VIII - Justice

As will undoubtedly be discussed in greater detail by catboxer (or one hopes, anyway!), there are some variations with the numbering occuring in early depictions of the cards.

Variations of numbering, however, have also occured with modern renditions as a result of Waite following Golden Dawn teachings and interchanging the numbering of Justice and Strength - two of the four Cardinal Virtues.

The reason for the interchange is straightforward enough, in that if one follows astrological order, and one also gives these respective cards the attribution of Libra and Leo (attributions definitely not universally accepted), then these should be reversed from their traditional order as Leo precedes Libra. For me, this is not sufficient justification.

Having said this, there are certainly a number of representations of St Michael (or the Archangel Michael) which has been linked to this card through similarity in iconography (sword in right hand, scales in the left). One reason for the scales is straightforward enough, for St Michael's day occurs on the 29th September, in Libra.

The concept of Justice, of course, is quite ancient, and stands independent to the concept of Law. For example, in ancient Greece (as now too, I guess), these two were held to be clearly two different concepts. Justice, or Dikê, implied a straight line, or the custom within a group of people, or the manner in which something is correctly done. Certainly Homer used this term in the Odyssey in these various forms.

As iconography which at times showed the weighing of Souls of the dead, this is found in both Michaelic imagery (again, for example, see p166 of Kaplan's Encyclopedia vol II) and ancient Egyptian iconography. I'm not suggesting that this latter directly influenced the one which later emerged in Tarot, but it would certainly have been known to at least some of the ancient Greek writers and to those influential thinkers blending their various thoughts in that other great aeclectic community - the Alexandrian one.

So what of its consequences? Justice, as Justice rather than Law, is not hoodwinked, but has clarity of vision and thus strives for understanding of the situation in ascertaining the correct action. Reminiscent of both neo-platonic thought and Dostoevski's Crime and Punishment, the Hermetica (X-20) states 'what greater punishment for a human soul [...] than irreverence?'.

Attached is the Camoin 1998 version.

cary yale visconti justice

kaz

visconti sforza justice

kaz

You may find this hard to believe, but for once I have very little to add to what's already been said.

The variations in trump sequence that I've already mentioned more than once are mainly due to fluctuations in the positions of the virtues, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude or Strength. Various decks over the centuries have put these three in widely differing positions in the sequence, while the other 18 trumps have maintained fairly stable places in the order, sometimes varying by one position; for example in some early decks the Hermit is before the Wheel of Fortune at place nine, and in others he is after the wheel at place eleven. However, the sequential variation shown by just these three cards, when added to the minor variations shown by the others, is enough to prove, I think, that there is no "correct" trump sequence, upon which a systematic linkage to any body of esoteric thought such as Kabbalah or astrology would depend.

This is why Waite's reasons for reversing the usual Marseilles deck order of Justice and Strength don't hold water. Furthermore, there simply isn't any way I can see to systematically connect a system comprised of 12-plus-seven elements to another consisting of 21 elements plus a free-floating radical unit. But having said this, there is also no doubt that some trumps were associated with some astrological concepts in the Renaissance mind, just not in a systematic way.

The association of Justice with Libra seems pretty obvious, and the connection between this card and St. Michael appears valid also. You don't hear much about Michael any more in northern European and North American Christianity, but he's still a major figure in Latin-style Catholicism. He's especially big in Mexico, where you frequently see pictures of him restoring justice to the world by vanquishing the Devil and driving him back to hell. If you read Spanish, there's a very instructive web site with a nice portrait of him at http://www.corazones.org/santos/miguel_arcangel.htm

San Miguel is a saint close to my own heart because my favorite church in all of California is the old Spanish mission of San Miguel in the town of the same name, just north of Paso Robles on Highway 101. It's the only old mission in which the chapel interior remains more or less in its original condition, and it's quite grotesque and beautiful at the same time.

Did I say I didn't have much to add? Hmmm...this is what usually happens.

(catboxer)

Thanks for that link, catboxer, and it certainly depicts the archangel Michael in the traditional representation.

You mention 'there simply isn't any way I can see to systematically connect a system comprised of 12-plus-seven elements to another consisting of 21 elements plus a free-floating radical unit'. Of course, this is exactly what the Kabbalists, or at least those who wrote the circa 2nd century Sefer Yezirah, did. The 'missing' three were assigned, as you are undoubtedly aware, three of the elements.

Below follows an extract from a 14th century Croatian poem, with reference to Justice. I thought I would add it just for something different.

Among the monks who learn and study Holy Writ,
A perfect justice should with perfect comfort sit;
But no, each monkish heart's a foul and wicked pit?
And even chance good deeds are swallowed up by it.

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Attached is the Dodal 1701 version.

i don't have much to add to justice.
i have decks where it's 11 and decks where it's 8, i just go with the deck, for me it doesn't make a difference.
though i can see both ideas about 11 or 8 are valid.
in my soprafinodeck it's numbered 8.

kaz

edited

edited

I don't know if the sword of justice can really be called a glaive - though it should certainly be broad! The concept of the sword of Justice certainly antedates the Tarot depictions, for it is implied in the Bible.

Also, during, for example, Frankish coronations, the prince's 'fighting' sword was ritualistically replaced by an ecclesestical Sword of Justice, again predating early Tarot depictions.

In terms of representation of Justitia as a Feminine figure, this was already the case in Roman times, possibly containing echoes reminiscent of late Antiquity.

Attached is a swordless Angelic representation of Justice weighing the Souls of the dead, from the 1440s, by Van Der Weyden. Iconographic Egyptian similarities are obvious, though clearly, also, independent.

Just to give an example for what I said above, here is Suger (a twelfth century monk - who, by the way, is one of the few figures actually claimed to have been the founder of the Tarot deck, though I personally doubt the veracity of this claim), from A Picture of a Good Feudal King: Louis VI of France

The archbishop of Sens, Daimbert, [...] on the day of the discovery of the holy protomartyr Stephen [3rd August, 1108], he anointed Louis with the most holy oil of the unction. After celebrating masses of thanksgiving, he removed the secular sword and girded him with the ecclesiastical sword for the punishmen of evil-doers, crowned him with the royal diadem and bestowed on him most devoutly the sceptre and the wand [...]

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Attached is a painting by Salviati from after 1542. In this painting, the sword and the scales are both included, and Justitia is definitely not hood-winked.