Card of the Week: The Moon

Last week, the decision to write about trains came from being on a train. Easy enough! This week the decision to write about The Moon comes from a question I was asked by someone who was using their deck at home. Which by the way, I encourage people to do as often as you feel like it.

The jist of the question was, am I going to go crazy because I got this card in a reading for my future card? 

I feel I owe an apology to anyone who gets this card and wonders that to themselves. I can see where you get the idea. We here in the Northwest in particular, have an association with Frances Farmer that is just flat out crazy and I may have been writing the meaning to cater to the theme more than the other way around. (see card meaning below) 

The point I was making, is that I don't necessarily believe the character depicted in this card is flat out crazy. I feel that she is creative, intelligent and takes time to howl at the moon! I believe she can be per sieved to be crazy sometimes to outside parties but for the most part I consider this card to mean a natural blowing off of steam with just a twinge of crazy. 

I feel this card, warns against bottling up your feelings enough for the top to blow off more than it warns against being committed to a mental institution haha! 

When I see a theme there are aspects of it that I feel fit the card and my personal opinion on the theme can sometimes represent the meaning to me, but I can see how things get tangled. Aside from approaching me with questions, if you feel there is more you want to learn about that card or something doesn't quite fit I suggest looking up the meaning in other books and online and meshing it into something that feels right for you. Every deck's accompanied book has it's own personality and opinions. There are a fair amount of resources to learn about those cards :) There with that said! Let's discuss the theme of the card The Moon

The Moon

Frances Farmer

Frances Farmer is a Northwest legend and icon. A beautiful, intelligent actress from Seattle, she broke onto the Hollywood scene in the 1930's after the pursuit of a stage career. She didn't much like the structure of Hollywood and their insistence on her keeping up an image of perfection. After a few drunken run ins with the cops and some media scandals, she was committed by her mother to the Western State Mental Institution in Steilacoom, Washington. 

In the crowded mental institution, she was given electroshock therapy under military guard, since the institution sat on a military base. Released and re committed several times, she regarded it as the worst time in her life and described it as "an unbearable terror." 

The Mental institution, in the background of this card, no longer stands. After a fire that killed many patients, new laws after the 1970's and partial demolition, they finally tore the building down a few years ago, but most people that grew up in the northwest have a story about being a kid and sneaking out of the house with their friends at night, running up to the haunted loony bin with flashlights and the goal of scaring each other and themselves out of their wits.


I could be wrong, but I think there's a part of every person living in the drippy northwest, that wonders if they're losing it from time to time or if they are prone to mental disorders because of where they live, the weather, the history of mental problems here, who knows. All I know is sometimes I do! but that could just be the cocktail of weather, cabin fever and a creative temperament ;) all stirred together! All I know is I am super ready for the cherry blossom trees to bloom and spring to be on it's way and clear some of the cobwebs and clouds!

On a lighter note! here's a picture of my adventure buddy, Danny trying to climb to the 2nd floor of the partially demolished Western State Mental Institution about 7 years ago :) 

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Card Meaning

The moon represents psychological conflict and delusional behavior. You might be experiencing feelings of dread, anxiety and all around paranoia. However imagination and creativity come from the other side of this coin. How we view and evaluate mental health as a society has gone through many stages over the years and it is hard to know what to trust. What professional guidance can you respect what is up to you personally? I have to wonder if Frances Farmer would have been treated differently today for her behavior than she was in the 1940's. The decision is up to you as to whether you need to seek professional help for your mental conflicts but either way you might want to give your imagination a little room to breath and how at the moon every once in a while.