The Moon

A path runs between two towers into a dark landscape under a waning moon; jackal-headed figures of Anubis guard each side; drops of blood fall; below, the scarab Khephra carries the sun through the waters of the night.

Qoph, the back of the head, on path 29 from Netzach to Malkuth: the primitive brain, the animal soul, the last path up from the material world. Qoph is the letter of the dark and the dreaming; the Moon is the gate through which every ascent must pass.

Pisces, mutable Water, ruled by Jupiter (Neptune in modern practice) with Venus exalted: the two fish, the end of the zodiac, the waters before the spring. The decans of Pisces are the Eight, Nine and Ten of Cups.

Eighteen, twice nine, and Qoph's value 100, the square of ten: the tenth Sephirah reflected in itself, matter dreaming of matter.

The deep unconscious and the shadow-sea: the night journey of the ego, the fear at the threshold, the animal past. Jung's descent and the alchemical nigredo are read here; the scarab carrying the sun promises dawn.

Waite's Moon shows a dog and a wolf howling between towers while a crayfish climbs from a pool; Crowley makes the guardians Anubis, adds the blood, and puts the scarab-sun at the bottom to show the light hidden in the dark.