolizes the “Self –reflection” that goes on with the inner Solar Logos and our subconsciousness. Our subconsciousness is the Moon of “self-reflection”. Therefore, the Moon shows a path beyond the "poisoned darkness" of deep instinctual fears. However, this is not an easy path as the myth of the "hero's journey", a journey of ancient wisdom, shows disturbing trials and tribulations in the "poisoned darkness" where monsters and phantoms are met and conquered with often great effort. The Moon is a symbol of something primal not social. Therefore, the primal fears which are the reflections of the animal- survival mind are experienced personally and deeply. 

Therefore this path can be disturbing to those who serve emotions rather than rational thought, and can pose real dangers to one's emotional stability. On the other hand, those strong enough to tread this Path and  lucidly slay the monsters "within" our sleep-consciousness and understand their mechanisms, gain the capacity to manipulate those qualities in ourselves and those of others. Hence, Mastery of Illusion is a product of this path.

As previously stated: the meaning of Qoph is also the back of the head, behind the head itself, is the Sun -Resh. The Moon symbolizes the anterior to the bright intellect of the Sun. The Moon, the Path of Qoph, only reflects the light of the Sun. Thus the central path of the card goes from the dark side of the Moon, towards the light side that reflects direct Sunlight. This rising act of direct Sunlight is show as what some call the Egyptian Scarab symbol of the God Kephera (kheprera), pushing the Sun towards the Moon. More traditional Tarot Cards show a crayfish or lobster crawling out of a dark pool of water. However, Lady Frieda Harris, has artfully portrayed a Water Strider, not a dung beetle. This Water Strider is carrying the Sun off of the surface of the Dark Water (subconscious) implying that the dark night will soon be over. Basically, the Moon -Key-18, symbolizes the rebirth of light out of hideous darkness; bright intellect overcoming the dark denizens of our subconscious, i.e. the illusions of emotional and/or survival fears and terrors of what the unseen sounds of the dark denzines may harold.

Crowley warns us of the path as he states: "

This path is guarded by Tabu. She is uncleanliness and sorcery. Upon the hills are black towers of nameless mystery, of horror and of fear. All prejudice, all superstition, dead tradition and ancestral loathing, all combine to darken her face before the eyes of men. It needs unconquerable courage to tread this path." [The Book of Thoth, Pg., 112)

ta•boo

(təˈbu, tæ-)

adj., n., pl. -boos, adj.

1. proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable: taboo words.

2. set apart as sacred; forbidden for general use; placed under a prohibition or bar.

3. a prohibition or interdiction of something; exclusion from use or practice.

4. the system or practice of setting things apart as sacred or forbidden for general use.

5. exclusion from social relations; ostracism.

6. to put under a taboo; prohibit or forbid.

7. to ostracize.

[1770–80; < Tongan tapu or Fijian tabu]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Crowley's use of the word Tabu, for Luna, is interesting. For woman has become a misogynist nightmare of Patriarchy indoctrination. This began as the myogenic interpretation of the first book of Genesis by the Patriarchy sponsored religions, blaming Eve for the downfall of mankind that became the damning of woman as the temptress whose seductive mechanisms got mankind banished from the garden of Eden. Hence, woman became the image of original sin. 

All of which is a convenient misinterpretation of the book and of the "god" that created man to toil in the garden. {see-The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchin] . The myths of a tyrannical god named Jehovah or Yahweh, are about a Master Race who created slaves on the Planet Earth. These slaves where a genetically modified Homo Erectis; a modification done by splicing Annunaki genes (Sumerian for "those who from the sky came") to homo Erectus DNA, forming the Homo Sapiens to labor as slaves for the "Master Race".  Read the books, it will enhance your reasoning. 

After many ups and downs, and a few "God Wars", mankind has been more or less left alone to his own devices, and still enslaving each other in imitation of the "gods".  However, before the Patriarchy of Rome , The Matriarchies of Europe owned all agriculture and therefore, the Land; the Patriarchy of Rome, in order to conquer and hold the peoples of Europe under their "sandal heels" found this misinterpretation of the Creation Myth as a proof to destroy the matriarchies of the Celts, Germanic Tribes, and Franks etc. Later on, all Patriarchies found this interpretation of this Creation Myth, as a good excuse to steal the land and banish woman from politics of all conquered lands. Making women a "2nd class" citizen whose rights were not those of men and often tortured them if they dared to seek knowledge. Using the word for "Wise Woman"  (Witch) as a form of blasphemy or even heresy against god and Patriarch. That word is the Anglo Saxon "Witch" which is interpreted to mean a " woman with her wits about her". This is the Witch of Fear and superstition, all supplied to keep "woman in her place" and not the true Wise Woman of Wicca or "the craft of herbology". Superstition is just a Profaned Imagination a propaganda play on "fear of predation".  Rather than the Bright Imagination of Creative life, the Imagination of the people was profaned by fear mongering religions to keep the "slave mentality" so necessary for tyrants and oligarchs to rule. A subconsciousness ruled by profaned imagination is the "Dark Luna" that enslaves reason. 

