Symbolically, the moon has been associated with madness, hence the terms luna-cy and luna-tic, and so it is in the traditional tarot deck. However, the Moon major arcana also represents fantasy, creativity, inspiration, and dreams. Persona 5‘s confidant for the arcana, Yuuki Mishima, is beholden to many of these qualities and given to day dreaming. While Mishima never quite becomes a full-blown lunatic, his head quickly clouds over with ambition and fantasy after becoming the Phantom Thieves’ self-appointed PR specialist.
Like all of Persona 5‘s confidants, Mishima’s head clears with some help from the Phantom Thieves, though he hits a couple of cringe-inducing rough patches along the way. It is worth noting, however, that Mishima managed to endure Kamoshida’s brutal abuse with his loyal and enthusiastic personality intact. And, while most confidants require the Thieves to actively change a target’s heart in Mementos, they merely need to confront Mishima’s Shadow to trigger some healthy introspection.
The personas that represent the Moon arcana are all related to the moon in some way, with some being more obvious than others. Both Kaguya and Tsukiyomi, Shinto figures borrowed from other Persona titles, have strong relationships to the moon and fall neatly into the Arcana. But there are several outliers with less obvious lunar connections, and they have particularly intriguing histories.
Do not let Atlus’ adorable take on Mothman fool you: this figure from modern, North American folklore is a herald of impending catastrophe. The legend of the Mothman originally started in West Virginia, where a cryptid resembling both a moth and a man was spotted by a couple near Point Pleasant. The national press took up the story, which later received greater popularity when John Keel’s book, The Mothman Prophecies, released in 1975. The creature’s popularity was renewed after the book was adapted into a film with the same name in 2002.
The general thrust of Keel’s book is that the Mothman — normally described as a tall, dark biped with moth-like wings and glowing red eyes — presage supernatural events and often herald approaching disasters. Keel uses the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge, which connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio, as a case study for his premise. Since then, there have been several Mothman sightings around the world, but like Big Foot and UFOs, photographs of it tend to be conveniently blurry, and other evidence ranges from circumstantial to speculative. But, like today’s viral video game hoaxes, there is no stopping a good story, especially in the Cognitive Realm.
While moths are often associated with the moonlight, madness seems like a more promising link to the Moon arcana. In Keel’s book, people who witnessed the Mothman supposedly had dreams and premonitions of the Silver Bridge collapsing, which could also be thought of as a kind of lunacy. As a harbinger of calamity, however, one would imagine Mothman as a better fit for the Tower major arcana.
While Lilith is most famous for her role in Judeo-Christian Apocrypha, where she is Adam’s first disobedient wife, she actually predates Judaism. Lilith was an ancient Mesopotamian goddess who was strongly associated with natural disasters such as disease, famine, and death, much like Pazuzu from the Devil arcana.
In Judaism, Lilith became a nocturnal demon after spurning Adam. Unlike Eve, who was born from Adam’s rib, God created Lilith the same way he created Adam. But as a result, Lilith refused to submit to Adam’s authority, and was banished from Eden as punishment. At that point, Lilith acquired all sorts of fun titles like “the demoness of the night, “mother of monsters,” “wife of the devil,” and so on. According to legends, she was supposedly responsible for sneaking the serpent into Eden to tempt Eve. Atlus’ Persona 5 design seems to hint at this, featuring a mostly nude woman (like Eve), embracing a serpent representing Lucifer, who is represented in the Star arcana.
Lilith is supposedly the first succubus, which is another persona represented in the Moon arcana. When Lilith left Adam, he was struck with loneliness, and begged God to bring her back. In answer, God threatened to take Lilith’s children if she would not return to Eden and submit to Adam’s authority. Lilith refused, and her children were taken as a result. Ever since, Lilith has been stricken with rage, madness, and grief. As a result, she is associated with stillborn children and death in childhood, supposedly choking children to death and feasting on their bones. In terms of links to the arcana, Lilith fits both the madness and nocturnal criteria.
Sandalphon is the twin brother of Metatron, represented in the Justice arcana, and is nearly as famous. While Metatron acts as the “Voice of God,” Sandalphon is the archangel charged with delivering prayers to God. A prominent figure in Kabbalistic writings, Sandalphon is mentioned by name in apocrypha and gnostic writings, but never in scripture. These “non-canonical” sources of dogma refer to Sandalphon as the ascended prophet, Elijah.
This archangel battles the fallen angel of evil, Samael, alongside the archangel Michael, who is represented in the Judgement arcana. Another notable point about Sandalphon is his height, as the length of his body would take a human 500 years to walk on foot. And Moses, during his third visit to Heaven, supposedly named him “the tall angel.” Sandalphon is also supposedly the angel that is responsible for assigning children their gender when they are still embryos, possibly as an extension of Elijah being the protector of unborn children.
What is less clear is how Sandalphon is related to the moon. While Metatron is referred to as the “Bright Angel,” Sandalphon is sometimes described as the “Dark Angel,” but that still requires a considerable leap to be associated with night or the moon. However, Mishima fulfills a similar role to Sandalphon for the Phantom Thieves. Just as Sandalphon notifies God of prayers, Mishima comes to the party with requests for the Phantom Thieves.
Sandalphon is an absolute beast of a persona for Joker to obtain, and easily the strongest of all the Moon personas. Like all of arcana-final personas, the player must complete Mishima’s confidant storyline before they can successfully fuse Sandalphon.
Persona 5 and Persona 5: Royal are available now for PlayStation 4.
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