This card worked out so nicely. It includes elements from a scene in the text (I use "text" to refer to the combined works, both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) that fits in really nicely with the traditional RWS composition. 

2 of Swords
 
Through the Looking Glass
 “‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’”
This is the Cheshire Cat’s advice to Alice when she asks for directions. She isn’t sure where she wants to go, “as long as I get somewhere,” she says. With this information, she weighs her options. She’s seen a hatter before, so that choice is less interesting. Since the month is May, perhaps the Hare won’t be “so mad as it was in March.” As she approaches the Hare’s house, she second guesses her choice, “Suppose it should be raving mad after all! I almost wish I’d gone to see the Hatter instead!”
 
As it turns out, the Hatter was at the Hare’s and they are both behaving pretty madly. All Alice can do is make the best of it, try to get out of the situation unscathed, and learn whatever lessons she can. In the end, we are all glad she made the decision she did because the Mad Tea Party is one of the most well-known chapters from Wonderland.
 
Down the Rabbit Hole
In a reading, this card shows a situation where a decision must be made, and it also gives advice about how to make that decision. In many cases, tarot suggests listening to our intuition and values what we think of as “other ways of knowing.” However, the suit of Swords is about logic and reason. Alice sits with her back toward the ocean and the moon, both symbols of the subconscious and intuition. She is blindfolded so that she doesn’t look for more input. She is alone with what she already knows and using that information must make her choice. You already have all the facts that you need. Use your reason, weigh the pros and cons, and make your decision. Waiting for more input is just a way to procrastinate. Neither choice may be optimal and putting off the decision will not change that.
 
Keywords: needing to make a decision, insufficient data, lack of facts, denial, feeling conflicted, head and heart in opposition

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Hello Friends!
In addition to Tarot in Wonderland, which releases at the end of April, I have another new project coming in June. It is my first non-tarot (or non-oracle) work via traditional publishing (my wife and I wrote and self-published a book about dating). 

This book was written during a really challenging time in my life. Because it wasn't tarot, with its own handy built-in structure, and because I never considered myself an expert in energy work, it was so hard to write. Last week I worked on my author proofs and queries from my editor. It was the first time I looked at the text in ten months (publishing has a LONG lead time) and I was so scared. But to my surprise (and likely due to my editor's very hard work), it was actually good. I felt proud of it. 

Here's a little bit of the Introduction, to give you an idea of what to expect. I'll post more little snippets throughout the coming weeks. 

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Introduction
 
            When my publisher asked me to write a book on energy clearing, my initial reaction was “But that’s not my area of expertise; I don’t know nearly enough to fill a book.” Initial reactions can be tricky. Sometimes they are inspired moments of knowing (also called intuition). Most times, though, they are reactions shaped by deeply furrowed patterns that may or may not be based in truth. After releasing the initial fear about taking on a new challenge, I was able to respond more thoughtfully.
            As it turns out, I’ve consciously worked with energy for most of my adult life, even before I was grounded in a wide understanding of a variety of New Age ideas. While these stories I’m about to share may not have been my first attempts at deliberate energy working, they are the first I remember. Without any experience in or knowledge of modern magic, I created a ritual to help my sister sell her home and one to help a friend’s husband find a job. They worked. Both were simple rituals, designed in ways that made sense to me and used things that are found in most homes, or at least most middle class, suburban homes, which is where I live. My understanding and practice grew slowly at first and then more quickly when I discovered the New Age materials. The culmination of my current understanding came together only a few months before being asked to write this book.
            In April 2016, I was a main stage presenter at the annual tarot conference in New York called The Readers Studio. You see, tarot is my recognized area of expertise and has been a part of my life since the late 1980s. I’ve written many books, designed decks, given readings, presented at conferences all over the world, and taught students in person and online through a year-long correspondence course.
            Tarot to me is far more than a divination tool. It is a sacred text that contains something more important than ways to peek into the future. Within the cards, I find spiritual wisdom and practical teachings. Tarot has become the lens through which I see the world. How does tarot apply to energy work? There is a direct connection. Don’t worry, though; after this story, tarot won’t be mentioned again.
            Most people who want to learn the cards focus almost entirely on the card meanings, which, of course, are important. But many people get frustrated when they try to do a reading. Readings that focus only on the card meanings are often disjointed at best and confusing at worst. You see, in the space between cards is where the real magic occurs. All the cards have a specific energy. When we simply observe the energy of the card in isolation, nothing much happens. When the cards interact is when they come to life. When the cards are read in relation to each other it is easier to see what is actually happening in a situation..
            After assessing the situation, we can use the cards to determine advice. We do this by bringing in other cards that represent actions the seeker can take. We analyze the probable results. If the results are not what the seeker prefers, we try other cards. We figure out what kind of energy to tap in order to create the desired (or best possible) result. Years of paying attention to how the energy of the cards affects each other enhanced my understanding of working with energy in my daily life. But this is not what my 2016 presentation was about.
            Ironically, my two and a half hour workshop did not focus on how to read the cards or share a new technique. Instead, it was about clearing our space, both internally and externally, in order to be better people and thereby better readers., It is kind of funny how this thinking has become such a part of the way I look at and move through the world that I didn’t even realize that I do, in fact, have an understanding of and experience in energy work.
 
