Pixabay: Kareni
The Judgment tarot card is one of the most powerful cards in the tarot deck. It represents rebirth, new beginnings, your inner calling, and absolution.
You can interpret this tarot card differently, but it always points to a significant life event or change.
Also, the Judgment tarot card is all about making decisions and taking action.
This card represents the need to make a choice or take action to move forward.
Now, let's talk about the image and the history of the card.
The History And Image Of Judgment
There is the belief that the Judgment tarot card originated in the 15th century, a game of minchiate, which is a sister to the tarot.
In this deck, a trump card had an angel playing the trumpet.
Also, instead of the mountains in the background, there was a cityscape instead.
The card represented fame at the time, but over the centuries, features of that card evolved into the Judgment card in different decks, including the Marseille tarot, Golden Dawn, and eventually the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.
The main image on the Judgment card in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck shows an angel blowing a trumpet, a symbol of announcing something important.
In addition, the people in the picture are rising from their graves, representing the need to face the past to move forward into the future.
The landscape has mountains that represent hardships and obstacles.
Therefore, the dead are coming back to face troubles from the past to put them behind them and move forward.
Now, let's go over what it means when you get the Judgment tarot card in a reading.
What It Means When You Get The Judgment Tarot Card In A Reading
If you see the Judgment tarot card in a reading, it indicates that something significant is about to happen in your life.
This could be a joyous event, such as a promotion or the birth of a child.
Or, it could be an adverse event, such as the loss of a job or the end of a relationship.
Either way, the Judgment tarot card suggests that you will be facing a significant life change.
But, of course, what will happen depends on the surrounding cards.
The Judgment tarot card can also represent coming to terms with a past event.
For example, if you have been through a traumatic experience, such as a divorce or the death of a loved one, the Judgment tarot card suggests that you are finally ready to move on.
If you see the Judgment tarot card in a reading, it is crucial to listen to your intuition.
The decisions you make at this time will have a significant impact on your future. So trust your gut and follow your heart.
The Judgment tarot card suggests that you are about to embark on a new chapter in your life.
It means to go with your calling, as your intuition will lead you to that.
Here is an example of the Judgment coming through for someone struggling with mental health issues and addictions.
When you hit rock bottom, whether you have lost everything because of an out-of-hand addiction or realize that you have hit rock bottom because you lost your friends, your family has left you.
You have nothing left. Then the Judgment will come to you screaming. You have nowhere to go but up.
Then you will know you have to reach out for help.
It is scary, but the only way to control it is to reach out.
The same goes if you have a mental illness to the point it is taking over your life, such as depression.
If your depression is not controllable and you have lost your job, you cannot pay your bills, and you struggle to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, you will have the Judgment coming to you telling you that you need to do something to get it under control.
When you realize you have hit rock bottom and know you must do the scary thing to reach out, it is the only way you can get your life back and work to manage your depression.
So, knowing that you have hit rock bottom and want to do something to climb up is the Judgement.
Another example of the Judgment card is when someone used to bully others back in their youth but ended up having a child bullied all of the time.
That individual will experience a significant ah-ha moment realizing that they used to do horrible things to others the same way that horrendous things are being done to their kid.
Therefore, they may become an advocate against bullying.
Personally, even though I am not saying this kind of thing is not possible, I have not seen it.
Yet, I know that those bullies I knew have not changed.
I still hear something through the grapevine. Anyway, I am not going to get into that.
But I just thought of an example of the Judgment coming through to someone.
Do you remember that minister who was once a KKK Imperial Wizard?
Johnny Lee Clary. He had some awakening and went from a KKK leader to an advocate against racism and discrimination.
Unfortunately, he passed away years ago, but he used to travel worldwide to do anti-racism and pro-love and acceptance speeches.
So, therefore, when you think of the Judgment tarot card, you can picture Johnny Lee Clary.
And as you know, Risa Green, based on how poorly she is handling her trauma and depression, her inability to stand up for herself and get honest and authentic with her marriage indicates Judgment has not come to her.
Let's not forget to add that she is not planning for her son's care and does not take care of her health are other signs.
You would think that she has hit rock bottom based on how severely burned out she is while she keeps sacrificing her well-being to serve others who do not appreciate her.
And the thing is, with some people, Judgment never enters their lives, even if you think they have hit rock bottom.
Perhaps if Risa develops significant health issues, that may do it? It is hard to say. She represents Judgment in reverse.
Judgment In Reverse
The Judgment in reverse can represent stagnation, which is Risa's case.
It can also represent poor judgment that could also be hasty and self-doubt.
It can also mean being illogical. Judgment in reverse can also describe a love-is-blind situation where you are in love with someone who is up to no good and someone who abuses you.
Everyone else around you sees that your partner is abusing you and is not a nice person.
But you don't, because love is blind, right?
The Judgment card goes upright in situations such as that when the blinders come off.
Sometimes spending time away from the partner will cause that to happen, or the partner will do something so heinous that it forces the blinders off.
So many people understand how that is.
So let's talk about how you can use Judgment in your life.
How You Can Apply Judgment In Your Life
Firstly, that is hard to do because the one thing to do when you apply this card is to pay attention to your calling.
It may not necessarily be career-related.
Perhaps you know intuitively that you need to change an aspect of your life that will potentially strain your relationships.
However, if you know that you want to change a habit because you want to be a better mom or spouse, your friends will not accept it if you do.
So you have to prepare yourself for being alone for a while until you can meet some like-minded people to support you in your new journey.
For example, perhaps you realized that you need to change your eating habits because your parent, who ate the same way you do, ended up having a heart attack.
You will realize that the chances of that happening to you could be higher since it is not only likely genetic, but you don't eat well, so you want to be around for your kids and your spouse.
In addition, if you change yourself to adopt healthier habits, you will likely lose some friends.
They won't understand why you won't hang with them for dinner outings as much, and it may bug them that you are choosing health over them.
That is one way to apply this card to your life.
But more often than not, when you do use it, for whatever reason, you will find out who your true friends are.
Prepare yourself that you may be alone for some time when you start making significant changes to the point you are transforming.
In the next one, I will be talking about the last Major Arcana card, the World or the Universe.
I also plan to talk a little about the Minor Arcana and start with the Wands suit. I will elaborate more on that next time.
Episode 024: The Judgment Tarot Card