The Justice card in Tarot’s major arcana is about justice, pure and simple. The Major Arcana in Tarot represent themes and lessons which are playing out in our lives. The book Around the Tarot in 78 Days likens the minor cards to a still river that we can paddle freely around, while the major cards are the currents and rapids. It isn’t advisable to fight them because we have to deal with them eventually before we can continue on.
Justice as an Absolute
Modern Witch Tarot
The lessons the Justice card provides to you aren’t always comfortable. The figure in this card reminds me of the Queen of Swords: swift, rational, and uncompromising. It requires us to look not only at the law, whether personal or institutional but also at the causes and effects of our actions. Those who act according to their Highest Purpose have nothing to fear when they face this card. When you aren’t honest with yourself or act in a way that isn’t congruent with your Highest Purpose, you’ll be called to account for your actions and the truth will come out. Remember, Justice isn’t just what you think is right!
Justice as a Path
Heaven & Earth Tarot
The path to justice is a difficult one because those around us will not always treat us with truth, or honesty. Administering justice is also difficult. The story of Solomon, the baby, and the two mothers is an example. Two mothers insist a baby is theirs. Solomon calls for a sword to divide the baby, giving half to each woman. Going halfsies might be fair to the women, but what about the baby? Of course, Solomon’s real purpose was to discover the real mother, the one who withdraws her claim so the child will live. This is a really kind of warped. What if both women continued to insist? Would Solomon still have bisected the baby?
Take the recent sentencing of the school killer sentenced to life in prison instead of death. To many, this was a travesty of justice. To those who feel the death penalty is wrong, it felt justice was served correctly.
Personal Justice
Gregory Scott Tarot
My personal mantra is that “I only have power over my own reactions, everything else is out of my hands”. When Justice comes up in a reading for me I know to make sure any choices I make take into account everyone affected. Can I stand by those choices in the long term? Will I accept the consequences resulting from my choices? Because the choices we make personally will affect others and we may be called to defend ourselves for those choices.
Justice in the Tarot Cards
In the Modern Witch Tarot and Heaven & Earth Tarot, as seen above, the cards are fairly similar. Both hold the sword of punishment and the scales of justice. The Modern Witch figure is open-eyed, while in the Heaven & Earth card is blindfolded. How do you see those cards differently because of how they are portrayed?
The Gregory Scott Tarot is more about punishment. Justice has been served by a committee and I always feel that this card is more about revenge than real justice.
The card to the right is from the Lo Scarabeo deck. This references the Solomonic decision I talked about above and the figure is not blindfolded.
Do you have a favorite image? Which one calls you? Let me know in the comments.
What Clients are Saying about Sophrosyne Tarot
I was advised to ask open-ended questions instead of predictive questions which I thought was helpful because I never would have known if it weren’t for the reader. The reader provided the reading along with some advice too so the entire reading was very thorough and explained in an understandable manner.
Everything said was accurate and helpful for me to identify my flaws in order to grow as a person. I have learned a lot about tarot and what it does to help me.
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