Rider Waite Smith vs Thoth: The Moon with Chris Gabriel

Back in 2021, Chris Gabriel and I joined together (along with Arran Rogerson & Matthew K Johnson) in the Dialectical Tarot series, an exploration of the tarot from the perspectives of Rider Waite Smith, Thoth and Marseilles. Today we went live in a similar spirit, exploring The Moon card, its relationship to the unconscious, and its esoteric mysteries.

Some themes we explored:

* The classic symbolism of The Moon card in both Rider Waite Smith and Thoth traditions, including its links to illusion, the night realm, and psychic passage

* The Moon as an indicator of the unconscious and how it reveals shadow material through dreams, symptoms, and intuitive stirrings

* Related archetypal figures like Anubis, the High Priestess, the Hermit, and Ereshkigal, as guides through darkness and transformation

* Neptune’s connection to the Moon card, the trickster quality of fairies, and how the unconscious “plays” in the natal chart depending on Neptune’s placement

Chris is the creator of the MemeAnaylsis YouTube channel, writer for Rick Rubin’s Tetragrammaton.com, and writes Effluvia here on Substack. Check out his work for more insight into psychoanalysis, philosophy, and the occult.