In Thoth Deck Tarot, THE PRIESTESS, is a source of pure, crystal clear waters (consciousness) emerging from the Godhead-The Father, to God the Son/Sun and is the Highest state of Luna (I-magi-nation). The Same waters of consciousness are seen here on The Moon card, but they are polluted and/or profaned with the dark subconscious fears of mortality and torture, that fear of physical pain and death bestows on the subconsciousness and therefore, the lowest state of Luna (Dark Imagination). However, as I have stated before, the traveling up the Path of Qoph, towards the "Son/Sun Consciousness” of the Soul (Tiphareth) notably changes the body physiology, as the Bright Beautiful Light Intellect of the Sun (Tiphareth) descends into it. When traveling up the Path of Qoph, the Personality becomes increasingly aware of the Higher Self and less control by the dark fears of the mortal body.

Dr.Paul Foster Case, Qabalistic Founder of B.O.T.A., called The Moon, the "Corporeal Intelligence" which means the "body consciousness". Also in Hebrew the word "corporeal" means "to rain upon", which is why we see the symbols of Yods raining down from the central orb of the card. Since this is a Watery Card, t ancient Egyptians , of a more poetic bent, say that these Yod symbols are "tears of the Moon- Goddess" raining down and filling the Nile. What we all agree on is that something descends from the Moon to the Earth on the Path of Qoph, which is represented as raining Yods.

The path of Qoph is that of primitive instincts, of nature red in "both tooth and claw" which emerges uncontrolled by moral or ethical reasoning. The traveler of this Path will face aspects of themselves that our culture forces them to repress but are indeed integral and undeniable parts of our predatory human form. This is the Survival Mind, where the "law of the jungle" resides in the dark pools of violence and conquest. This can be a very cruel path to endure, especially after centuries of  superstitious culture profaning of the subconscious mind.  Until the student is able to fear not these internal demons and thereby, removes the veils of darkness, from the subconscious,  allowing in the Bright Intellect of the Son/Sun who applies beautiful reason to our consciousness allowing one to emerge from dark subverting fears into a bright, beautiful, sunny mind of warm intelligence. 

superstitious

[ˌso͞opərˈstiSHəs]

ADJECTIVE

1. having or showing a belief in superstitions.

"many superstitious beliefs and practices are connected with sneezing"

synonyms:

mythical · irrational · illusory · groundless · unfounded · unprovable · traditional · credulous · prone to superstition · naive · gullible

The simple Hebrew letter of Qoph, also translates into the English word, sleep .Thus we have a conscious relationship with the Moon, The bright Sun reflecting side, our waking consciousness and the dark sunless side of the " profaned imagination of the sleeping" sub consciousness. As the Moon has cycles, so does our consciousness, as during the cyclic phase of conscious withdrawal from the physical (Sleep) many of us still act upon the fantasies and information closely related to the body’s survival based experiences. Their dreaming is filled with phantoms produced by the body’s ancient fear of pain and/or death which once consciously transcended, is the successful completion of the Path of The Moon.

The initiate, finds that birth, death, and resurrection are pivotal concepts on the Path of the Moon. These biological processes occur in the light and dark of our sensual perceptions. The 2 figures of Anubis, the jackal -headed gatekeepers, symbolize this cyclic process (Spiral energy) as the god Anubis was the Egyptian god of light and darkness, death and resurrection. The "As above, so below" is shown as a pattern on this card also reinforces this meaning. The Moon, symbolizes the process that consciousness goes through, when energy proceeds from order to disorder (2nd law of Thermodynamics), from organized flesh to death. To understand the Path of Qoph--The Moon, is to understand the partnership of our personality-consciousness to the physical vehicle, which the Soul Personality builds for each manifestation. Since most people perceive themselves as having existence only through their bodies, this is often a most difficult undertaking. One must realize that they are Spirit (Will) born before they earned a "Mind" and that the information gathered from that "Mind" collective of I AM, must become  information before it can be "Knowledge". Information, becomes form in this universe. Life is information experienced through a sensual form. 

