Our wild self is called by the moon to throw off the shackles of domestication, of conditioning, of duty. What lies beneath the thin veneer of civilized behavior? When we tap into the energy of the moon, we feel ourselves pulsing with the cycles of waxing (building, growing, increasing) and waning (dissolving, shrinking, decreasing).
The moon card is a bit scary, because it calls us to look at our deeper selves, our dark sides and elements of our life we have been hiding from. We are so conditioned against following our instincts that it takes careful and patient awareness in order to be able to reconnect with this important and vital power. Each time a sensation arises in our bodies, we are experiencing the power of our feelings. What are they trying to tell us? We have a choice each time to listen or ignore. Over time, as we practice getting in touch with this deep and powerful knowing, we improve the relationship we have to ourselves. As this relationship improves, we become more empowered.
It’s scary, but it’s real. Desire for true expression of our real, wild, authentic selves glows hard from our inner beings, and it brews a concoction of dreams, visions and communications from the natural world. The Moon card calls us to pay attention to these sometimes subtle, sometimes strong messages as well as to that which triggers us, makes us uncomfortable or calls us into a dark place. We want to resist! We want the Sun! We want happy happy joy joy, but if we are going to be real, we need both.
What are our unconscious fears or beliefs that we consider unacceptable, scary or ugly? The Moon will illuminate them. We can stuff them back inside the closet allow these to fester and rot inside of ourselves, or or we can find a way to release our pent up need for true expression. The traditional image of the wolf howling at the Moon is our wild, animal selves connecting to the wildness of the world.
Instinct (the gut knowing, an impulse) and Intuition (the process of gathering messages that come from the subconscious – a bridge between instinct and logic) are ruled by the moon. We say we want to get in touch with our inner knowing and our wild selves, but truthfully, it takes a lot of courage to actually follow through on the messages we get. Our souls are not interested in us getting the better stuff, the comfort and the victory. Our souls want us to learn something, and this often requires suffering. Surrender to the pain and it won’t hurt as much!
The Moon is not just a symbol or archetype – it is actually a measurable force that affects all life on earth. This is not a matter of faith, it is a scientific fact. The more in tune we can get with the moon, the more gracefully we can dance with all that is – but it takes courage to look at our inner wildness and allow it to be real. Aspects of our authentic selves may not be pretty, kind or socially acceptable, but they are a vital part of who we are, and they need to be able to howl!
Margot Darling 