She talks to wolves...

Just about a year ago, I reviewed The Aphorisms of Kherishdar by M.C.A. Hogarth, saying: "It is remarkable to me that M.C.A. Hogarth is not more widely spoken of than she is, for she is writing some of the most imaginative social (and alien) science fiction currently out there. If I were forced to use one word to describe her as an artist and a writer, it would be -- ascending. If I were to use one word to describe her latest offering, The Aphorisms of Kherishdar, it would be -- illuminating."

Well, Hogarth has accomplished something remarkable again, in a companion volume to The Aphorisms of Kherishdar; where the Aphorisms were scribed mostly in light, The Admonishments of Kherisdhar were painted mostly in darkness. Still, a fair share of grace infuses each collective work, making this new slender volume just as worthy a read as the previous installment.

I'll let haikujaguar (the author's Livejournal) tell you what it's about:

In Kherishdar, when a person commits a crime, they become their sin....

Suicide. Rape. Child Abuse. Addiction. Twenty-five crimes. Twenty-five stories. Twenty-five narrators... and one minister over them all, to judge, convict and Correct the faulty: the priest who serves Shame.

This companion volume to The Aphorisms of Kherishdar explores the wayward and their journey back to society, offering another glimpse into the Ai-Naidari culture.

A darker, more difficult glimpse—

Without Shame, there is no Civilization.


Just as with The Aphorisms of Kherishdar, the Admonishments is available in its entirety, freely, online. If that's the case, why should you purchase it in hardcopy? Well, for me, there's nothing like holding a book in one's hands. But, further, this book posesses artwork available nowhere else, as well as a truly gorgeous layout. (You can see more at Hogarth's post on the matter.) I'll be reviewing this collection formally once my own copy arrives.

I am fond of decks of cards: there's something powerful, to me, about a trim stack of stiff paper pieces bearing images, whether those images be spades and diamonds, illustrations drawn by Pamela Colman Smith, depictions of fairy tales, etc. Cards are things of chance and story, community and danger. Since I was a child, I have been especially drawn to cards of divination. Here's the thing, though: I don't believe that divinatory cards reveal the future. I believe that these cards have the power to reveal ourselves.

Many people find it difficult to quiet their minds and just listen to the wisdom they usually possess beneath all the bullshit our everyday monkey minds throw at us. I know I've definitely been guilty of this: making personal decisions dramatic and confusing rather than trusting the decision I've already made but didn't want to face. I've asked the Tarot about my future because I was afraid, when all I needed to do was look at my past and my present to know what I should be doing.

And that's exactly what the Tarot and other decks helped me do: look inside, not to the future. The conjunction of cards, a random symbolic image: these things can have the same effect on our minds as an intuitively grasped Zen koan, shocking us into a new sense of understanding.

Several years ago, I encountered M.C.A. Hogarth's Balance Cards. Amazingly, this woman had developed her own deck of cards that perfectly meshed with my personal concepts of these things. From her website:
Well, the Balance Cards are certainly My Kind of Thing. However, they're not a deck of cards I can possess; rather, all of haikujaguar 's cards in the one deck of Balance Cards that exists are blank. When she reads, she pulls the labeled card and lets an image form in her mind for each person. The resulting readings can be startling and are always thought-provoking. And, if you desire to commission your card, she will paint you your specific ideological card.

As you can deduce, this method of reading can be exhausting. Yet haikujaguar  offers a monthly One Card Draw, where anyone can request one card for free through her Livejournal. You can even customize the question you want answered. While this monthly draw is usually sponsored by several people from the community, there is still an intense amount of generosity that goes into these One Card Draws. I am truly impressed and humbled each time haikujaguar  holds one.

I have benefited from her readings on several occasions. I have even commissioned a couple of cards, one of which is pictured with this entry. Both cards have proven very inspirational to me, helping me to hear myself when I needed it the most.

If you're interested in divination or just need a little help quieting your monkey mind, give M.C.A. Hogarth's Balance Cards a try. You can commission a private reading for a nominal fee or simply participate in the One Card Draw she's hosting tomorrow.

I'll see you there.