Connolly: Judgement

Queen of Disks

My post is inspred by the debate in the "Reconsidering the Cathars" thread in the Historical section, on if a traditional Judgement card is Cathar or not. So I decided to try a Judgement card that went in a different direction.

The traditional RWS Judgement cards shows the dead rising from their graves and an angel summoning them with a trumpet. The Connolly shows a knight leaning on a ledge (cupboard, piece of furniture, hard to tell in the card.) His helmet sits at his elbow. The knight is looking at an open book that is sitting on a stand or podium. His sword and shield is on the ground and propped up against the stand. The knight is wearing a suit of armor and he has his coat of arms on his armor (I feel they should mean something but I don't know what.) The knight has a halo around his head and the book is glowing too. He has taken a gauntlet off of one hand and is holding it with his other hand. His bare hand holds a staff with oak leaves growing out of it (which is found throughout the deck.)

The building he is in has a checkerboard floor and a stone wall. A large (Gothic) arch serves as a doorway. Behind the knight is a woman walking out the door. She wears a blue and white dress and a white veil. She looks at the knight, seemingly questioning why the knight is not leaving too. The woman is being led by a naked child. The child is pointing out the door (I am asuming he or she is pointing because the edge of the card cuts off the child's hand.) I am assumimg the child is an angel (some angels in the Connolly do not seem to have wings). It is a peaceful day outside, with blue skys and green hills, a river and mountains, and a bridge in the distance.

I am not exactly sure what is going on in this card. Are the people being taken outside to be judged, and the knight is not ready to go? Or is the woman about to do something (bad?), but the knight is doing the right thing and staying behind?

Any ideas?
 

SpiritOfTheDogz

Judgement

I see in this card a knight who has laid down his sword, helmet and shield and is taking steps to change his way of life, he know longer wants to fight. The wand in his hand to me suggests the new life he wished to have.

Maybe the woman behind him has a lot to do with his decision to give up the fighting. The woman is supposed to be the female side of his consciousness which maybe can't cope with all the killing he's done.
He's reading the book of life, his life, the book appears to be open at the middle suggesting that there's still a lot that has to be written. he's read half and is thinking to himself, "is that all I've done".
The archway leads out to a new life and he needs to head out that way, his female sid eis already to go but he seems to have his doubts as he's still facing the other way