By Jeanne Fiorini
Sometimes, in the midst of writer’s block or when there’s difficulty coming up with an article or class idea, I’ll pull out my trusty mini-RWS deck in hopes that the oracle will jog the thought process. This is how the Justice card comes to be the topic of this month’s column.
The Justice card seems a bit out of place, though, being that it’s June and all. In June we expect to see The Sun card in celebration of the summer solstice, or the Queen of Wands in honor of the expansion and creativity of the season, or even The Moon card as an homage to the upcoming Cancerian energy.
These factors, in conjunction with its correlation to the astrological sign of Libra and the onset of Summer’s older sister Autumn, make Justice seem a cold and harsh choice for this time of year.
But she incontrovertibly made her point about participating in this article… and she has been coming up a lot in readings lately. OK, so let’s tawk.
A few years ago at Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone’s Reader’s Studio (http://www.tarotschool.com/RS12/index.html), Geraldine Amaral guided us through an exercise to find our “DNA” card. The DNA card is the single card in the Tarot deck with which, after considering all the cards with numerological and astrological connections to one’s birth date, a person has the most pure, direct, and authentic connection.
I chose Justice as my personal DNA card. There are four planets in the sign of Libra nestled in the nadir of my birth chart, and so a deeply-rooted connection to the ideals and perils of the Justice card is no big surprise. In truth, my world view of choice would be this: “What, not everyone sees things this way? It all seems pretty obvious to me. Come on, just do it this way and everything will be fine.” Obviously I’ve had to moderate that stance.
Despite the forced compromise on the world view, I remain friends with the Justice card. When I see it in a reading it makes me smile, I sit up straight and tight in my chair and speak the words of the reading with confidence. The Justice card makes me feel strong, powerful, and determined. I’m aware, however, that not everyone shares this affection.
For instance, my Tarot friend Josephine says she’d rather face down any one of Tarot’s Terrible Trio (Death, Devil, Tower) than have to deal head-on with Justice. And I quote:
The very thought of that Justician glare spearing my eyeballs reduces me to a blob of thulp. In a reading for someone else or a completely impersonal situation, my take on the card follows tradition. However, if reading for myself, when I see this card I dive for the bottom like the proverbial speck in the glass of milk. Because I know I am about to be meted "Justice." And I had it comin'. Like Don Juan being escorted into hell, I have no one to blame but myself.
Now that I think of it, it’s this kind of “time to face the music” tone that the Justice card has taken in readings lately:
Don't pretend as though you don't know what you need to do.
You can't avoid the fact that your mind is made up on this matter.
How long have you been waiting to make this decision?
Are you ready to say what you mean and mean what you say?
There's no point in trying to hide from the truths you already know.
To my mind the most intimidating indication in the Justice card is this non-personal force of karma, the “what goes around comes around” factor. That lie you told when the minute it left your lips you knew you’d rue the day; that speeding ball of iron cast at another has turned the bend and now is hurtling itself right at you; that act of cruelty that you thought went unnoticed. Oh yeah, payback is a bitch.
Everything eventually and inevitably balances itself out, it has to. If it didn’t, the world as we know it would cease to exist. Water pressure, anger, vitality, lava, blood pressure, it’s all looking for stability and balance. We forget this as we bumble along blithely through our everyday life, metaphorically knocking things askew with our elbows and our words as we maneuver for position and march toward our goals.
Justice calls us to pay close attention to what we’re doing, what we’re thinking, what we decide, and what we intend. Although we in the northern hemisphere are entering the season of vacations, weddings , family gatherings, and probably a little slacking off, we nonetheless may need to be mindful of both the details and the big picture. A retrograde Mercury happening between July 14th and August 8th could be part of the issue.
Summer is the counterpoint to, and the reward for enduring, the bleak months of winter. Especially in New England where winter can be a marathon and one’s eyeballs are starved for anything even remotely green, summer is karma’s kindness.
But Justice made it known that her voice was to be heard, so let’s all be careful with our thoughts, words, and actions, dot our “i”s, cross our “t”s, and hope for the best!