Two things life and art have in common are that they constantly strive to deliver results that are stranger than anything we can imagine, and that this may be the whole point. Theo Ellsworth never fails to disappoint in this regard, his drawings are like storybook illustrations beamed to us from another solar system. I find most of them are simultaneously chilling and endearing, reminiscent of those dreams that constantly threaten to become nightmares but never really end up crossing the line. I'm a sucker for this stuff, actually -- I picked up Thought Cloud Shrines a while back, and while working on this post I wound up buying this poster (only a few left!), another Ellsworth drawing which evokes the Moon card's allure and ambivalence with eerie accuracy.
If you're entering the sort of phase that this card describes, then you'd better get used to vistas like these. There are many miles of strange road between you and the reassuring light of day, and you are not the only traveler wandering it. Are these others friend or foe? Are they even real? It can be hard to judge in the dark. Your own fears, desires and prejudices build a funhouse around you, coming to life under the inconstant light of the fickle moon. It's a thrilling time, but not a particularly reassuring one.
Like the Hanged Man, this is a necessary trial, a rite of passage. In that earlier card, it was your view of the world that had to change in order for you to evolve; this time, it's your view of yourself that must be challenged and reconciled. This card is often linked to dreams and other unexplained encounters, because these are instances when we are tugged off of the well-worn ruts of identity and reality that we normally cling to -- these are the moments that remind us of our own inner strangeness. If you are a stranger to yourself, how can you expect anyone else to understand you?
Explore, dream, write. Howl into the night. Ask questions you're not sure you want to know the answer to. Eventually the Sun will rise and clear the cobwebs from the dark corners of your awareness, but hopefully by then you'll already be glowing with your own inner light.
6.16.2009
"Moments That Remind Us of Our Own Inner Strangeness"
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I love the artwork in this post; in fact at first glance it reminded me of the work of MC Escher. When I checked out your links, one or two definitely made me think of his work, in particular the home page image for artcapacity.com and the art book Thought Cloud Shrines. Escher's Relativity and House of Stairs spring to mind.
ReplyDeleteEscher produced such surrealistic work that it could easily be seen as a landscape for Moon card explorations, something I recently embarked on - a journeyed into the Moon card; and despite my initial fear of what I may find there, it was a surprisingly pleasant trip!
I used the Crowley Thoth deck as a means to get to know it better and found some personal answers that I wasn't expecting. I recorded this experience on my own blog, and hope to do other explorations into other cards soon.
I really like both of your interpretations for the Moon - the surrealism and the mirror. On a minor scale I feel that is what I encountered during my own Moon journey.
The mirror I especially like; as when we consider the mysterious, or hidden element suggested by the Moon card, you can imagine its secret behind the mirror and no matter how hard you seek out the answer, no matter how hard you look, you won't find it; the answer will come in its own time.
It also intrigues me how different decks seem to portray the message of the Moon card with such differences. Sure they all hint at having the same meanings attached loosely, but I feel that there are decks that stand up and out in breaking away from the accepted norms for this card. The Thoth particularly for me speaks of a 'dark night of the soul'; whereas the RWS shows more of the landscape and I feel leans to the 'hidden things' meaning of the card; the Quest Tarot, to name a last one, to me at least, suggests we need to look at our dreams more closely.
I have always found the Moon card to be a bit of an enigma in itself, dark and brooding, mysterious; but this is also part of its attraction, the fear and the foreboding; and the never quite knowing what will happen next.
"At first glance it reminded me of the work of MC Escher..."
ReplyDeleteI bet ellsworth would be really happy to hear that.