“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is an 1865 novel by writer, mathematician and Anglican priest Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll) and tells the story of a young girl named Alice who takes an imaginary journey into a fantasy world populated by curious characters.
Although many believe Alice in Wonderland is a deliberately nonsensical tale, in psychology and literature many different interpretations have been given to the hidden meaning between the lines. After all, as the author himself suggests, “everything has a moral, if only you can find it”.
And Alice’s, in fact, is not just any journey.
Alice and Change
Sometimes Alice is so large that she gets trapped in environments too small for her; other times she is so small that she is not suited to the surrounding world. These physical changes represent the inner journey in search of a balance between ego and self-esteem. If we “inflate” ourselves too much, in fact, it is our ego that grows, but in reality behind that apparent greatness there is nothing and, in the long run, we risk remaining trapped in our inner emptiness. At the same time, if we “belittle ourselves too much” we risk never feeling adequate.
The Rabbit and the Quest
The Rabbit hole into which Alice falls is the beginning of her journey and represents the fall into the unconscious, which allows her a deep awareness of her inner self. The large clock that the Rabbit carries with him and his perpetual hurry are symbols and remind Alice that looking inside herself and overcoming her limits is an absolute priority. Once she has fallen, Alice sees an upside-down and confused world where nothing seems to make sense, yet it is precisely there that she finds the key to access Wonderland. She finds it because she decided to be better.
The Cat and Clarity
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where”, replied Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
There is no single path to reach one’s goals, what matters is knowing one’s destination. Confusion, uncertainty and doubt slow us down. That’s why the encounter with the Caterpillar is fundamental…
The Caterpillar and Identity
“Who are you?” is the question that the Caterpillar often repeats. This bizarre character is a sort of guru for Alice. He is the one who provides her with the key to understanding that world and who, by insistently asking her “who are you” urges her to rediscover her own identity, separate from the conditioning imposed from outside. Not by chance, the Caterpillar will transform into a butterfly, as if to symbolize Alice’s initiatory transformation.
The Hatter and “Madness”
The Mad Hatter is a character only apparently nonsensical. His encounter with Alice is essential because it reminds her of a great truth: one must be different, one must see things from other points of view and not conform to the masses if one wants to cross the doors of perception of this world, otherwise one will continue to see all existence only in earthly terms. Not by chance, in esotericism, the Way of the Fool, is the path that leads to spiritual awakening. Those who begin this journey risk being considered mad, but they are much more lucid than they may appear.
The Queen and Instincts
The Queen represents our negative side. She is our arrogant, selfish and greedy side; the one that is not open to confrontation and dialogue and that is in love with its own self. She is the representation of everything that limits us because it commands our life. She is the character that most of all opposes Alice’s journey and who therefore must be fought and defeated. When Alice meets her she discovers that she is capable of opposing her and that therefore that immeasurable ego that obscures the authentic self, is actually pure illusion.
Alice in Wonderland is therefore a metaphor just like Beauty and the Beast or Pinocchio and many other tales hide essential meanings for our inner growth.
It is up to us not to be frightened by our inner darkness and follow the White Rabbit…
♥
“Blue pill, end of story: tomorrow you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. Red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
The Matrix
