Crone Moon Tarot
Last Quarter Moon in Taurus
Let’s take our monthly pause to reflect on where we are in our crone journey with a Crone Moon Tarot pull.
Why the Crone Moon? Well, the Crone Moon, aka last quarter moon, falls exactly halfway between the full moon and the new moon. It is half illuminated and half dark. From this liminal space, the light continues its retreat. The crone embraces this time of growing darkness. She knows this is where the real work happens.
New here? The full explainer of moon science, phases, and symbolism and of the crone moon tarot spread lives here.
The Moon in Taurus
My bad, y’all. I thought this last quarter moon was going to be in Virgo. I tried to harness that Virgo thoroughness and double checked. Turns out this month’s Crone Moon is in Taurus. Crones know when to admit they made a mistake.
So, let’s talk about Taurus.
Taurus’s energy is stable. It seeks beauty and comfort. The moon is exalted in Taurus. The sign’s calm steady energy gives the moon’s emotional and intuitive nature space to find its center and thrive. Taurus energy may find us stubbornly refusing to do our inner work. But let’s take the bull by the horns and take advantage of the breathing room and comfort Taurus brings instead.
What’s coming
New Moon in Leo — August 12 Leo is all about being seen. But the joke is on you, crones. Not only can you not see the moon in the sky, but it is also the day of a total solar eclipse. Let’s get ready for some transformation in how we see ourselves and others.
Full Moon in Pisces — August 28 This full moon focuses awareness on emotions, compassion, and spirituality. Like all full moons, it is a time for release. This moon is also aligned with an eclipse—a partial lunar eclipse. This is likely to amplify those emotions. Buckle your seatbelts, crones.
Next Crone Moon in Gemini—September 4 I’m excited for this one because my moon is in Gemini. Gemini moons are where we see the collision of thinking and feeling. Lots of rationalization of feelings going on folks, but hey? Isn’t that good for our self-reflection tarot/thought exercise of a Crone Moon Tarot Pull?
A Note on Tarot
Tarot is for entertainment and self-reflection. It does not predict the future or tell your fortune. I invite you to look at the pictures and symbols on the cards and exercise your brain to put them together in a way that is meaningful to you. Skeptics welcome.
The Deck
Today, I am using The Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle Deck by Kim Krans.
As you saw in my last post, Refusing to Fight, I’ve been thinking a lot about archetypes lately. That particular post was about the archetype of strength, but the Jungian idea of archetypes has caught my fancy. Perhaps that is because the crone is one of the most commonly recognized archetypes—and this whole Substack is organized around the concept of the crone.
One note, this is an oracle deck, not a tarot deck. Each card has different images that whole their own meanings and are not as prescriptive as the meanings of tarot cards. Oracle decks come with guidebooks that tell you what the creator intended for each image, but there is so much more than what is on the page. I think oracle readings can be much more personal because the pictures mean something different to everyone.
This particular deck has four different kinds of cards: The Selves, The Places, The Tools, and The Initiations. As you can guess these cards capture different commonly held ideas or archetypes that impact multiple areas of our lives. And one of the coolest parts is the cards are round. Fun!
Let’s have some fun and see what we can learn from these unique cards this month.
Now on to Our Reading
What to Celebrate: The Heart Reversed
This card is a reminder to celebrate the light of the last moon cycle. What did it bring that is worth honoring before we retreat further into the darkness of the crone moon?
It is kind of disconcerting to see The Heart reversed as something to celebrate, no?
In this deck, The Heart is considered a place. It could be a physical space or a metaphorical one. Where are you when your heart sings? Celebrating a place makes sense in light of Taurus. Taurus loves comfy places. The card even alludes to it as the primary image is a nest. Taurus likes to find its home and then settle in or “nest.”
But it is reversed. Perhaps we have gotten out of our comfort zone over the past cycle. In our reading from last month we were celebrating pausing and taking on a new perspective with the Hanged Man, and the Aries Crone Moon was asking us to start moving forward.
Congratulations, crones! You did it! You took the new perspective you gained and started to change. Taurus notices the changes you have made no matter how small, and it celebrates the aspects that made your “heart place” even slightly more comfy cozy.
