18. The Moon

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THE MOON.

   

THE MOON.

18. צ

18th Hebrew letter (Tzaddi).

ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE EIGHTEENTH CARD OF THE TAROT.

The hieroglyphic idea connected with the Tzaddi is the same as that of the Teth (9th card); but it chiefly signifies a term, an aim, an end. It is a final concluding sign, relating to all the ideas of term, of secession, division and aim. ¹

The Tzaddi is a simple letter; it corresponds with the zodiacal sign of Aquarius.

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THE EIGHTEENTH CARD OF THE TAROT.

The Moon.

We have now traversed the steps which the spirit descends in its gradual and utter fall towards the material world. All is now ended; the spirit is completely materialized, and the change is indicated by the eighteenth card.

A meadow feebly lighted by the moon.

The light, the symbol of the soul, no longer reaches us directly; the material world is only lighted by reflection.

The meadow is bounded by a tower on each side. Drops of blood are falling from the moon.

The material world is the last point which the spirit can reach, it can descend no lower; this is shown by the boundaries of the field. The drops of blood represent the descent of the Spirit into Matter.

A path sprinkled with drops of blood loses itself in the horizon. In the centre of the field a dog and a wolf axe howling at the moon, a crayfish is climbing out of the water between the two animals.

The entry of the Spirit into Matter is so great a fall that everything conspires to augment it.

Servile spirits (the dog), savage souls (the wolf), and crawling creatures (the crayfish) are all present watching the fall of the soul, hoping to aid in its destruction.

1. End of divine Materialization. Final point of involution--

CHAOS.

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2. End of the Materialization of man--

THE MATERIAL BODY AND ITS PASSIONS.

3. End of physical Materialization--

MATTER.

18. צ

The Moon.

Involution, that is to say, the descent of the Spirit into Matter, ends with the 3rd septenary.

The three last cards of the Tarot will show us how all the emanated forces gradually return to their common principle by evolution.

Footnotes

174:1 Placed at the commencement of a word it indicates the movement which leads towards the end; placed at the end it marks the term itself to which it has tended; it then receives this form, ץ. It is derived from the letter Samech ס (15) and the letter Zain ז (7), and it marks the secession of one or the other.