What to Expect
            My understanding evolved slowly and through everyday experiences. I didn’t learn some complex esoteric system or take training through a trademarked or certified energy school or teacher. There is nothing wrong with those paths, if they are your paths and if they resonate with the deep chord of your heart. But if you are reading this book, I suspect you are like me and favor personal experience and intimate connections that spring from within rather than taking on the cloak of someone else’s practice.  
            This book is for you if you are looking for a clear way of understanding energy, seeking practices that help you to live more freely, and hoping to improve yourself, your environment, and even larger world around you. This is, in fact, the main goal of becoming adept at energy management: to be unencumbered of anything that takes away your free will and causes you to act in ways that are not in accordance with your ideals.
            You may be wondering what makes this a modern guide to energy clearing. There are two main traits that make this approach, at least in my mind, more modern. The first is that this book provides ways of thinking about and understanding the energy at work in our own lives and more importantly in ourselves. This differs from other approaches that follow a step-by-step prescription. My hope is that by guiding you as you form your understanding of energy that you also find what works for you, which may not be what works for me or someone else. It’s like understanding the basics of cooking. Once you know how some things that work, some simple principles, and your own preferences, you can make a meal out of virtually anything. Likewise, if you recognize the flow (or lack thereof) of energy in your life, understand what effects that flow, and know your own best state of being, you can “do” energy work anytime and anywhere.
            The other characteristic that makes this approach modern is that real energy work is about controlling the outside world but controlling yourself. Many energy books focus on clearing external energy, but you will find that most of the energy work presented here has more to do with clearing and cultivating your own energy. The result of that work could very well be considered a third way that this book is modern: freedom. My greatest wish for you is that you are liberated from energy patterns that have controlled your life so that you are free to become the person you were meant to be and want to be.
            The ideas presented here will be written in as neutral language as possible and broad enough to be adaptable to your personal beliefs because, and this is very important, I’m not promoting a specific practice complete in itself with specific lists of what you must do. Instead, I offer you general ideas, concepts, and practices that can be mixed and matched and modified so that they reflect your truth. The wisest teachers don’t ask you to accept their wisdom but rather lead you to the threshold of your own wisdom. I don’t necessarily claim to be wise, but I do believe a good teacher guides and encourages rather than dictates. I offer these ideas, based on my personal experience and understanding, freely, with no expectation other than to inspire you.            If I can find my way to a personal understanding and set of useful and effective practices, so can you. In fact, I am still finding my way. Every single day, as I learn and experience more, my ideas and practices change, and I hope yours do, too.
            My understanding of energy and magic was the result of just living my life in the best way I knew how. Energy work is a kind of magic, the kind of magic that creates change in the world according to your will. [AW1] A long time ago, I heard this story about magic that really rang true for me and which applies just as well to energy work. Here is the story as I remember it:
 
There was a farmer who sought out the advice and magic of the local wise woman. He wanted to learn how his farm could be more prosperous. She gave him a bag of sand and told him to walk around the parameter of his property every morning for a year and a day, dropping a grain of sand every few feet. Over the first few weeks, he noticed things like sections of the fence needing repair, damage to the edges of certain crops, and evidence of intrusive weeds. He began carrying some basic tools and materials on his walks, taking care of things as he found them. He was able to closely observe where things grew well and where they didn’t. He cleared debris after storms and planted trees as wind breaks in exposed areas. As the year progressed, he diligently dropped the grains of sand and attended to his land. The next year, his property was in good repair, his crops abundant, and his animals healthy.
 