The Moon was often seen as a Goddess of Life (White Goddess of Light and a Goddess of Death (Dark Goddess/Crone) at once praised and then feared. It is the physical vehicles fear of dying that hounds our subconsciousness in many subtle ways, producing phantoms who manifest as phobias, obsessions, and mental - emotional disorders. Our consciousness comes from the immortal Soul, and is unused to such thoughts of fear filled ending. In death the Soul recycles, our consciousness, which is a "reflection" of the Soul Conscious-Personality. Bodies forget, that they are a recycled part of the Whole Organic Organism that we know as "Organic matter". Like I have often said, to my own body," You came from cranberries and to cranberries you shall return..." which is a slightly dark humor that I use to give the brain pause from its attempts at survival thinking (worry, fear of death, fear of rejection, fear of loss etc..). We are not a physical brain (Wet-ware). We are Spiritual Souls, (Willed Energy information) who are supposed to program the brain-wet-ware with the golden sun's/son's own software, for the purpose of experiencing the discernment of being a "living thing". Thoughts can no longer be indiscriminate mental ramblings of an uncontrolled or profaned imagination. They now must support life, and expand and liberate the "living" from and beyond fear of death- based thoughts.

The Immortal Being that Souls are, must redesign the "survival mind" of the animal body as we as a people have "redesigned" the mind of a Wolf into that of a domesticated pet dog. We are the Suns of Living Creative Conscious Energy, the Lover of Entity not the Profaner of Entity. The Soul is one who must mentally reflect upon a world of Matter, which for generations was symbolized by the Moon for as we all know, this is the realm of "Reflected light" which is less than one percent of the total electromagnetic spectrum that is the foundational medium of our “personality-consciousness. One could say, that on the Path of the Moon, the Souls learns to run the physical vehicle by expanding the brain's perspectives beyond that of life and death, into the knowledge that keeps personality-resurrection, liberation and expansion as a form of I AM ME.

Haindl Tarot- Key 18-The Moon

The Haindl Tarot-Key 18- The Moon, displays the Hebrew letter Qoph in the upper left and the Rune -Othal (o), meaning prosperity at the upper right. Bottom right of the card is the astrological symbol of Pisces (water). Shown is a dreamy, misty lanscape of peace, while the lobster, represents ancient fears that crawl out of the deep levels of the subconscious mind. Also presented is a unicorn, replacing the tradition dog and wolf of traditional tarots such as the Rider-Waite- Smith Tarot, that represent the imagination both primative and domesticated by love. 

Rider-Waite-Smith-Key 18-The Moon

Represented on the Haindl Tarot-The Moon, is a landscape both surreal  and dreamy; a land of myths, illusions, and wonders which is the path of imagination that can lead to perfect knowledge. 

The Unicorn, is shown pitted, like ancient rock, to give it the impression of ancient myth. Myth being  a story about a turth.  The Unicorn's horn represents spirial-sexual energy as the Unicorn is a sexual image. Here is the link between sexual energy and dreams, by the spiral energy of the Kundalini. Researchers have found evidence that suggests dreams are sexual, not always in their meaning, but in their very nature.  It has been shown that during REM sleep (Rapid eye movements), the body becomes sexually aroused which is not the case in the rest of sleep.  Therefore, in modern psychology it is suggested that dreams, and by extention, art, and  stories come from the basic life energy called the "libido". Hence, dreams and myths are communications from the formless unconscious as it seeks to communicate to form. Since dreams are sexual, myths are both spiritual and sexual at the same time. When reading myths, one finds this to often be the truth.  It is also known by experience not theory, that Kundalini Yogo enhances this dream experience byy releasing basic life energy  into the Spiritual   Will  rather than the animal realm of fear based dreams. 

The Moon, suggests we unite our forms of consciousness, sub, un, and awake consciousness, into one creative communication of Loving Being. We are all connected to the Universal Collective Unconscious, and each of us, in their own individual Qabalah (means "recieving"), must experience their own Tree of Life by uniting all forms of Self (individual sephiroth) as One Self. We all begin as I AM, what we create is a manifested dream of the I Am which we call a "Me" and/or ourselves. Qabalah insists that "Above all things, know thy self"!

When the Moon card is thrown during a reading it implies:

• The querent is experiencing dissatisfaction and voluntary change is on the horizon.
• The querent is experiencing choice and authenticity over old illusions and delusions.
• A call to enter into the darkness of the unconscious and to come to grips with one's fantasy made demons.
• Within 18 weeks or 18 months the querent must take control of the survival mind and expand it beyond its fear based perspectives.
• They must remember, that they are a Spirit who owns a body, not a body who owns a spirit; an Immortal Conscious that owns a mortal consciousness.
• Devotion to intuitive knowledge.
• Mirror of the Soul and/or the bridge between the inner and outer world.
• Strong dreams

If ill defined by the surrounding cards of the layout (Thoth) or reversed (Haindl) it implies:

• Hysterical illusion.
• Persecution complex.
• Hallucinations.
• Fear.
• Drug abuse.
• Flights from reality.

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