The Moon
Combinations · Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot

The Moon combinations

The Moon rarely decides a pair by itself; it dims the light the other card is read by. Below, card XVIII is read beside all 77 other cards and beside a second Moon, in every orientation.

Card meaning: The Moon

Pick two cards

First card: Upright / Reversed
Second card: Upright / Reversed

Combinations are common patterns, not rules

The readings here describe how a pair most often reads. Check each one against two things before you apply it. The first is the question: the same pair says one thing about a relationship and another about a job offer, and the question decides which side of the pair matters. The second is the background, meaning what the querent already knows about the situation, the position each card holds in the spread, and the cards around the pair. When the question or the background points another way, go with them over the general reading. Each pair page lists the exceptions that come up most often.

Put the Moon next to another card and that card's message becomes harder to check. The partner keeps its meaning, but part of the situation sits in shadow, and the querent has to tell a real intuition from a fear. So most upright pairs come out mixed: the Magician's skill, the Chariot's drive or the bond of the Two of Cups is genuine, and something around it is still unspoken or unconfirmed. Across the row the Moon gives the same counsel. Listen to the inner voice, test it against facts, and hold off on decisive action until the picture clears.

Some partners lift the fog. The Sun brings daylight, Judgment an honest look at old fears, The World the last stretch of a cycle, and the Queen of Swords or the King of Pentacles a steady head to read the murk with. Others turn it into a warning. Beside The Devil, the Seven of Swords or the Five of Swords it points to deceit, and beside The Tower to something hidden that breaks open all at once. In a fertility question it changes character next to The Empress and reads as life growing out of sight.

The Moon is Water. Cups share its depth, Pentacles give it ground, Swords meet it neutrally, and the Wands, as Fire, pull against it.

The Moon beside other cards in a spread

Beside Major Arcana cards

Among the trumps the Moon is usually the weather and the other card the event. The High Priestess shares its intuition and keeps it calm. The Lovers, Justice and The Emperor each face a decision that has to be made on partial facts. The Sun, Judgment and The World are the upright partners that clear the fog, while The Devil and The Tower sharpen it, one into a hidden dependency and the other into a sudden exposure.

Beside Wands

Fire and Water are contrary, so each Wands pair is drive working in poor visibility. The Ace brings an idea that rose from a hunch and needs testing, the Two a choice with one path hidden, the Eight fast messages that cannot all be trusted. The Page and Queen of Wands suit the Moon well, curiosity and confidence that follow intuition. The Five and Ten turn hard, bringing a quarrel with a hidden cause and a heavy load carried without knowing what it is for.

Beside Cups

The Cups share the Moon's Water, so feeling runs deep in every pair, and so does the risk of taking a mood for a fact. The Six, Nine and Page of Cups take its dreams kindly, as memory, a wish come true or a tender new feeling, and the Queen and King read its hidden mood without being swept away. The Five and Seven upright are hard partners. Reversed beside the upright Moon, the Four and Five turn hopeful, as intuition wakes the querent from apathy or grief.

Beside Swords

Air and Water are neutral, so Swords bring thought into the Moon's fog on equal terms. The Ace names the truth behind it, the Four gives dreams room to be heard, the Six crosses toward calmer water, and the Queen sorts true signals from false. Upright, the Three, Five, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten let fear and deceit feed each other under borrowed light. Reverse the Eight or the Nine and the fear loosens, and the Moon's intuition guides the next step.

Beside Pentacles

Earth and Water support each other, and the coins give the Moon's intuition something solid to stand on. Beside the Ace it marks an opportunity worth checking, beside the Four a sensible wait, beside the Eight and the Knight careful work that carries the querent through a confusing period. The Five is the one hard pair upright, money short and fear hiding the help close by. The Queen and King hold anxiety and uncertainty with practical judgement.

Beside court cards

Court cards carry no number, so these pairs have no quintessence and rank decides the reading. Pages follow the Moon's signs with curiosity: the Page of Cups through dreams, the Page of Swords by investigating. Knights set the pace, from the Knight of Wands riding ahead of what he can see to the Knight of Pentacles moving patiently through the confusion. The Queens of Cups and Swords and the King of Pentacles each bring a mature, discerning judgement to an unclear situation.

Beside a card of the same number

No other card is numbered eighteen, so the only same-number pair is the Moon beside a second Moon, drawn from another deck. There intuition and fog both double, and the counsel is to wait for facts before deciding anything. Eighteen reduces to nine, the number of completion, wisdom and the search for truth, which ties the Moon to The Hermit. In their pair, slow and solitary reflection is how the querent finds out what is real.

Beside reversed cards

With the Moon upright, a reversed partner usually adds to the confusion: the reversed Magician, Emperor or Star loses the skill, structure or hope that could have cut through it. Cards of fear and grief are the exception. Reversed, the Four and Five of Cups and the Eight and Nine of Swords loosen their hold, and the upright Moon's intuition helps the querent out. The reversed Devil shows someone breaking free on an unclear road, and the reversed Seven of Swords lets a secret surface in pieces.

The Moon with every card

Each row gives the outlook in all four states, read from The Moon's side: The Moon first, then its partner.

Harmonious Mixed Challenging

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