Were those magical grains of sand? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the real magic was the attention paid to what was going on around him.
            What does this have to do with energy clearing? We usually look for ways to clear energy when we feel that something is wrong, just as we often only go to the doctor when we don’t feel well. There are definitely ways to correct, cleanse, or clear energy that is inappropriate, stagnant, or just not right. Some may call it negative energy, but that duality doesn’t make sense to me because all energy comes from the Divine. Furthermore, labeling energy as “positive” or “negative” makes us lazy in our observations and identification of energy. Instead, if we talk of “inappropriate” energy, we are encouraged to identify in what ways it is inappropriate and what would be more appropriate or desirable. The more specific we are, the more effective our work can be.
            In addition to paying attention to understanding the nature of energy, I talk both about energy clearing and about energy cultivation because the two go hand in hand. After you’ve cleared out the energy that you don’t want, it makes sense to bring in (and cultivate) the energy that you do want. Once any immediate issues are dealt with, we can create healthy spaces within ourselves and our environment. Through good energetic health practices, we create spaces that are resistant to inappropriate energy and are easy to maintain. Just like we don’t brush our teeth once and consider it done for life, our spiritual energy thrives best with consistent habits that support health and vitality. This is true of our personal energy and of the energy in our surroundings.
            When we take care of our own energy, we are more stable and able to attend to the energy around us. After clearing and containing basic health, we can cultivate the energy within us and around us to support certain qualities or goals, such as protection, abundance, kindness, or creativity. We attend to ourselves so that we are stronger, liberated, and able to live our soul’s purpose in the world. In short, we attend to our own energy so that we can create ourselves and become the people we want to be. And if the people we want to be are people who want to heal and care for the world we live in and those who share it with us, so much the better.
 
Your Practice, Not My System
            The approach to energetic health that I suggest is not a step-by-step system but rather a template or recipe. People are such unique beings and situations are so complex that it is unrealistic to think that any one approach will be right for everyone or even a majority of people. It is also unrealistic to think that doing the exact same things every day will suffice since each day brings new energy and new challenges. A more flexible, customized approach increases the probability of success. Not only are you more likely to do a practice that fits into your life, the focus will be more specific to your needs, which can change daily.
            You will notice that the thinkers who have most influenced my ideas about energy work come from a broad range of subjects as well as various spiritual paths. So much wisdom can easily cross categories. A few decades ago, when I was learning to knit, the incomparable Elizabeth Zimmerman shaped my approach. A prolific author and highly respected teacher, Zimmerman rarely provided normal patterns detailing precisely how many or what kind of stitches to make. Instead, she taught general principles and provided examples of how to use that information to create precisely what you wanted. She empowered knitters to experiment and above all to trust themselves. She said, in her book The Opinionated Knitter, “I deliberately keep my knitting notes vague, because tastes vary, and your brains are as good as mine anyway.”[1]          This it is true. Your brains are as good as mine. I may have read more about this topic, practiced longer, and spent more time exploring the general principles of energetic health, but in this book, I’m sharing all I know. Once you’ve read it, the only thing you don’t have, perhaps, is experience. Using your perfectly lovely brains, commonsense, and knowledge of yourself and your life, you can incorporate these principles to achieve your own goals. Based on my own experiences and the information in these pages, I share ideas and suggestions to get you started on your path to becoming the free and awesome person you were born to be.
            Clearing and cultivation is not hard or complicated. You don’t have to subscribe to any specific tradition, belief system, or religion. Part 1 will establish a foundational understanding. This includes using clear, common language to create a shared vocabulary that will make it easier to talk about the nature of energy. We will also discuss in greater detail the purpose of energy work. The language and purpose will help us have realistic expectations about what we are going to do and how we are going to do it.
            The most important work will be your own personal clearing, which is covered in Part 2. Personal clearing includes creating a toolkit of techniques that you can use in different circumstances as needed, clearing long-standing energy blocks within yourself, and developing an energetic maintenance practice. You can try the techniques as presented and keep notes in a journal about how they worked for you as well as ideas for modifying the techniques to better suit you. After you’ve tried some techniques for yourself, you will use a simple step-by-step process to help you develop a practice that works for you and the life you are living right now. There will be no need to completely overhaul your life or purchase any special items. These ideas can slip easily into your already existing day, as naturally as washing your face or putting on your shoes.
                        Part 3 moves beyond ourselves and into the greater world. After you are feeling cleared and centered, we move outward, learning about the energy of spaces and places and how you can affect the energy of your home, work place, car, etc. Finally, you’ll learn how simple practices can change the world, one small action at a time.
            As mentioned earlier, this book is a guide, not a manifesto of dogma. You will get the most out of it if you read it with a journal (and of course a writing utensil) alongside. There will be exercises for you to try and suggestions for lists, reflections, and general journal entries. Together, your journal and this book will help you create your own personal energy practice.
 
