Help me to understand the Judgment...

[MareSaturni]

...and i'll be really, really thankful.

It seems one of the cards i just DON'T get. And for me, in all Tarot decks it looks like the apocalypse or the final judgment or even the purgatory...but gives me no insight.

When it comes in a reading the first think that comes to my mind is...oh, s***...what am i supposed to say? 'Erm...then you're going to be...aham...judged by your past actions? Reborn from the ashes?' Okay, i know it's deeper than that, but i'm just ripping my hair out because of it.

Another that i don't get very well is the World, but i'll leave it it to another thread. For now...can anyone give me some ideas? So i can write them on my notebook, meditate on them and get that good 'Ahhhhh...ta-da!' feeling someday.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rainwolf]

I think there are several ways to interpret this card...how cliched.

I typically think of it as awakening, because it is near the end of the major arcana.

The people coming out of the tombs which represents their physical body means they have been enlightened. It can represent karma, understanding, and realization of something you have not noticed previously. Feeling the bliss of understanding a situation and being comfortable with it. It could be that events are speeding up or the right decision (judgement) has been made.

If reversed, you are not acting on it appropriately, or not at all. It may be the wrong time to pursue the course of action needed. Denying what needs to come, confusion, or ignoring your responsibilities could also be the case.

Judgement is assigned to the planet Pluto, which is about change. Not just change, but tear everything down and rebuild kind of change.

 

[Nina*]

Enlightment... tearing down and rebuilding... wouldn't that be The Tower

xxx
Nina

 

[Scorpion]

So far, for me it's always represented the "clarion call" - that big "wake up alarm" that you can't ignore. So I see it as a time to decide exactly what it is you do and don't want in your life. I regard it as different from Death though, in the sense that I view that as an "active" card: you're actually getting on and making the changes, however painful they might be, whereas here you're simply being hit by the realisation that things are going to have to change - and the size and enormity of the task.

The most recent example of this was in relation to a man in his mid-thirties who's already feeling the onslaught of the "Big 40" and wondering what he's done with his life up until now.

Hope this helps!

 

[rainwolf]

Enlightment... tearing down and rebuilding... wouldn't that be The Tower

xxx
Nina

The tower is assigned to mars, which is also a tearing down, but in a more physical sense. Pluto is in the outer group of planets which is more mental and spiritual. Judgement is a type of spiritual kind of teardown and rebuild (and mental too).

 

[Nina*]

The tower is assigned to mars, which is also a tearing down, but in a more physical sense. Pluto is in the outer group of planets which is more mental and spiritual. Judgement is a type of spiritual kind of teardown and rebuild (and mental too).

Ahh... thank you, rainwolf.

But I have been told that The Tower was kind of 'spiritual'. A book I have compares The Death and The Tower; explaining that The Death could be the end of something physical and The Tower the end of something spiritual/mental. See my confusion???

xxx
Nina

 

[BobTheViking]

I've had some trouble with Judgement myself. I think I'm starting to get a handle on it.

Depending on the context, Judgement might well be something like a miniature version of the Final Judgement of Christian belief. I might read it as the clarion call, but I would also consider whether this is a warning for a time of reckoning. Things have been building up to a head, and it's time to reap the harvest once and for all. It's not so much that you can't keep doing what you've been doing, but it's close to the point of no return, and you need to be careful what choices you make. Remember, in Christian ideas about the Final Judgement, not everyone gets to go to Heaven.

So when it comes up, it's a warning to get ready to pay the piper, if you've been making bad choices, or to stay the course if you've been acting wisely.

 

[Pipkin]

Judgment

I also see Judgment, amongst other things, as a wake-up call. It does have links to pluto who, astrologically, spends about a decade in each side so it's influence astrologically, in one respect, becomes generational. Pluto links to scorpio so it's about delving deep into a situation, it has karmic overtones but it's also about regeneration and allowing a re-birth, therefore you often find that when Judgment appears it can be because a person's life has been on hold in some respect, whether holding on to the promise of a relationship with someone, or the promise of a conclusion to some other matter that has seen them unable to move on completely. It says to me, either some finality is coming or that the person needs to let-go of a situation, release themself, be free, liberation.

Pipkin

 

[rcb30872]

The biggest and the most significant thing about Judgement is "wake-up call" already mentioned by so many here so far.

I guess, what it is about is a transformation, re-generation and a re-birth. But if you look at the figures in the card, well mine anyway (Radiant Rider-Waite deck) there is nothing to signify what gender they are as of yet. So I guess it is like in the gestation stage, if you want to compare it to an actual birth of a baby. By saying this, it is like there is some sort of awakening deep inside you, but it has not been brought into fruition, hasn't been realised or fulfilled, I guess this is what I am trying to say.

But at the same time, it may signify a time in your life that you should look back at what you have achieved and accomplished and feel proud and satisfied about that, but at the same time not regretting what hasn't been achieved or accomplished. At the same time, it signifies a completion of a stage or phase of your life, I guess that is what I mean, but to me that is more got to do with The World, not sure if it can be seen as being the same thing here.

Someone else mentioned karma, that I have to agree with. It could indicate a time when you will be rewarded for your past deeds, for good or bad. But I guess the important thing would be something along the lines is receiving some divine inspiration, I guess, such as getting a message from your higher self or even your spirit guides.

I think that I better stop here, this probably confuse you more, if not, well I am starting to confuse myself. LOL

Bec

 

[Rosanne]

I see Judgement in part this way; it is a card of a passing phase- the change is the natural expected conclusion to what has happened.(Karma) So if the card is about a decision for example, then it could mean a new phase(rise up and start again). Then you are looking for a choice that is the right one that will have the natural expected conclusion that you want. Does that make sense to you miss_yuko?~ Rosanne
Added to say -'What goes around comes around' and you will be judged on your choices.