Why a blindfolded baby on the Justice card: Lo Scarabeo deck.

[laurence]

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know why there is a blindfolded baby on the Justice card in Lo Scarabeo deck?
This deck was created to unify the disctinctive symbolic vocabulary of The Marseille, RW and Toth. I can only come up with the idea of the Mother ( Justice of the Marseille) but It does not tell me why the baby is blinfolded. I am not at all familiar with Toth.


Thanks for your ideas.

 

[MarkMcElroy]

The Baby on the Justice Card

When I designed that card, I put the baby there for three reasons:

- Many of the wisdom myths about Justice involve a baby and a sword. In this case, I was thinking of the story of Solomon and the two women who brought a single baby to him, both claiming the child was theirs. When Solomon offers to split the baby in two with a sword (talk about Justice!), the lying woman agrees, but the real mother cries out, "No, please, give the baby to this other woman and let him live!"

- My Justice figure is based on the Greek goddess Themis, who is not usually blindfolded (to emphasize her ability to foresee the future). But since the Roman goddess, Justicia, does wear a blindfold (to emphasize her objectivity), I wanted a blindfold in there somewhere! So I put it on the baby to emphasize dependency and innocence.

- There's a bit of an inside joke here, too, that has nothing at all to do with the RWS, the Thoth, or the Maresilles. On my own Bright Idea Deck's Justice card (called "Balance"), the figure stands on top of a tall building, with a scale across her shoulders. On one of the scale: a big pile of gold. On the other: a baby. The baby on the Lo Scarabeo Justice card echoes the baby on my Bright Idea Deck card.

Of course, this just gives you what the card meant to me, as the designer. Used in your own readings, the baby may take on all kinds of meanings, depending on what's on your heart and mind at the time.

I hope this helps!

 

[nisaba]

Nice to meet you, Mark!

To me, the baby stands for innocence. We cannot dispense justice if we ourselves are not innocent, which is why corrupt lawyers and corrupt police are hounded by the press even more than corrupt businessmen - there is an obscure, subconscious community-belief that if you impose justice, you must, yourself be innocent of all wrongdoing. Only babies are innocent of all wrongdoing.

Now the blindfold - and here's where I part company with you, Mark. I can see the argument that Justice should be blind to appeal, blind to bribery and cajolery, blind to influence and pressure.

I cannot see any argument to say that Justice should be blind to the offender's difficulties and circumstances. I think Justice at least in an archetypical form needs to be all-knowing, all-seeing, all-considering.

Here is a link to a moving rendition of Justice. It's probably my favourite portrayal of the card, and I'm waiting for her to bring out the whole deck <grin>. Kinds hard to shuffle and throw on a table, though. Enjoy!

 

[laurence]

When I designed that card, I put the baby there for three reasons:

- Many of the wisdom myths about Justice involve a baby and a sword. In this case, I was thinking of the story of Solomon and the two women who brought a single baby to him, both claiming the child was theirs. When Solomon offers to split the baby in two with a sword (talk about Justice!), the lying woman agrees, but the real mother cries out, "No, please, give the baby to this other woman and let him live!"

- My Justice figure is based on the Greek goddess Themis, who is not usually blindfolded (to emphasize her ability to foresee the future). But since the Roman goddess, Justicia, does wear a blindfold (to emphasize her objectivity), I wanted a blindfold in there somewhere! So I put it on the baby to emphasize dependency and innocence.

- There's a bit of an inside joke here, too, that has nothing at all to do with the RWS, the Thoth, or the Maresilles. On my own Bright Idea Deck's Justice card (called "Balance"), the figure stands on top of a tall building, with a scale across her shoulders. On one of the scale: a big pile of gold. On the other: a baby. The baby on the Lo Scarabeo Justice card echoes the baby on my Bright Idea Deck card.

Of course, this just gives you what the card meant to me, as the designer. Used in your own readings, the baby may take on all kinds of meanings, depending on what's on your heart and mind at the time.

I hope this helps!

Of course It helps!
I could not hope for an answer from the author himself.
Thanks for your reply and I love this deck.

 

[laurence]

Nice to meet you, Mark!

To me, the baby stands for innocence. We cannot dispense justice if we ourselves are not innocent, which is why corrupt lawyers and corrupt police are hounded by the press even more than corrupt businessmen - there is an obscure, subconscious community-belief that if you impose justice, you must, yourself be innocent of all wrongdoing. Only babies are innocent of all wrongdoing.

Now the blindfold - and here's where I part company with you, Mark. I can see the argument that Justice should be blind to appeal, blind to bribery and cajolery, blind to influence and pressure.

I cannot see any argument to say that Justice should be blind to the offender's difficulties and circumstances. I think Justice at least in an archetypical form needs to be all-knowing, all-seeing, all-considering.

Here is a link to a moving rendition of Justice. It's probably my favourite portrayal of the card, and I'm waiting for her to bring out the whole deck <grin>. Kinds hard to shuffle and throw on a table, though. Enjoy!

Fantastic link! thanks for sharing It.
And thank you for your take about controversial blindness and innocence. I definitely understand more the idea of the card.

 

[EightWands]

Nice to meet you, Mark!

To me, the baby stands for innocence. We cannot dispense justice if we ourselves are not innocent, which is why corrupt lawyers and corrupt police are hounded by the press even more than corrupt businessmen - there is an obscure, subconscious community-belief that if you impose justice, you must, yourself be innocent of all wrongdoing. Only babies are innocent of all wrongdoing.

Now the blindfold - and here's where I part company with you, Mark. I can see the argument that Justice should be blind to appeal, blind to bribery and cajolery, blind to influence and pressure.

I cannot see any argument to say that Justice should be blind to the offender's difficulties and circumstances. I think Justice at least in an archetypical form needs to be all-knowing, all-seeing, all-considering.
!

Babies are innocent and don't see the bad in things, like adults can. So it makes sense the baby is blindfolded, while the adult Justice isn't.