[1] Zimmerman, Elizabeth. The Opinionated Knitter (WI, Pittsville: Schoolhouse Press, 2005), 31.

Another of my favorite cards from this deck is the Queen of Pentacles. I was always so intrigued by the Sheep's shop, and as a knitter and someone who thinks sheep are wonderful, and as a fellow Pentacles creature myself, it would be hard for me not to love this card. 

​Queen of Pentacles
 
Through the Looking Glass
The Sheep shop owner is our Queen of Pentacles. Her store is so filled with things that Alice can barely focus. Not only that, but the items behave so strangely, and yet the Sheep is not bothered at all. Even when Alice’s shopping is interrupted by a dreamlike boat trip that ends with them both back in the shop, the Sheep continues knitting and only asks, as if nothing had happened, “Now, what do you want to buy?” After Alice decides to buy an egg, the Sheep takes Alice’s money and tells her get her egg herself. “I never put things into people’s hands—that would never do—you must get it for yourself.” Alice doesn’t understand why it would never do, but the Sheep, our Queen of Pentacles, knows that it is better for people to reach for their desires on their own. She is happy to help, but doing things for Alice isn’t the best way to help. The Sheep is from the “teach a man to fish” school of supporting others.
 
Down the Rabbit Hole
In a reading, the Queen of Pentacles understands the physical world and is a master of material things. Using whatever resources are at hand, she can make almost anything she needs. She is a canny businessperson but isn’t known for greediness. Because she has made her own way in the world, she understands true value. Lessons are learned through experience and the Queen of Pentacles will happily help you gain that experience but she isn’t giving anything away. She’ll encourage you to figure things out but will not let you fail; she’ll step in to save the day when necessary. It’s likely, because of that you’ll never make that same mistake again. Gain her friendship and aid by appealing to her practical side, ask her to teach you, and be willing to roll up your sleeves and get dirty, if need be.
 
Keywords: ally, confidante, helper, authority, accomplished, resourceful, generous, learns and teaches through experience, supportive
 
 
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Most of us have a favorite court card or two. But when asked to pick our favorite card(s) in the deck, rarely (in my experience) are court cards selected. In this deck, though, there are a couple of court cards that fall into my "favorites" of this deck. The White Knight (some say Lewis Carroll himself) as the Knight of Cups is very dear to my heart. 

​Knight of Cups
 
Through the Looking Glass
We’ve already met this wonderfully sweet knight in the Hermit card. The White Knight is a very apt Knight of Cups, with his dreamy idealism. When Alice seems sad, he says, “let me sing you a song to comfort you.” Alice, who had heard a great deal of poetry already asked if it was long. He replies, “It’s long, but it’s very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it—either it brings the tears into their eyes or else….” trailing off midsentence, as a true dreamer of dreams and singer of sad songs is wont to do.
 
Alice’s reaction to him is the very description of a Knight of Cups character: “Of all the strange things that Alice saw in her journey Through the Looking-Glass, this was the one that she always remembered most clearly. Years afterwards she could bring the whole scene back again, as if it had been only yesterday—the mild blue eyes and the kindly smile of the Knight—the setting sun gleaming through his hair, and shining on his armour in a blaze of light that quite dazzled her—the horse quietly moving about, with the reins hanging loose on his neck, cropping the grass at her feet—and the black shadows of the forest behind—all this she took in like a picture, as, with one hand shading her eyes, she leant against a tree, watching the strange pair, and listening, in a half-dream, to the melancholy music of the song.”
 
Down the Rabbit Hole
In a reading, this Knight represents someone sweet, creative, and dreamy. Like the other knights, he does focus intensely on his goal but because he lives in a kind of between worlds state, we can’t always “see” or understand what he is doing, consequently, it is easy for him to be misunderstood. Luckily, he is more concerned with whatever he is working on to care much what others think about him. If you want to catch his attention, appeal to his commitment to the kind of truth he values…the “truth is beauty” kind not necessarily “these are the facts” kind. Show him how his participation can really help someone in need or serve a greater ideal. Don’t expect things from him that he can’t give. He’ll never be a take-charge person or a natural leader but he will be a true friend and support you with every bit of his vast heart.
 
