Justice in the context of Love, relationships, romance, etc.

Tryska

Can anyone help me really understand Justice in the context of romantic spreads?


This card pops up quite often for me in the context of readings and I always have difficulty interpreting it. To me it's such a difficult image to tie into any aspect of romance, from my experience, because it so tied into a legal theme for me.

I know it's some sort of karmic Debt, but i don't understand how, I know it has soemthing to do with Balance, but again how? (Isn't that what Temperance is about?) Is it about attraction v. rejection?

I jsut don't get it, and if soemone can help me truly wrap my head around Justice as a concept of romance, I would be forever indebted!

thanks in advance,
~t.
 

Sophie

It can mean Decision. Someone has a decision to make regarding the relationship. They are weighing things up in their mind. They are taking a step back to do so.

It can mean balance. No, Temperance is not about balance - it's about moderation and integration. Justice is balance: in the sense, also, of adjustment, which is exactly what Crowley called it. You have to make adjustments to each other when you are two.

It can mean legal ties - marriage, divorce.
 

Grizabella

I think it can also mean doing the ethically "right" thing in the context of a romantic spread.

Very good question, because this card does seem to come up a lot in readings about relationships.
 

Wonderwoman

Helvetica, what happens if the couple is not married. the inclination would be marriage? if the sorrounding cards support it..


Helvetica said:
It can mean Decision. Someone has a decision to make regarding the relationship. They are weighing things up in their mind. They are taking a step back to do so.

It can mean balance. No, Temperance is not about balance - it's about moderation and integration. Justice is balance: in the sense, also, of adjustment, which is exactly what Crowley called it. You have to make adjustments to each other when you are two.

It can mean legal ties - marriage, divorce.
 

Sophie

Wonderwoman said:
Helvetica, what happens if the couple is not married. the inclination would be marriage? if the sorrounding cards support it..
It could be - or it could be that there is a decision to be made about the future of the relationship, which might entail marriage or similar commitment. Or it could mean splitting up. Justice won't give you the answer - only the process. It's the other cards that will give you the answer.
 

Sophie

Lyric said:
I think it can also mean doing the ethically "right" thing in the context of a romantic spread.
Absolutely - that really makes sense.
 

Thirteen

Justice in regards to romance often means "partnership." So it's less about marriage than it is about a pre-nup. This is not the spiritual vows you'd get with the Hierophant, it's the arrangement of finances, of legal matters, it's getting the marriage license rather than going to the church, standing before a judge or notary and signing a register rather than before a priest and family.

And as Helvetica points out, it can as easily relate to mediation and divorce proceedings as a pre-nuptial agreement. Justice cuts both ways and it's a mistake to assume that it's a positive or negative card in this instance.

Now this doesn't mean that the couple WILL be going to the courthouse. It could just mean that they need to work out some issues to make sure things are fair and balance. Who is doing the housework? Who is paying for what? Does one partner feel they're giving everything of themselves, but the other is giving nothing? Does one partner feel the other expects too much of them or wants them to change too radically?

Or consider this: ever been in a relationship where you felt your partner didn't spend enough time with you? Or spent too much time? The question of personal space, of having a chance to go out with your friends rather than always being glued to your partner...that's a Justice issue. Is the partner demanding too much of your time, or are you giving too little of your time?

The important thing to remember is that Justice is a card of cool reason and unrelenting fairness, of communicating and thinking. Not feeling. It if appears in a spread about relationships then it is advising the couple to step out for a minute. To leave the romance/love/passion aside and talk about what is fair and just for BOTH of them. What will give the relationship balance because, for whatever reason, one or the other or both partners feels there is an imbalance.
 

WaterSong

I was happy to see this thread because the card of Justice came up in a short reading I did for a friend...and got a bit stuck with the Justice card.

She wanted to know the meaning of a dream she had with this person, whom she is in love with but they are not together.
She called me and told me she had this vivid, loving drream with this person.
So she wanted to know what the dream meant.

I pulled: (Robin Wood deck)

2 cups
Justice
10 swords

How would you interpret the Justice card in this context?
 

Thirteen

magenta said:
2 cups
Justice
10 swords

How would you interpret the Justice card in this context?
Well, the trick here is that it's about THE DREAM and not their relationship. What did the dream mean? I would say that the dream reflects her infatuation with him, including her wish that he be as equally infatuated with her (2/cups), it reflects her belief that he balances her out, that he is an equal to her in every way but most especially in mind (Justice). Putting it another way, the dream indicates that she feels there would be an aesthetic perfection in their union.

The dream, however loving, also seems to reflect the fact that they are not together (10/swords). She might have well realized, as we sometimes do when asleep, that this was all a dream. That she would wake up from it to the reality that they are not a couple.
 

WaterSong

Thirteen said:
Well, the trick here is that it's about THE DREAM and not their relationship. What did the dream mean? I would say that the dream reflects her infatuation with him, including her wish that he be as equally infatuated with her (2/cups), it reflects her belief that he balances her out, that he is an equal to her in every way but most especially in mind (Justice). Putting it another way, the dream indicates that she feels there would be an aesthetic perfection in their union.

The dream, however loving, also seems to reflect the fact that they are not together (10/swords). She might have well realized, as we sometimes do when asleep, that this was all a dream. That she would wake up from it to the reality that they are not a couple.

Thirteen, thank you, it makes sense...one thing...I made a mistake the last card was the ten of pentacles ....sorry!

But, yes I think that's the way she feels about him...that they are equals,and they complement each other....the Justice card.It now makes sense.
Would the 10 of pentacles mean that she also feel they could have a very stable, solid union?