Judgement - release or transformation?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ncefafn	18 Jan 2005
A question came up today for me regarding how to interpret Judgement. Is it turning your back on the past and moving forward into a new day, or is it taking your old stuff from the past and transforming it into something new and better? I know, I know, it can be both, but if you had to choose one or the other, which would it be?

contradiction	18 Jan 2005
i have always thought of it as the end to the situation. finally getting "closure",so to speak. which i guess would be leaving it behind, and moving on. hadn't quite thought of it that way before.

Nevada	18 Jan 2005
Depending on the reading, I sometimes see Judgement as an awakening or a breakthrough. I get this from a belief that when we die a whole new universe is opened up to us and we see things from a limitless perspective. It could also, on a more mundane level, be seen as "hindsight is clearer than foresight." An idea that there's a lesson to be learned in everything. Nevada

huredriel	18 Jan 2005
I'm probably way off being a beginner so excuse me butting in but isn't it also "you reap what you sow", transformation and release from the past, as a result of actions already undertaken?

Thirteen	18 Jan 2005
huredriel wrote: I'm probably way off being a beginner so excuse me butting in but isn't it also "you reap what you sow", transformation and release from the past, as a result of actions already undertaken? Absolutely it can be this. The bill finally comes due, if you will. The important thing to remember, I think, is that "Death" can easily indicate the same thing. The difference is the scope and level. Judgement is MUCH bigger, much deeper and far more spiritual--a transformation on a higher level. Death is something coming to an end and something new starting. But Judgement is closure. So with Death, a relationship ends. But with Judgement, you bring to an end all the pain and resentment you've been feeling over that relationship (never mind that it was ten years ago!). With Judgement you can finally look back on it and see what good there was in it, what lessons you learned, what mistakes you made (kinda like those early steps in AA where you have to apologize to people you've hurt--admit the wrongs you've done), etc. You can integrate those lessons and move on--the baggage from that relationship will no longer clutter up your current relationships. Put it another way, you lay the ghosts that have been haunting you to rest. It isn't merely that the bill comes due, it's that you finally pay it and no longer have it ruining your credit rating :D That's Judgement.

huredriel	18 Jan 2005
Wow, thanks Thirteen. I've had to copy and paste your comments to make sure I can re-read at a later date. Many thanks for your insight. x Huredriel

ncefafn	19 Jan 2005
The reason I asked is that a friend did the Artist's Path Spread (from the Sakki-Sakki) for me, and Judgement came up in the position of The Price. So I'm wondering if it means I should just throw away all the work I did last year, turn my back on it, or should I try to transform it through a ruthless editing process into something higher and greater.

WalesWoman	19 Jan 2005
I wouldn't throw anything away to start over! (Although I have stacks of stuff I decided needing re-doing at a later date) Judgment as a Price...hmmm I like the way Rachel Pollack describes Judgment...hearing the call. But actually it is recognizing it as the Calling. That you really don't have to do anything but that recognition and accept it, to "Let Go and Let God" To follow your calling to where ever it takes you. So I really don't think it means chucking what you've done out or even editing the heck out of it. Judgment is not to be confused with Justice. It's not a sentance or restitution, but reconstitution. It's like you were dead and brought back to life, recussitation. It's about being born again in a whole new wonderful way, regeneration, leaving behind old ways of thinking that don't work anymore. Or that changes are already in the process and to resist it is wasted energy, because these changes are already in motion. You can't go back to being what or where you were before. It's almost like evolution...that sort of transformation that makes you something more than what you were before. Really, this would depend so much on the cards surrounding this and what the main message of the reading was as well. This could be about how you feel about your work or even yourself, rather than the work itself. It could be that the price of following your dream by letting go of preconcieved ideas of what you expect is to open your mind to new ones. So maybe it isn't about heavy editing, but transforming it with some new spark of an idea that's been playing around in the back of your mind. The price is adding new life perhaps. I wouldn't think that it will be anything negative at all, just a bit scary taking the first stab at it. Something like this just happend in a painting I've been stalling on since September and suddenly the other day I saw what I needed to do, something totally radically different that will tie this painting together and transform it into something greater than it could have ever been. So now I know why things have kept me from it, why I stopped and left parts of it blank. It wasn't because I need to start over, it was because it needed for me to slowly come to the realization of what it was I wanted this painting to represent and it just hit me a few days ago. I don't know if this is anything like what you think, but to me, it seems like Judgment, I finally opened my mind and listened to that call.

Thirteen	19 Jan 2005
ncefafn wrote: should just throw away all the work I did last year, turn my back on it, or should I try to transform it through a ruthless editing process into something higher and greater. Neither. You shouldn' throw the work you did away NOR should spend any more time on it. To toss it out would be like tossing out a step ladder--now you can't reach the roof. To work on it would be to keep carving the step ladder--what good is that? Stop wasting time, you're needed on the roof! :D What you can and SHOULD use last year's work for, I think, is to help you create something new. This, I believe, is what the judgement card is trying to tell you. By keeping last years work just as is, you can remind yourself of what you did right and wrong--of what you need to improve and change, of pitfalls to avoid and tricks that work well for you. If you can judge last years work objectively, integrate its lessons, your newer projects will be transformed and your talent will soar. Judgement is about coming to terms with the past, not about trying to either throw it away or make it "right." I know that doesn't exactly work for art which can be painted over, edited, rewritten. But even so, the artist does build on past works. Picasso didn't start off in Cubism. He got there step by step. And while he may have hated some of the art he did, even feel embarrassment at his amature early work, he must have realized that it not only taught him, but pushed him in the right direction. Use last year's work as a step up and go forward. Don't toss it, don't work on it. Use it.

Keslynn	19 Jan 2005
WalesWoman wrote: I don't know if this is anything like what you think, but to me, it seems like Judgment, I finally opened my mind and listened to that call. I see the Judgement card very similarly - as a call. The call is to move to a higher level of yourself, and it can be terrifying because most of us don't like change, especially big change. It's definitely a new direction, but you were offered the new direction because of all the things you had done before. Without the foundation of your past actions, you would never have come to the point of evolution, the call to be better. It's like that episode of Charmed where the sisters were offered the chance to relinquish their powers because they had fulfilled their destiny in vanquishing the source of all evil. At the same time, without their powers, they never would have gotten to that point. The past was important and led to the decision on which step to take next. Basically, I agree that you should neither throw away your work or remodel it. Evaluate it and the role it played in your development, and then, follow the call, wherever it may lead. :) Kes

Clau	19 Jan 2005
Know what? One of my favourite cards of the major arcana is judgement, and whenever it comes out almost always says to me: forgive yourself and forgive others. Forgive yourself for what you have / have not done in the past, forgive yourself for hurting others, and forgive others for what they have done / not done in the past. But this MUST be made from your heart, sincerely, REALLY forgive and let go....only then you can move forward. This is very hard to do, so whenever you achieve it, you're spiritually ready for the next step... ..yes, it is one of my favourite cards... blessings, Clau

ncefafn	19 Jan 2005
Keslynn wrote: Basically, I agree that you should neither throw away your work or remodel it. Evaluate it and the role it played in your development, and then, follow the call, wherever it may lead. Hmm. Now that's interesting. Hold off on what to decide (twos) until I've looked it all over, and then not so much decide as heed the call. I like that. Thanks!

Little Baron	07 Feb 2005
Clau wrote: forgive yourself and forgive others. Forgive yourself for what you have / have not done in the past, forgive yourself for hurting others, and forgive others for what they have done / not done in the past. But this MUST be made from your heart, sincerely, REALLY forgive and let go....only then you can move forward. This is interesting. Judgement was my daily card today. As well as learning the tarot, I have also been reading up a lot on Buddhism (hence the name) ... I am new to Buddhism, as I consider myself a beginner of the tarot. Anyways ... I was practising a visualisation a few days ago ... sending 'loving kindness' - firstly to myself, then to someone I loved, then to someone I hardly knew and then to someone I had difficulty with. It was a very enlightening experience and afterwards I felt the effects of what I had done. It reminds me of Judgement and the above quote. Sending the same amount of love to a person I had a lot of difficulty with as I sent to my own mother helped release all of the feelings of animosity and helped me grow. Of course it was not as big a step as 'total enlightenment and awakening' or as big of a jump as it would be from this card to the 'World' but the idea is the same, just on a smaller scale. LB

rainwolf	09 Feb 2005
thirteen wrote: But with Judgement, you bring to an end all the pain and resentment you've been feeling over that relationship (never mind that it was ten years ago!). With Judgement you can finally look back on it and see what good there was in it, what lessons you learned, what mistakes you made I CANT agree with you more!!! At the end of a difficult time, mainly about someone else-causing me depression and the most difficult time of my life, i got the judgement card, and i knew that it meant i did all i could (i had just left a message for the person involved clearing everything up, but wasnt sure about what would happen). I knew that it was pretty much the end of the issue (i had the question 'what will happen'). I still was uncomfortable around the person (wasnt sure what was between us), but after a while of being around them it subsided and now im fine. (SO glad its over!) Now you can think of my story when you want to know what it is-endings, wrapping things up, the road to healing no matter what, a rebirth (AHHH! LOL), and anything that will make you breath a sigh of relief knowing what was done-was done.

The Judgement - release or transformation? thread was originally posted on 18 Jan 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.