Judgment

Moongold

A few months ago as a new student, the Tower, the Devil and the Swords cards were the most difficult to come to terms with but that has changed now.

The card that I personally find most difficult now is Judgment. It always has been difficult. I think my initial difficulties with the earlier mentioned cards were also based on the fear of judgment.

Thirteen says Judgment is often a hard card to read; it usually signals just a big change, that involves leaving something old completely behind and stepping into something completely new.

That kind of change is really difficult but for me the pain of the card is in the actual associations of the Last Judgment and also the connections you read in some literature about Judgment and reincarnation.

Judgment seems to me to be one of the most mysterious of the Major Arcana. Judgment is always difficult. Who judges who and on what basis, or should it be as personal as that?

Does the card simply mean that a major change is due or are there alternative meanings? Am I merely projecting very personal fears about judgment on to the card? I would like to be more detached about this and would be interested in other people's perceptions of this card.

I did do a search but it threw up 100's of references, many of which did not address my query.

Many thanks,

Moongold
 

Ravenswing

judgment a la robin wood

moongold--

This is one i've had difficulties with also until I saw Robin Wood's interpretation. Here judgment is depicted as a rebirth-- the phoenix rising from the ashes.

That angle helped me to get over the "Last Judgment" coloration of this card.

ravenswing
 

bec

Judgement to me is like a deep breath from all that has happend lately.

When seeing the majors, you have hanged, been reborn, learned how to temper, been making choices that could rise the little hairs in your neck, you have been building up illusions only to tare them down again. You have been consulting the stars, fighting the moons sometimes decieving light and welcomed the sun in its place.

After that I say it is about time for renewal and a wake up call, learn and live, what is today is gone tomorrow, good or bad that is a fact in life no one can change.

Just my opinion anywho
 

wavebreaker

Re: judgment a la robin wood

Ravenswing said:
This is one i've had difficulties with also until I saw Robin Wood's interpretation. Here judgment is depicted as a rebirth-- the phoenix rising from the ashes.

That angle helped me to get over the "Last Judgment" coloration of this card.
You beat me to it, Ravenswing, I was going to reply the exact same thing... ;)

I recently got the Robin Wood and I got the Judgement card in my New Deck Spread for this deck. I was pleasantly surprised by it, because of its much more positive meaning than in most decks.
 

allibee

I actually love this card, as this - depending on the position - is a chance to wipe the slate clean. To look truthfully and completely within and face that truth. It is time to lay the past to rest, whatever happened happened, accept it and move on.
It may be hard to put whatever hurt and caused you so much anguish behind you, you may even have to climb down, back track and lose face, but BOY will it be worth it.
This is the final settlement of a matter, and the ordeal - whatever it may have been - is over, and when you learn to forgive yourself and others, you can step out as a 'new you' with a clear conscience. Reborn as it were, but with a deeper knowledge and understanding of yourself.
This naturally leads on to the last card, The World, where that completion and closure has taken place, and the World lays at your new, much wiser feet.

What's to be afraid of? this Judgement is not from others, it's from yourself, and you need to be your own harshest critic. Objective, honest and unbiased. And yes, I also see this as a wake up call from Destiny, to get on with your journey through life.

allibee
 

Thirteen

Moongold said:
Judgment seems to me to be one of the most mysterious of the Major Arcana. Judgment is always difficult.

As bec and allibee point out, it can very much indicate bringing something long into the light so that you can come to terms with it and move on. In this way, it can certainly be a very difficult card. We bury so many things we don't want to face, major, scary stuff. And it's hard, and very frightening, to think of digging it up, like a vampire that needs to be staked. None of us wants to face those fangs. But the Judgement card reminds us that until we expose the vampire to light, he's going to remain in our cellar, preying on us--and others in our life. "It has to be done sometime," says Judgement, "might as well be now."

