This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again.
In a minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its
mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got
down off the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely
remarking as it went, `One side will make you grow taller, and
the other side will make you grow shorter.'
`One side of WHAT? The other side of WHAT?' thought Alice to herself.
`Of the mushroom,' said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.
Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a
minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as
it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question.
However, at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they
would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with each hand.
~ Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 5. Lewis Carroll
In this deck, swords are flamingos and this version of the 2 of Swords shows the Caterpillar (minus hookah) sitting on a large mushroom with his hands on a pair of flamingos who are facing in opposite directions. Behind the mushroom there is a large body of water, relatively calm, with land masses jutting from the water and seen in the distance on the horizon. Overhead, a crescent moon looks down.
I tend to see the 2 of Swords as a 'stalemate' card, where the figure can't see to decide which choice to make... but seeing this Caterpillar, with his lackadaisical personality, I'm struck by the idea that it's more not bothering to make a choice... mental procrastination, because what does it really matter which choice is made - one's as good as the other, and besides I can figure it out tomorrow.
The flamingos with their outstretched necks look like they're ready to launch into flight if he ever decides to give the word, but he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to do so.
What's not in this image is any sense of stress - to be fair, it's not in the original RWS image either, though I almost always put it there. Here, the Caterpillar looks comfortable - he's on his own turf - and has no crying need to put these flamingos into motion.
In fact, in the passage above, it's Alice that wants the decision made, not the Caterpillar... he sees no reason to be any size other than the one he is, or why Alice isn't just as content as he is with her size. So sure, eat the mushroom, get bigger or smaller if you like.. but it doesn't even occur to him to tell her which side will do which. He absolutely doesn't see a point to her dilemma.
It makes me want to consider this card in light of the way sometimes we need information in order to make a choice that matters to us, and the most tedious part is getting those that have the information to understand our need enough to tell us what we need to know in a timely manner. Sometimes, the 'stalemate' comes because those around us totally don't get or care about whatever it is that concerns us so they move at a very slow pace if they move at all.
Frustrating, but I don't think it makes them wrong necessarily.. I used to keep a sign on my desk that said "Your emergency is not necessarily my crisis.", put there to warn off a few colleagues who didn't seem to want to have to tie their shoes on their own without getting me involved.
I don't know that judgement of the motivation is even needed here.. for good or bad this card is describing that condition where someone isn't hooked into the importance of a decision that needs to be made. Or that someone thinks needs to be made.
