Atu XVIII is referred to “The Moon”, but its most initial Core Idea is that of “The Night”. The extreme example is the Moonless Night, and this serves as the best launching pad for all that follows. For entities that are rather dependent on light for visual sensation, absolute darkness is a very good first stage of Utter Doubt. A primal sense of coordination is deprived, and other senses not light-dependent must engage to a greater degree than ‘normal’. These adjustments are necessary to help maintain ‘a sense of certainty’ that is generally sensory-oriented. When “the Moonless Night” metaphor is taken to an extreme itself, a.k.a. Utter Darkness, that would also include lack of sound, taste, touch, etc., and becomes what is known as a “sensory-deprivation chamber”. Now all the usual instruments of ‘a sense of certainty’ have been made abrogate.
When all of “the usual devices engendering a sense of certainty” are comprehensively turned off, there is no immediate engaging of “another device” to “re-establish certainty”. What does immediately occur is The Overwhelming Sense of Fear! It is only when that Overwhelming Sense of Fear extends beyond the awful initial phase that then the Overwhelming Sense of Doubt joins into the subjective drama. Then the twin siblings of Overwhelming Fear & Doubt have the stage-play for rather a considerably long time during this absolute denial of “certainty”. It is only well into the ‘drama of uncertainty’ that other “make-sense” faculties kick into gear. These are faculties that the fraternity/sorority calls “occult senses”. Unfortunately, with honest investigation, these “new senses” are really no more “real” than the previous “relied-upon” senses that described ‘certainty’. But, when you are shit-out-of-luck, you take whatever you can get! And you are ‘no less’ for taking that. But, hopefully, the ‘sense’ of “perception is a gamble” is firmly becoming ‘real’.
Now, what about a Moon-Lit Night? The absolute “sensory-deprivation chamber” metaphor doesn’t apply, but is the perceiver any better off? Now, instead of the absolute abrogation of the previous sensory-reinforcing ‘certainty’, another odd factor kicks in. Now, the “Moon-Lit Night” provides somewhat satisfactions of that otherwise Light-Dependent Satisfaction of “Sensory Certainty”. Unlike ‘daytime’ when The Tree is definitely A Tree, now The Tree is some indefinite construct. Hues are shifted and shadows increase, and , frankly, “wobbles” are ‘more apparent’. Whereas with the “Moonless Night” there is definitely No Tree, with the MoonLit Night there is Maybe A Tree. The whole perceptual experience takes on a whole other level of annoyance. At least with Complete Darkness, ‘certainty’ is utterly abrogate; with “somewhat darkness”, ‘certainty’ is played for even the further fool. A fleeting sound within the “MoonLit Night” can engender imagination to morph the ‘visual glimpse’ into ‘a virtual vampire’. The Sense of Fear & Doubt has full Power to Morph the Fleeting Glimpse into An Utter Monster.
“Indefinite Construct” is very much the Core Idea of Atu XVIII. (That is why the association with Astrological Pisces.)
O-A-Hum
OPD
OPD Tarot 