Let us remember, however, that in a daily, 3 card spread, it's not likely that the Judgement card is going to mean anything so major. Like other of the major arcana, it's meaning can sometimes be much quieter and simpler in such readings. As compared, say, to a reading done for a querent in a time of crisis, or a birthday reading to see what the new year will bring, in this case, the card may simply mean "a significant change." It might just mean, for example, that today, when you visit your stylist, you should take the plunge and dye your hair bright orange. A change that would certainly turn you into a new person, of sorts.

Who judges who and on what basis, or should it be as personal as that?

I think Allibee's absolutely right that in most cases, the one doing the judging is YOU. We are our own harshest critics. One of the things this card might be telling someone to let go of, in fact, is their harsh or fearful judgement of themselves. Their worry of what others think about them, or their fear of how others will judge them. Or, for that matter, how time, God, or future generations might judge them.

Am I merely projecting very personal fears about judgment on to the card?

Undoubtedly ;) This is a problem with many RW style cards (or any cards with a Judeo-Christian basis)--like the Devil, which really slanders a very interesting card. One of the great things about having so many decks out there is that other symbols can be used which are often more apt and/or less loaded--like the Phoenix instead of Last Judgement.

I mean let's be frank, if you have a "Last Judgement" card, you've got the apocolypse coming. That's when Last Judgement happens. And included in that story is the message that some folk are going to be saved and go to heaven, and the rest are on their way to Hell. That sounds pretty darn final and scary to me. I wouldn't want to get that card.

Which makes Ravenswing and Tarotlady's point quite nicely--the Robin Wood Phoenix is far more apt. This card is about endings--but it's also about rebirth; about burning clean the old self and the new self rising from the ashes. This, by the way, is exactly the sort of card I'd expect to get for a querent who has some very old and serious problem. Like an unhappy childhood, or a bad parent--which they either have to finally leave behind or forgive in order to move on. Or a person who'd been sexually in the closet for years, needing to let go of their old view of themselves, their old life, in order to start their new one. Or someone with a deep, dark secret--the Judgement card would indicate that it was finally time to face it. To, in the way of that apocolyptic Last Judgement, do battle with that evil and defeat it at long last.
 

temperlyne

the theme of rebirth is very obvious in the Haindl deck. Its judgement card (which is called Aeon BTW) depicts an unborn baby decending from the heavens. and it actually makes for one of the most beautyful cards I've ever seen.

Judgment to me is about completing a long term process. We've been though every stage on the past track of trumps and now it is time to rise into a new world. Or at least see the world around us differently. The final stage is about completing and then letting go in order to be reborn.
 

Major Tom

For some reason, I feel moved to defend the 'Last Judgement' depiction of the Judgement card. })

Here we have Gabriel blowing his trumpet with the cross of St. George on his banner. What tune to you suppose he's playing? 'A Call to Arms'? Would you believe 'Revelle'?

One of the meanings I've always associated with Judgement is a sudden realisation. You suddenly realise something that changes your life. It was probably something you knew all along but didn't acknowledge. Your new understanding allows you to do things differently.

I particularly like Thirteen's answer to the question 'who does the judging?' It is YOU! :laugh:
 

Diana

It's the Arcanum that awakens one's conscience, that allows for a "resurrection" in a certain sense. Time to wake up from your deep sleep and elevate your mind. It is an important step, before our Magician (or Fool if you subscribe to the Fool's Journey), goes forward to the next Arcanum, a step without which he'll never reach the World.

A Phoenix, or a picture of the Last Judgement - to me, they mean exactly the same thing. Re-birth, or rather perhaps the first Real Birth (the others having been rather clumsy.)

Le Roi est Mort - Vive le Roi (the king is dead, long live the king.)

Of course, it can also mean like it has been pointed out in the previous posts plain and simple judging - and indeed, I believe it is more self-judgement than other people judgements. There can be a sense of guilt, or having a bad conscience.

In the Marseilles decks, there is also a picture of Gabriel blowing in his trumpet. When I use the Tarot for fortune telling, this has also simply meant that the person will receive the telephone call they have been waiting for. (Fortune telling can be such fun.)