What to Examine: The Forest Quarter Turn Clockwise
Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun and invites us to celebrate our wins, it also reflects to us what we are holding onto and need to set down before we retreat further into the darkness.
Y’all how perfect could this be? We have another place card for Taurus. But also, it’s The Forest. Have you ever heard of having a hard time seeing the forest for the trees? What a perfect reflection card. The quarter turn here makes me think that we either were able to see the big picture and lost it, or we are close to putting something together. We aren’t totally in the weeds, and taking the comfy Taurus energy may make us feel safe enough to put the pieces [back] together.
Where in your life do you feel like you need just a few more details to get clarity? It could be something big like a relationship or career change that you are agonizing over or something small like puzzling over the best way to rearrange your closet. Maybe the problem is that you have been looking at the details when big picture thinking is what will bring clarity. You are close to getting it. You just need to reorient yourself. Take this month, settle in, and try to connect those trees and find your forest.
What to Release: The Shapeshifter
As the reflected light of the sun recedes it becomes more difficult to see, and we need to rely more on our own intuition and guiding light than on what we see around us. The release of the Crone asks us what we need to quietly set down before going further on our crone journey.
The Shapeshifter is our first “Selves Card”. Well, the nature of the shapeshifter is we aren’t being our self. What a thing to release!
I love the image on this card. Our attention immediately lands on the different parts of a face cobbled together. Think of all the different faces we put on in an ordinary day. Crone, (grand)parent, child, partner, employee, friend, etc. The situational masks start to seep into our core understanding of ourselves. The changes may become more than skin deep, and I love the snakeskin background for this card hinting that we may need to shed that skin to embrace who we truly are.
Have you ever had this conversation where you meet someone new.
“Hi, I’m The Crone.”
“Nice to meet you The Crone, I’m The New Guy. What do you do?”
The first thing people want to know about us is our name, the most personal aspect of who we are, but then immediately follow it up with the mask we wear 8+ hours a day as an employee. I only recently started thinking to myself “Who is The Crone?” instead of defining myself by titles. Can you imagine how taken aback someone would be if we gave an answer to that question in small talk?
The “what do you do” question is so much safer as it can be answered with one of our many masks. When I answer that question as “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a geriatrician” am I giving them information about who I really am? No. Just the mask I wear those 8+ hours a day.
I don’t know about you, but in my crone era I’m getting tired of living through someone else’s labels or fitting into a neat box to make them more comfortable. The thought of releasing my inner shapeshifter is exhilarating and terrifying.
Taurus hates change—but—it also hates being uncomfortable. The release and change it is asking for this month is to let go of at least one mask and embrace the simple beauty and pleasure of being yourself. It can be scary, and if it is too uncomfortable at first Taurus says it is cool to ease into it.
The Threshold: The Underworld Reversed
The half illumination and half dark of the Crone Moon is a liminal threshold moment. Everything in the cycle has led us here, and now it is our time to decide on how we will proceed.
Here we are with another place card. Taurus really is about our surroundings, huh?
The surroundings in this card don’t look too pleasant. Worms. Rotting plants. I can’t say for sure, but those little red bugs make me think of ladybugs which I’ve always thought were lucky.
And this card is so on the nose for a threshold moment. I mean, The Underworld. Come on.
Entering the underworld is one of the biggest thresholds I can think of. The border between life and death. How much more liminal can you get? However, this card is reversed.
Is the reversal of a huge threshold moment paired with the comfort and resistance to change of Taurus telling us to slow down when crossing threshold moments this month? I mean, Aries, which is all about bold action, also told us to slow down at the threshold last month. Is there something big you are thinking about but not quite ready to take the plunge into the dark unknown?
Before we commit to a change, especially those that are not easily reversed, this month, perhaps we should take a pause. Is it really for the best? Will it really make life more pleasant? Only you and Taurus know.
Intention: The Bridge
In the darkness of the Crone’s Moon, the distraction of the light melts away. It is time to rest, reflect, and recover. Our inner crone whispers to us about our intentions for when the light returns.
