Man, let me tell you, The Moon card, upright or reversed, it used to completely screw up my readings. I’d be sitting there, everything flowing smoothly, and then BAM! That watery mess of a card would show up, and my brain would just turn to mush. I spent years thinking the reversed version was just ‘Moon Lite’—less intense, less scary. But that ain’t right at all. It’s actually often more urgent and maybe even more dangerous if you ignore it.
I finally got fed up maybe three months ago. I had done a reading for a guy about his job security, and The Moon reversed came up right in the outcome spot. I flippantly told him, “Oh, the confusion is clearing up, just a few lingering doubts, you’ll be fine.” Three weeks later, he’s fired. Not because the confusion cleared up, but because he was so busy focusing on the wrong shadows that he missed the big threat walking right toward him.
My Practice: Diving Into the Swampy Moon
That reading hit me hard. I knew I had missed the fundamental difference. I couldn’t trust that card anymore until I could nail down exactly what its flipping meant. So, I started what I called the ‘Moon Marathon.’ This wasn’t some fancy academic study; this was straight-up grinding.
I grabbed my deck and a beat-up spiral notebook. For forty days, I pulled The Moon—either upright or reversed—and paired it with a simple, verifiable situation. I didn’t care about big life questions; I needed concrete, fast feedback. I focused on:
- “Will I misunderstand the email I’m about to read?” (Upright)
- “Am I denying that I forgot to pay that bill?” (Reversed)
- “Is there a deep, hidden fear I can’t name?” (Upright)
- “Am I actively ignoring the signs my car is making?” (Reversed)
I recorded the intention, the card, and then, most importantly, the actual outcome. This process was a hot mess of confusion for the first couple of weeks. Sometimes the Upright felt Reversed, and the Reversed felt like sunshine. I almost tossed the whole thing out because I kept messing up the interpretations.
I realized my initial mistake was associating the Reversed Moon with relief. I was taught that reversed cards often meant the energy was dissipating or inverted. But with The Moon, that interpretation was shallow and useless. I had to look at what the upright card did first.
When the Upright Moon showed up, it was always about things I genuinely could not yet know. It was about the deep fog, the hidden subconscious fears that were running the show without me knowing their names. The danger was unseen, residing in the depths. I’d pull it, and a few hours later, something would bubble up—an old insecurity, a misunderstanding based on projection—stuff that was truly veiled.
The Tipping Point: Seeing the Denial
Then, about three weeks in, I had this moment where the difference slapped me in the face. I had pulled The Moon reversed, asking about a minor conflict I had with a neighbor. My thought process was, “Is the confusion about this argument ending?”
The outcome wasn’t that the confusion ended. The outcome was that I realized the neighbor had been giving me clear signals that they were annoyed—I had just been actively choosing not to see them because I didn’t want to deal with the confrontation. The truth wasn’t hidden; I had put the blinders on myself.
That’s when I changed my entire definition of The Moon reversed. I stopped thinking of it as ‘confusion clearing’ and started seeing it as ‘clarity being resisted’ or ‘the shadow being known and ignored.’
The Key Difference I Finally Locked Down
After reviewing all those messy notes, circling the concrete outcomes, I hammered out the two key definitions I now use every single time. And honestly, it simplifies everything.
With the Upright Moon, the fear, the misunderstanding, or the self-deception is operating below the surface. You don’t know the exact nature of the monster under the bed. You need time, patience, and intuition to wade through the murky waters and discover what’s truly there.
But when you draw The Moon Reversed, listen up: The light is actually breaking through. The confusion could be over. The shadows could be identified. The problem is you, the querent, are actively choosing to stay scared, or you are choosing to look the other way. You know the truth is accessible, but you’re either in full-blown denial, or you’re letting the anxiety of the unknown (which is now becoming known) completely paralyze you.
It’s the shift from a problem of Ignorance (Upright) to a problem of Denial or Avoidance (Reversed). Once I started reading it that way—demanding my querents look at the reality they were avoiding when it was reversed—my accuracy shot way up. If you’re struggling, try that forty-day pull challenge. It’s tedious, but actually tracking the physical outcome is the only way you’ll truly internalize what this tricky card is trying to scream at you.