Keywords: focused, goal-oriented, short attention span, dreamer, committed, idealistic, romantic
 
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One of the interesting aspects of creating this is that it is not “an Alice in Wonderland” deck. In other words, it is not made by matching scenes from the stories to the cards. It is truly Tarot in Wonderland…and (as the book is called) Wonderland in Tarot. The images come from the place where these two sacred texts meet and mingle. Sometimes, if appropriate, the scenes are directly from the stories. At other times, the characters from the stories find themselves in tradition tarot card scenes.
 
Judgement is one of those cards whose image isn’t from the story but rather a blending of Wonderland and tarot.
​

​XX, Judgement
 
Through the Looking Glass
Like several other cards in the tarot deck, this one could do with a new name. “Judgement” as a name implies being judged. In addition, the traditional imagery—angel sounding a horn and dead people rising from their graves—suggests the biblical story of the Last Judgment, where all people, living and dead, would be judged. Maybe centuries ago the card was interpreted in this way. However, as human consciousness evolves, so too does our understanding of the cards. It is now more common to recognize that this card is a gift and an opportunity.
 
In Wonderland, particularly in Tenniel’s iconic illustrations, the playing card people (other than the royalty cards) are shown as flat, as if they are actually made of cardstock. In some ways, they are metaphors for two-dimensional people. In this image, they hear the White Rabbit’s trumpet. As they respond, they find themselves filling out and, like Pinocchio, becoming real three-dimensional people. They are, in short, coming to life…or more accurately to new life, since they were already alive in some sense of the word.
 
The White Rabbit in the sky takes the place of the tradition angel. In Wonderland, he plays the role of herald during the Knave of Heart’s trial. Heralds were, among other things, the messengers of the nobility. They were sometimes experts in law or known for giving moral guidance, which explains why, in the text, the Rabbit is able to take control of the proceedings of the trial, even to the point of contradicting the king. He was a voice that represented an order that was higher than earthly jurisdiction.
 
During the trial, Alice waits, curious about the next witness to be called. “Imagine her surprise, when the White Rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the name ‘Alice!’” When she takes the stand, the story reaches its climax and ends with Alice asserting her will and her sense of what is meaningful in the face of nonsense and violence. The White Rabbit did not only call Alice to the stand; he called her to become the person she knew she should be.
 
Down the Rabbit Hole
In a reading, Judgement marks an invitation to hear a higher voice, perhaps your preferred deity or your own higher self, and follow its call. You have the opportunity to leave behind an old life and embrace a new way of living. Humans, though, are resistant to change and try to ignore this call, especially if their old life was not so bad. It is even harder to change your ways if your current life is actually good and comfortable. Plus, answering this call means a kind of death, since you will be leaving some parts of you, some behaviors, some beliefs behind. A call like this, though, resonates deeply in the heart and unless you shut down your heart entirely, you won’t be able to resist it forever. After you begin living in this new way, when you look back on your old life, you will see that it was a kind of half life, a cardboard life, a life lacking depth and dimension.
 
Keywords: rebirth, renewal, rite of passage, calling, vocation, awakening, change, decision, forgiveness, redemption, absolution, judgment

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It's going to be late!

Hello friends!
Tarot in Wonderland, illustrated by Eugene Smith, will be available in mid- to late April. Sadly it is stuck on a boat between here and China and will be a little late…just another Trickster experience that has been part of this deck from the beginning. In fact, it has been so delayed for so many reasons from the beginning that it is dedicated to Hermes, my favorite expression of the Trickster.  
 
Even though the subject matter is whimsical and supposedly nonsensical, it is one of my deepest decks yet. Having loved Carrol’s work from childhood through writing innumerable papers on it in college, this deck was a joy to create.
 
Part of the fun was exploring the similarities between tarot and the Alice stories. Some topics discussed in the book include: identity, searching for wisdom, and opposites.
 
Another direction we consider is reading mundane things as sacred texts. Below is an excerpt from the book explaining this idea. Below that is an excerpt about the Hierophant, a suitable match to go with a discussion about sacred texts.
 
I hope you enjoy this and ultimately, the deck.  
 
Tarot in Wonderland
 
Sacred Texts
Many spiritual paths have sacred texts. Christians have their Bible; Muslims, the Quran. Many pagans say that the earth is their sacred text. I do not think that a sacred text must be ordained or approved by any organization. You can have your own sacred text. Witches have their Books of Shadows, where they write all the important things that they learn as well as their spells. It is their personal sacred text. Many tarot readers consider their decks as an unbound sacred book that can be shuffled to provide wisdom about any situation. Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile created the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast in order to read a series that they love as a sacred text.
 