Another place card. This place is about connections.
I see a rainbow connecting a small childlike hand to a more adult hand. The rainbow bridge is light reflecting over water. Several things are jumping out at me from here. Are we looking at a generational bridge being built or perhaps at inner child work? Maybe we are looking at a “bridge over troubled water,” that will help get us through a emotional time. Are you a pet owner? Could this be “the rainbow bridge” pets are said to cross over—I mean the threshold was The Underworld. But remember we are seeing a bridge made of light while we are setting intentions for when the light of the moon returns.
This is the position of intention setting. Sure seems to me that we are being asked to start building towards something. In last month’s reading the 8 of swords reversed showed us we had been feeling trapped in a decision but we truly weren’t and needed to start making progress. Maybe this month we are being asked to continue taking the small steps we started last month and that they may start to connect for us.
Whatever our intentions are, hopefully Taurus’s energy won’t slow us down but rather give us the space to feel safe while building toward connection.
The Crone Speaks: The Crone
Your inner crone has seen all five Crone Moon cards, and she has something to say about it. Listen up. She doesn’t stutter.
Umm...
I feel like this should be a mike drop moment. Does she need to say anything other than just show up like the badass she is? Whatever first pops into your head at this moment is exactly what she wants you to hear.
I swear I did not hand pick this card. In fact, I was not sure I wanted to use this deck for our reading this month. It had called to me, but I felt weird introducing an oracle deck so early in our journey.
I want to tell you how I choose my cards so you can understand how odd this coincidence is. I use an overhand shuffle. Occasionally while doing this a card will “fly” out of the deck. I only use those flyer cards for my readings. If more than one card flies out at a time I don’t look at them and I put them back in the deck until just one card pops out. If they land face up I use the direction they fell for the upright/reversed position. If they land upside down I use the direction it is in my hand when I turn it over.
This is the method I used when The Crone showed up this month.
After pulling the 5th card, I had a moment of doubt. I told myself that unless the 6th card, The Crone Speaks, came up as The Crone, I would just use this as my private reading and use a real tarot deck for y’all.
73 cards left in the deck. She came flying out. Upright.
Make of this what you will. I think Taurus would be pretty comforted by it.
Putting It All Together:
So, what’s a crone to do?
Well, she has already spoken and endorses this message (see above).
This month we can find ourselves embracing the stable beautiful Taurus energy to help ourselves and slowly inch towards our goals OR we could embrace the shadow side, dig our heels in, and resist change. It is our choice.
And really, that’s the theme here. Choosing to find comfort and beauty in the simple things, being true to yourself, and be discerning with your choices. You may be wrestling with a decision that is irreversible. Take time and make sure you understand the big picture and aren’t getting lost in the details. We’ve had a couple of months looking at pausing and thinking deeply about decisions. The Bridge at the end of this reading may just be what we have been building towards whether you are making connections in the physical, social, emotional, or spiritual world, they are your work for the coming month. But in the process don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers.
I know I’ll be reflecting on the archetypes that came up for us here beyond this reading. If you are so inclined, take a look at Jungian psychology and his discussion of archetypes and their shadow sides. I know I will be.
We will touch base again on September 4th’s Crone Moon in Gemini to celebrate all you accomplish this month and use Gemini’s energy for a more in-depth analysis of our crone journey.
Journal Prompts
The crone does not assign homework. But if you want to go deeper, here are some questions worth sitting with.
Where in your life is comfort serving you right now, and where is it just an excuse to stay put?
What have you been holding together with a mask, a habit, or sheer stubbornness, that might actually be ready for release?
What did The Crone say to you when she spoke and what do you think about her card showing up?
Which archetype in this reading spoke to you, and why do you think it found you? Tell me in the comments.
The content on Crone Powers is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. I am a doctor, but I AM NOT YOUR DOCTOR. Always consult your medical and mental health professionals before ADDING—NEVER SUBSTITUTING—spiritual modalities to your care. Remember, woo only works when you do the work.
The views and opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent those of my employer or any institution with which I am affiliated.