The Wild Unknown Tarot - Judgement XX

Sulis

A white dove flies towards us and dominates the top of the card; it's face on with wings outstretched and emanating from it are rays of light. The bottom of the card is dark, a dark tangle with the outline of dark birds.. The birds and the dove look as if they have just burst free from the darkness and are now heading to the light..

This card is one of those that just seems like a very obvious depiction of this arcana.. It screams freedom and awakening to me. It's as if the dove has heard a call in the darkness, has seen the chink of light above it and has burst forth, leaving the old behind and taking the first steps (or wing beats) towards the rest of it's life, a new life..

The card's number is 20 which reduces to 2 so to me this card is a relation of The High Priestess; it's a pause and then action, it's a looking within to see what you really want before making the decision to listen to your inner voice and go for it.

To me, this card says leave the past behind and decide what you want to leave there then don't look back, take the step into the next phase of your life and know that you've done the right thing.
 

Pixna

I've always had difficulty with the Judgement card in other decks. It's never spoken to me in a clear voice. This card, however, with it's directness and simplicity, speaks volumes to me, and in ways I can understand.

The first words that come to mind when I look at this card are "freedom," "release," and "letting go." I see release from the past, from dark times, from heavy thoughts, from guilt, from feeling judged (by ourselves or others). Putting these things behind (or beneath) us and rising above them is purifying and cleansing. It IS possible to start over, but with the wisdom gained from our darker times. We can look back (or down) on the dark periods of our lives, but they no longer control us or have a hold on us. We now can see them for what the are (or were). We are free. And that is one helluva glorious feeling!
 

Pixna

I haven't actually looked at or drawn this card since my last post about it. Today I drew it as my daily card, and the same feelings I had when I posted previously flooded back. This card makes me feel that the white dove is being released from darkness. The dove looks almost like a large angel hovering above the small birds in the shadows below. In its number's relation to the High Priestess, I think of the High Priestess as a keeper of secrets -- knowing many answers but keeping them hidden. Here, in the Judgement card, those secrets and wisdom seem to have found their release. The light is shining down on the birds in the shadows, and those few who recognize that truth, wisdom, light, protection, and understanding (or whatever else always seems out of reach) are available in the wings of the dove, appear to be drawn to the white dove and are flying toward it. Perhaps if someone were religious, they might interpret the dove as a deity figure. I see it more as representing universal truth or the universal spirit. For me, its presence in this card is very uplifting, inspiring, and filled with enormous hope.
 

Sulis

I really like the way you've linked this to The High Priestess Pixna - they're both 2s so that makes sense to me... Both about pausing and looking within..
I really like the thought that the secrets and wisdom represented by The High Priestess have been released with this card..
It looks as if the dove has been set free and released from darkness to me too..
 

Snowhunter

What stands out to me is the Batman symbol (it looks like the Batman Begins version) just off to the left of the midline of the card. I'm not that familiar with all the different iterations of the character over the years so my ideas come mostly from the more recent Nolan movies.

After witnessing the death of his parents as a young boy, Bruce Wayne felt a calling to fight crime, and carried the burden of his inherited responsibilities as a member of a prominent family in Gotham. The bat appears to be just flying on the edge of the light and dark, and I can imagine it causing disruption amongst the birds hidden in the darkness and herding them up towards the dove. Batman straddles the line between law and disorder as a vigilante, and he uses his abilities and resources to fight criminals and bring them to justice.
 

wloveandsqualor

Please delete
 

sevenfires

This is one of my favorite cards in the deck too. When I get it in readings for myself, I see the dove summoning the black birds or bats as someone embracing and integrating their shadow side. Once these unconscious, negative things are brought into the light, they can no longer hold us back.