According to Zoltan and ter Kuile, one defining characteristic of a sacred text is that it is generative. What they mean is the work is not static but continually provides new and insightful information. This is one reason that tarot readers love their cards. Tarot readers can use a deck for years and yet still see something new in the cards. Not only that, but consider this: we do not have a single complete existing original tarot deck and yet throughout the centuries we continue to create more decks that show the wisdom of the cards in different ways. Even decks with similar themes are all still unique from each other. There are lots of cat-themed tarots and they are all different. Likewise, there are multiple versions of fairy, magic, witch, animal, Steampunk, and even Alice-based decks. There is room in the world for all of them because tarot is generative and each incarnation shows us something different.
 
The Alice stories are read by many, whether they know it or now, as sacred texts. In fact, in this book, we will, for brevity’s sake, often refer to the Alice stories as “the text.” The stories are filled with so much symbolism and playfulness and enough questions to allow space for expansion. That expansion can go in so many directions. People view the books through various lenses: psychological, mathematical, logical, political, historical, biographical, and literary, just to name a few. This is similar to tarot because different readers work with the cards from psychological, spiritual, therapeutic, or psychic approaches. Further, if you consider all the movies, plays, spin offs, books, and comics that are based on or inspired by Carroll’s work, we have to admit that the Alice stories are certainly generative. 
​

V, The Hierophant
​ 
Through the Looking Glass
These days, The Hierophant is one of the most disliked cards in tarot. That is because people have too narrow a view of The Hierophant because traditional imagery shows this character as a Roman Catholic Pope. The Pope is just manifestation of the spiritual, ethical, or philosophical teacher archetype, which is what this card really is. The Hierophant, regardless of the specific image used to illustrate this card, represents the underlying belief system that guides our behaviors and actions. Different versions of this archetype…a Catholic Pope, an evangelical pastor, a popular philosopher, a self-help guru, a motivational teacher…all share a similar quality: they suggest a possible way that the world works. Once you understand your own beliefs, then you can measure all your decisions, actions, words, and goals against that worldview. The Hierophant as a card doesn’t so much represent how to think as to the importance about what you think. What you accept as the “truth” about the world determines your behavior. When our behavior is at odds with our beliefs, we suffer severe emotional, spiritual, and psychological (and sometimes physical) distress.
 
The Cheshire Cat explains to Alice how Wonderland “works” and about the importance of knowing one’s goals. Some of the most famous lines (and there are so many) from the Alice stories are:
 
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you ca’n’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
 
The Cheshire Cat gives an explanation that hinges on the idea that no one knows what is real and what is false. When his remarks are pushed further by philosophers and other great thinkers (as so much in the Alice stories has been), discussions include the inability to know for certain whether one is in a dream while one is in the dream. Likewise, when one is “mad” or what we would call suffering from mental illness is it possible to know that one is in a state of insanity? The idea of madness continues with the Mad Hatter and March Hare. I’ve heard that a basic definition of madness is when what is in our heads doesn’t match what is outside our heads, or what some call reality. To be in good mental, emotional, and spiritual health, our internal lives (our beliefs) must match our external lives (our actions).
 
Alice asks for directions, but has no destination in mind. The Cat responds with “then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” This echoes wisdom from the Talmud that says “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” If you have no goals, no intentions guiding your path, then what you do doesn’t matter. The Cat and the Talmud don’t mean goals like “make six figures” or “start a successful business,” at least not as ends in themselves. We are talking about core beliefs, about why we are here, and about what we believe we are meant to do.
 
Down the Rabbit Hole
In a reading, The Hierophant invites us to examine our actions and measure them against our beliefs. If they are lining up but things are still feeling wrong, then perhaps it is time to re-examine our guiding principles. If there is a gap between the ways in which we behave and what we claim to believe, then it is time to tighten up that space and start being the people that we aspire to be. When we are confused about which path to take or which way to go, we often turn to the cards for guidance. This card says that you need no outside advice but instead, but instead to do that which in your heart of heart you know to be the right thing.
 
Keywords: education, teaching, learning, knowledge, conformity, tradition, institutions, group identity, values, guidance, orthodoxy, rites, blessing, status quo, social conventions
 

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