After The Star card, one could easily think that the problems are solved and that there is an easy way forward towards the end of the journey, whatever that end might be. But then again, we are faced with perhaps the greatest challenge of the Major Arcana. Why, after all the tribulations, after the sacrifice of The Hanged Man, passing through the gates of Death, facing The Devil, transforming The Tower and at last receiving the beneficial omen of hope with The Star, must we pass between the two sinister towers of The Moon card? Perhaps astronomy has an answer for us. The Moon has no light of its own; it is a cold, dead body that only reflects light from the true source of light in our system, the Sun. At the time of the full Moon the reflection is strongest; at the time of the new Moon there is no reflection, and looking at the Moon is the same as looking at the Sun. That is the moment when the Moon is in its "natura esoterica" position towards the Sun and the Earth. It is aligned with the Sun, symbolically showing that the will of the Ego is the same as the Will of the Soul. But then, in just fourteen days, it will fully reflect a light that is not its own, and at that moment, again symbolically speaking, the Ego would like to say: "The light is mine!" Thus the Moon is trapped in its primary revolution around the Earth and its secondary revolution, with the Earth, around the Sun. It is a similar situation with the Ego, the human body and the Soul. After the seed of inspiration in The Star card has been planted, there is a danger that the Ego will feel more important than the wellspring of that seed, that it will adopt that spark as its own nature, renouncing the true source of divine inspiration. It is the dark night of the Ego, in which it must reject itself and submit to the higher consciousness. The Moon is the lying and deceiving part of the Ego, and seeing through that deception and delusion is the final obstacle of the Major Arcana.
On the card
The central motif of this card is the Moon. We can see a sour face upon the Moon, with eyes closed, looking down at the Earth. Obviously this is not a card of celebration. The Moon is shown with 32 rays around it (10 + 22: the 10 Sephiroth and the 22 Hebrew letters, which correspond to the cards of the Major Arcana). It is shown waxing, when the Moon is growing brighter. There are 15 Yods between the Moon and the Earth. It seems that they are not descending from the Moon: the Divine Words symbolized by the Yods rain down from The Sun, the next card, and here they are depicted hovering in the air, waiting for us on the other side of the towers. We first saw these grey towers far on the horizon in the Death card, where the end of the road of the Major Arcana became visible. They can represent our left, rational side and our right, creative side, but their primary role is to guard the Path. Are we pure enough? Only then will we be able to pass between them. A dog and a wolf bark at the Moon on either side of a path, which leads from the water, perhaps an ocean, up between the towers and on to the mountains. The road is rather uneven, telling us that walking along it is certainly not easy. The wolf is untamed, natural energy, while the dog is a kind of man-made animal that evolved alongside humans. There is an obvious struggle here between these two forces. A careful balance of the two is needed: too much "civilization" drives a person far from his true nature and source, while too much wildness drives a person towards the level of the animal, the lower levels of consciousness. A crayfish crawling out of the water emphasizes the deep subconscious forces at work within us. Living in a material vessel, we need to refine our biology to accommodate higher consciousness. Sleep is also attributed to this card, since its mechanisms are rooted deep in our subconscious and our biological functions. This card definitely asks for sobriety and focus. 18 adds up to 9, so The Hermit is the card that offers us the tools to achieve this step.
Upright
This card foreshadows unexpected realities, imagination and new ideas, but caution is recommended, since there is always a possibility of delusion with this card. On its negative side it can also bring fear, confusion, highly charged emotions, lies and deceit. If you are involved in a clandestine affair, this card can be a good omen.
Reversed
Some secrets about you are about to be revealed. Emotional upset. Parts of your subconscious are surfacing, causing emotional upset and turmoil. Possible problems with sleep.