Apr 20 | 2023 — Judgement
The day has really flown by, let me tell you. LOTs of weird technical things happening at work… I’m already giving side-eye to Mercury Retrograde while trying to keep my arms, hands, legs, feet, and head inside the ride vehicle at all times. So before you judge ME for being late, let’s look at today’s card: Judgement.
Also, please don’t judge me for spelling Judgement with an ‘e.’ My browser’s spellcheck is already judging me — but it just looks wrong without the ‘e’, kthnxbai.
So the Judgement card in the original Rider-Waite-Smith illustration is full of Christian symbolism of the resurrection and Judgement Day. But how are Statler and Waldorf (the Muppets) not the PERFECT example of Judgement? I mean, I know they weren’t around in 1909 (well, they ARE old AF, so maybe they were…) when Pamela Coleman Smith illustrated the original deck… otherwise, maybe her illustration would be different. Imagine if they were standing at Heaven’s gates ready to judge you; I think we’d all be scared shitless.
To be clear, this card is less about judging others or even being judged yourself and more about reconciling past decisions, leaving behind those past shades of yourself to embrace a new, currently authentic version of yourself. Not that you weren’t “authentic” to yourself back then… but a lot changes in a person over time. I am certainly not the same person (thank God) as I was in my early 30s. Judgement is about looking at our past faults, claiming ownership of our mistakes, and righting our wrongs where we can so we can let go of that karmic burden and be freeeeee (or at least freeeeee-r).
Message of the Day: I suppose that, in a sense, Judgement is about accepting (or maybe in this case, it’s also excepting) your past self’s indiscretions. It’s coming to terms with the “unclosed” mistakes of our past, the behaviors, ideas, beliefs, and concepts that no longer align with the current version of ourselves.
It makes sense that as we get older our views change, biases form and unform, beliefs alter, and perspectives change. The past eight years alone have been wildly transformative for so many people because of the political landscape in the US and the pandemic. The social “changes” that have occurred in response have been staggering. I have hope that some of these things will self-correct with time as people see the error of their ways and understand they were misinformed. I mean, that’s what Judgement is about, right? We grow from our mistakes. Hopefully.
So how exactly do we do that? The biggest barriers I see to this are:
- Pride or Hubris
- Guilt or shame
- Lack of humility or a false sense of humility
- Fear of embarrassment or fear of the realization that not only were we wrong (made to look a fool), but we misled others
- Avoidance or the fear of returning to those unwanted, undesirable feelings and memories
- Fear of change
Looking at that list, it becomes obvious that FEAR is one of the biggest prohibiting factors in our forward movement. It prevents us from reconciling with people from our past and from making changes to our current situation. In a sense, what we really need is the courage to pull off that giant karmic Band-Aid. Just get it done with. Not everyone will forgive or forget. Even you may not forgive yourself completely, much less forget — but that is part of the journey now, isn’t it?
You are not perfect. You will never be perfect. Those around you? Also not perfect. They will make mistakes and have regrets just like you. Holding grudges and harboring ill will or ill intent is a barrier to being a better person. Our mistakes are meant to be learned from, but so is forgiveness. We have to learn to forgive ourselves just as much as we forgive others.
So Judgement wants us to ask ourselves:
- What (honestly) in our past have we not forgiven ourselves for?
- Is there anything/anyone in our past that we still feel angry about or harbor ill will towards? Why do those feeling remain and how do we change that?
- What do we need to do to reconcile my past grievances and offenses to others so we can move forward?
- How can we be less critical of others and more accepting of their imperfections? How can we accept our own imperfections and grow our from mistakes?
Decks shown above:
- The Exotic Cancer Tarot
- The Modern Way Tarot
- ‘Judgement’ as illustrated by Madeline Priebe.
Originally posted on Pixel-Tarot.com on April 20, 2023.
