Feb 02 | 2023 — Judgment
Today’s card, Judgment, is a card that I have always visually had a bit of a distaste for because of the represented symbolism. I know that the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith deck is rife with Christian symbolism due to Arthur Waite’s firmly rooted belief in an elevated form of Christianity (Christian Mysticism). His memberships and ascension in various secret societies (Masonic, Rosicrucian, Golden Dawn) show his hunger for an understanding of the Divine and are represented throughout his Tarot deck as Christian, astrological, Egyptian, and Kabbalist iconography. And it’s not that I’m anti-Christian… I’ve just been burned by religion and it’s left an acrid taste in my mouth.
As the next to last step in The Fool’s Journey, Judgment is the card of freedom and ascension. It’s about the discovery of the truth of yourself and shedding any pretense or concern for acceptance. In a sense, it’s a spiritual awakening, the embracement of the purest form of yourself. Some Tarot practitioners see this card as the “true death” (as opposed to the Death card). It falls after The Sun (a return to innocence), and can often be seen in the elderly before death when they have regained a sense of child-like innocence and have gained (earned?) a sense of calm and peace about them.
But that isn’t the only time we see Judgment in our lives. I think there are various moments in our lives where we pass through this phase in the journey.
Message of the Day: I’ve spent a few hours today thinking about this card and where I have seen this in my life. When I think of judgment in its most base form I think of middle school and high school cliques, religious conservatives, drag queens, and gay men. Our neighbor had reached out to us a few months ago because the school was in need of judges for the science fair, and I joked “well if you’re looking for someone to judge others, look no further than the gays.” It’s what we do; it’s our evolved defense mechanism.
And then I think of the looks my husband and I sometimes get when we go places with our (adopted) son. There’s judgment there. Sometimes it’s positive, sometimes it’s negative — but there is judgment nonetheless. I could go on and on, endlessly, about religious hypocrisy and judgment from conservatives about our family, the discrimination we’ve faced just in trying to adopt… all judgments based on false stereotypes. But this Judgment is about ascension.
I was thinking about how I judge myself: physically, emotionally, sexually, spiritually… I mean, I have opinions. I’m not sure I know anyone who has embraced the truth of their appearance (too fat, too old, splotchy skin, thinning hair). And I know PLENTY of gays who have not truly embraced the truth of their sexuality in relation to their personality or appearance, mostly because of fear of judgment from others (family, religious community) — or sometimes even because of THEIR own self-judgment as being inferior or “disgusting.”
Judgment to me is the “coming out” card (and I purposely chose two decks today that are created by queer artists). Not necessarily about gays and coming out of the closet, but about stepping into who you are and accepting the truth of that. Whether that’s gender, sexual, political, religious, or even medical (accepting the truth of living with cancer, for example), we don’t always have the luxury of time to accept who we are. I know that sometimes there are safety or other logistical issues that could prevent this, but there is also a considerable difference between self-acceptance and social acceptance.
Judgment is inviting us all to take a deep dive into ourselves and look at those “secret” parts of ourselves that we have yet to come to terms with or are scared to admit or share with others. It’s also slapping us in the face about being critical of others who express their truth. Don’t be a bitch when someone takes the risk of opening themselves up to you.
You are not your habits. You are not what you eat. Love yourself. Embrace yourself. Elevate yourself. Live as the Angel who embraces all and accepts all for who they are. You are divinely created.
Decks shown above:
