Master_Margarita
This card manages to be stunningly well-composed and stuffed full of Buddhist iconography, while remaining true to the Tarot meaning, all at the same time.
The most common image for the Judgement card is that of the Christian Last Judgment, and I have also seen it represented as the court of Titiana and Oberon, but the image on this card is that of Buddha's first sermon in Deer Park, when he first listed the Four Noble Truths and set the Wheel of the Law in motion.
Here are all the symbolic items on the card that I could identify:
-Buddha sits on the Lotus Throne
-His hands are in the mudra of teaching (associated with Vairocana)
-He sits between the sun and moon as a third and greater illuminator
-The pair of deer face a sacred object between the two, representing a sacred center
-The sacred object in the center is the Wheel of the Law, which replaces the Wheel of Life
-The Wheel of the Law has four elaborated points standing for the Four Noble Truths
-The Wheel has 8 spokes for the Eightfold Path
-The Wheel has 3 jewels in the center, to stand for Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
-The audience consists of his 5 former disciples who left him when he rejected extreme aesceticism
It's just amazing to me that a card so programmatic can be so lovely.
Because of its Buddhist flavor, this Judgement card speaks to me of the judgment that we as individuals exercise based on experience, rather than a judgment imposed on us from without. We can all be called to wisdom in our lives, and this card challenges us to do that.
-The item in the center is 3 Jewels, representing
The most common image for the Judgement card is that of the Christian Last Judgment, and I have also seen it represented as the court of Titiana and Oberon, but the image on this card is that of Buddha's first sermon in Deer Park, when he first listed the Four Noble Truths and set the Wheel of the Law in motion.
Here are all the symbolic items on the card that I could identify:
-Buddha sits on the Lotus Throne
-His hands are in the mudra of teaching (associated with Vairocana)
-He sits between the sun and moon as a third and greater illuminator
-The pair of deer face a sacred object between the two, representing a sacred center
-The sacred object in the center is the Wheel of the Law, which replaces the Wheel of Life
-The Wheel of the Law has four elaborated points standing for the Four Noble Truths
-The Wheel has 8 spokes for the Eightfold Path
-The Wheel has 3 jewels in the center, to stand for Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
-The audience consists of his 5 former disciples who left him when he rejected extreme aesceticism
It's just amazing to me that a card so programmatic can be so lovely.
Because of its Buddhist flavor, this Judgement card speaks to me of the judgment that we as individuals exercise based on experience, rather than a judgment imposed on us from without. We can all be called to wisdom in our lives, and this card challenges us to do that.
-The item in the center is 3 Jewels, representing
