The Scarab

There is usually an insect or crustacean on the Moon card. Why is this? Generally insects can be seen as hyper-specialists - as beings which conform to a high level of limitation to provide a unique service within the web of all. The insect perseveres in their function. A great deal of the peril involved in the path of the Moon has to do with abandonment of function due to distraction- we get carried away from our true path into distractions and superficialities. Illusions. This, conversely is how we might behave if betwitched or ensorcelled. Such weapons rely on the separation of the target from the roles that inherently protect them, and thus by diverting them, subverting them. So the insect is a great protector on the road of illusion, for to know the insect's secret - act in according to your precise nature - we become protected from sundry enchantments.

As well, there is the issue of the scarab. The scarab, Kephri, in Egyptian mythology, carries the sun through the night and out the other side. The scarab is the protector of the sun, just as the dung beetle (a scarab) is the protector of their eggs - rolled into a ball of dung. In the Tarot, we are being reminded that after every peak epiphany (the Sun), there is a trough (the Moon) - a perilous valley that represents the fading enthusiasm of the next day, the next week following a realization. Yet this is the crucial period - for no epiphany will last in its primary intensity - it will and must be tested by distraction, boredom, depression. It must be tempered. What's being tested is the insect function of self confidence - the ability to carry the light through a period of darkness and doubt, in order to consecrate it. We are reminded equally of Innana's descent into the underworld.

Once the scarab has ritually passed through the gates of the Moon, and restored the sun's light to the heavens, the great circuit is complete, and another star is added to the heavens. This is the way.

Let it ever be so. Persevere like the scarab. May you have the confidence of the insects, and may your sparks of epiphany find their seat in the eternal evening. Persist.