Challenging Judgement: Reckoning or Call to Rise?
Preface: This article is one of several in our “Challenging” series. The purpose of these articles is to flip the script on cards that we usually view as difficult, providing a fresh and more positive perspective. If this type of exploration is of interest to you, then feel free to check out the other cards we’ve tackled: The Hierophant, The Devil, 5 of Pentacles, 4 of Cups, 8 of Swords
In Tarot, there are inevitably cards that challenge us more than others. These cards often do so because they are misunderstood, triggering on some level, are visually off-putting, or have some negative attribution(s) applied to them.
Last month, after taking a poll online, we wrote a post Challenging The Hierophant. In that piece, we explored some of the conceptions surrounding the card, what is known of its origin, and then offered ways to integrate and make peace with its energy. Following that, we asked what other cards were difficult to make sense of, and Judgement came out on top.
Much like we did with The Hierophant, we hope to explore Judgement by acknowledging first what makes it difficult, and then providing possible reframes to make it approachable in a reading and accessible as an archetype.
To begin, let’s take a moment to summarize the feedback we received from Instagram. What is it about Judgement that puts folks off and in what ways does it challenge us as readers?
It’s generally confusing and difficult to interpret, especially as it relates to day-to-day matters.
It carries with it some severe connotations such as the idea of being judged, having to atone for sins, good vs evil etc.
Some of the imagery is unsavory, either because of its religious undertones or the coffins with figures rising from them.
Not to mention, the title of the card itself can bring up so much for us. Judgment of ourselves, others, and everything we interact with seems to be as prevalent now as it ever. And the fear of it, being condemned or criticized, plagues many of us on a deeply primal level - much in the way that shame does. Fear of judgment can be just as paralyzing as judgment itself, and can often prevent us from doing the things we want and becoming the person we were meant to be.
Furthermore, we think some of the fear comes in when we start to look at Judgement through a strict and punishing lens. We know karma, cycles and patterns are prevailing themes among the majors, and we don’t think it’s any coincidence that 10+10=20. In other words, two Wheels bring us to Judgement, and what is The Wheel if not a depiction of samsara; the turning of cycles, death, rebirth, and ups and downs. In this physical/material world, this goes by another name and that name is “suffering”. So something about karma intertwines with what we see happening in Judgement, but does it have to be about reward and punishment? About delegating some of us to good and some of us to bad? Is it really about facing our earthly deeds and being weighed accordingly? We think this one could boil down to a matter of perspective.
Let’s explore some of the imagery to see if we can find any keys to unlocking a better relationship with this archetype:
Mountain peaks are visible in the background, which are a sign of attainment, achievement, initiation and overcoming obstacles. In Judgement, the peaks are topped with snow which reminds us of The Fool and The Hermit. Snow is frozen water, and water symbolizes consciousness. In this sense, snow indicates a stopping of “the stream” - the noise and chatter of our ordinary consciousness.
An angel blows a trumpet with 7 emanations (symbolic of the 7 musical notes) coming from it. Simplistically, the angel is a sign of divinity and the music is a sign of harmony. This music (or call) rouses the figures from their coffins as if waking them straight from the dead. Furthermore, the representation of music and the angel’s call speaks to our sense of inner hearing, which reminds us of the role of The Hierophant. In The Pictorial Key to The tarot, A. E. Waite writes of Judgement “What is that within us which does sound a trumpet and all that is lower in our nature rises in response…” This may suggest that the ultimate call comes from within and is received from within, if we have “ears” to hear it.
If we look at the body language of the figures, we can learn even more. Here, we see open gestures which indicate that they are receptive to the call and inviting it forward. Their nudity, like that which we see in The Lovers and The Sun, is a sign of innocence; a nod to one’s true nature, unclouded by material layers or masks. Some have mentioned the colouring of the figures as being a bit grisly, however, their grey hue may actually be symbolic of the blending of opposites, because what is grey, but white and black mixed together? Additionally, a further nod to synthesis is present in the use of a male, female, and child-like figure. This may speak to the holy trinity, 3 states of consciousness, and body/mind/spirit connection.
The Hebrew letter associated with Judgement is Shin - ש. If you observe the 2 pairs of 3 figures, they seem to emulate its shape. Though the letter Shin is classically attributed to the element of Fire in tarot symbology, in Qabalah, it is often seen as the letter of Spirit. Each of the four letters of the divine name YHVH corresponds with one of the classical elements - Y for Fire, H for Water, V for Air, and the final H for Earth - and each, in turn, is attributed to one of the four lower points of the Pentagram. They are then "crowned" by Spirit - the letter Shin - which is placed directly in the middle of the divine name and at the uppermost point of the Pentagram to form another name, YHShVH, or Yeheshua - the Hebrew name of Jesus Christ, who symbolizes the fully-realized potential of humanity. Judgement is a call to realization and it is this keyword (“realization”), that Paul Foster Case applied to Judgement, labeling it the 6th step toward spiritual unfoldment.
Judgement obviously contains some pretty big themes, so how can we apply those more practically when we receive it in a reading?
Judgement could be a sign that you’re being called to something greater; be it in the realm of relationships, employment, or even personal/spiritual development.
It could be that you are being encouraged to explore the theme of judgment as a shadow aspect i.e. where you are judging too harshly or conversely, feeling harshly judged?
Judgement may also be an indication that you are ignoring your own truth in place of something else, and this may be a condition that needs reevaluation.
Similarly, Judgement may indicate that it’s time to get back in touch with your true nature, free from the condemnation and presumptions of the world.
With all that being said, we see Judgement not as a warning, but as an end to that which has stopped us from being wholly and fully what we are. The last judgment isn’t a place where our deeds are analyzed, it is a place where judgment ceases to be and where “real life” begins, if we will allow ourselves to hear the call and rise to greet it. The coffins in this sense represent our material/self-conscious/sense-based lives, and from that emerges the next state of consciousness, on the borderlands of separation into unity.
So, unlike judgment in an Earthly sense, the Judgement card need not be feared because what it really symbolizes is freedom and liberation. This liberation, evident in the nudity and gesturing of the figures, beckons back to The Lovers and The Sun. It assures that what Judgement brings is not a reckoning, but a release from anything that isn’t in the truth of who we are. It is a letting go of our misperceptions of self, an absolving of impurity, and clear seeing of the innocence in all regardless of what we’ve done (or not done). While Judgement seems to imply there is something to weigh or assess, we see this energy as a realization that there is in fact nothing left to judge - nothing left to work through - no value left to assign; not to ourselves and not to others. It is pure acceptance, and the final step before we may move forward into the greatest awareness of all, that belonging to the unity symbolized in The World.
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Julia & Tim