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The Moon
This one is apparently my learning card. That’s something that I’m supposed to reckon with in this life.
The moon looks more like a sun to me. The visage depicted on its surface appears somewhat uncaring and stern. It sits in the sky between two towers in the background. I cannot for the life of me tell what those little leafy things emanating from it are supposed to be, but they’re of two colours: a yellow and red. The towers sit on what looks like a crude earth, beyond which there is a mountain range. Leading up into the mountains (from the foreground) there is a yellow path to follow.
The foreground is quite interesting to me. There are two angry looking wolves howling at the moon, which sits in the sky dispassionately. But at the very bottom of the card—and I swear to God I have remarkably never noticed this before—there is a small body of water, out of which emerges a lobster that begins to tread this yellow path. That’s right. It’s not a scorpion. The tail isn’t right for that. It’s a lobster. And I am very much going to need to look into that further because lobsters and I go way back to an interesting experience I had once on Prince Edward Island.
A Word on Lobsters
It’s not just the taste, although I do love the flavour of lobster and resent the rich for co-opting it and making it expensive for us plebs. I went on a tour of the Charlottetown Harbour led by a lobster fisherman, who pulled out one of his traps and allowed us to hold one. So I did, and I smiled. There is a very good picture of me as I did this. Now why does that smile matter? Because I was horribly depressed at the time, but in that moment I was not. I was more focused on this sharp, clawed creature in my hands. It was so strange to feel it moving about. The little legs moving about are a faded memory for me now, and that picture of me, at least in my mind, became somewhat iconic. People joked that I’m a “lobster whisperer”.
Yet, as it pertains to symbolism, I have no idea what the lobster means. I could start by saying that it has a hard shell but is quite soft and tender underneath. It’s a bottom-dweller. A crustacean. Somewhat akin to an insect of the sea. I could possibly compare this to Socrates’ idea of himself as a gadfly. But what of wider symbolism, beyond my intuition?
More about Lobsters
This article offered me some helpful interpretations:
| Culture | Symbolic Meaning |
|---|---|
| Egyptian | Regeneration, rebirth |
| Indigenous | Adaptability, resilience |
| Chinese | Longevity, prosperity |
| Celtic | Emotional depth, protection |
| I’ve got a lot of interest in each one of these cultures, so hooray for me. |
The ability to molt gives lobsters some pretty unique spiritual significance:
- Growth through vulnerability: the lobster needs to shed its shell to put on a larger one.
- Adaptability and change: this requires the lobster adapt to changing circumstances, something I’ve often struggled with myself.
- Vulnerability is temporary.
The article offers these things which are possibly learning opportunities for me:
How to connect with your lobster spirit guide:
- Spend time near water (their natural habitat).
- Meditate on the idea of shedding old layers.
- Embrace change instead of resisting it.
Side note: I’ve long said that I want to live somewhere where there is at least some body of water nearby. I’m a terrible swimmer, and it doesn’t need to be the sea or ocean, but just somewhere with water, like a lake.
What’s the difference between lobster and crab symbolism?
Both represent protection, but lobsters emphasize growth through vulnerability, while crabs focus more on emotional shielding.