Walking the Talk
By Geraldine Amaral

The Higher Spiritual Ground and the Judgement Card

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.  (Gandhi)

You must do the very thing you think you cannot do.

(Eleanor Roosevelt)

The Judgement Card, key number 20 of the Tarot Major Arcana is one of the most complex and ambiguous cards in the entire Tarot deck.  In the so-called standard “Rider Waite” deck, the card depicts an angel blowing a trumpet from which a white flag is hanging.  On the flag there is a red cross.  Below the angel, we see a man, woman and child, all unclothed, standing with their arms outstretched, reaching up to the angel as they emerge and rise up out of their coffins or graves.  This imagery is reminiscent of the Resurrection before the Last Judgment – the day of reckoning.

We often associate the Judgement card with rebirth and resurrection.  From the Bible, we understand Judgement Day is that day when the dead rise and their sins are forgiven, and then they move onto heaven.  Interpreting this card in a broader sense, when the Judgement Card appears in a reading, it encourages the Querent (the recipient of the reading) to reflect on the past, forgive, and let it go.  Surely, there are universal applications to this interpretation:  Who among us does not harbor within our hearts old, unresolved wounds, offenses that we have committed towards others, or had committed to ourselves that remain unforgiven?  The Judgement Card draws attention to such patterns and suggests ways to release or resolve these issues and patterns, once and for all.

The evocative and thought-provoking symbolism found in this card can suggest multitudes of interpretations, and as such creates challenges when it appears in a Tarot reading.  Some may even say that it is the most difficult card of the 78 cards to interpret.  Like the Death Card, the Judgement Card may signal a transformation of some kind – that is, the leaving of something old completely behind and the moving on to something completely new.  For example, it could represent a person’s decision to leave or end a relationship that is comfortable and safe but no longer satisfying, or even abusive  – thereby, opening the door (symbolically reaching out) for a more suitable partner.  However, unlike the Death Card, implicit in this imagery is the notion that in order to make a change, one must be willing to expand one’s comfort zone, to boldly go where you’ve never gone before, to break out of the confines and limitations symbolized by the “coffin.”  Also, unlike the Death Card, the change depicted in the Judgement Card suggests that the transformation is more of a spiritual nature.

Also contributing to the challenge of interpreting this card is the structural concept that each Tarot archetype has both a positive pole and a negative pole.  The positive pole is considered to be the “gift” of the card; the negative pole, the “shadow” meaning of the card.  We typically refer to the gift of the card when the card appears upright in a reading; we refer to the shadow interpretation when the card appears reversed in a reading.  To understand this duality, let’s take a look at how these two polarities might be understood in a reading in this particular card.

The “Gift” of the Judgement Card

One clear gift of the Judgment Card is that it provides a metaphor for breaking free of limited thinking (as portrayed by the coffins).  As the trumpet beckons you to a higher level of understanding, this card will help you escape the restriction of the "coffin" (your confined, stagnant and restrictive thinking).  It may assist you in rising above a negative situation and resolving the problems associated with it.  This card may signify a spiritual awakening.  The Judgment Card may also provide an initiation into a new plane of awareness, or new dimensions, in consciousness.  This card may guide you to a revised action plan based on limitations that have been overcome.  This card could call on you to make amends for past injuries towards others, to seek appropriate forgiveness for any and all wrongs (including any self-recriminations).  The card’s promise is that through your atonement, you will achieve a higher spiritual connection.  As the gift, this card brings with it a spiritual awakening, an awakening from guilt, self-hate and limited thinking.  It is about breaking free of such limited thinking; being called to a higher level of understanding; commending a new plane of awareness; and bringing new dimensions in consciousness and revitalization of your life.  It foretells your present or future need to step outside of your comfort zone and forgive the past in order to heal and renew yourself and move on to something larger, more freeing and ultimately beyond your current situation.   

This card encourages you to take an honest appraisal of yourself or a situation in your life and then, take a stand about it.  It may also suggest a renewed hope, seeing a situation in a new light, or making a fresh start.  There is also an implied meaning of feeling some inner conviction, feeling drawn in a new direction, answering a need or knowing exactly what you need to do.  There is an implied hope that you can unburden yourself. 

The “Shadow of the Judgement Card

The shadow associated with this card is that it deals with both difficult and final choices.  And it may also call on the Querent to deal with something that he or she does not want to face.  When this card shows up in a reading it says that you can no longer sweep this situation under the rug – there is no place left to hide.  There is no more playing it safe.  Deal with it!  Everything is now out and in the open.  The time has come to make the choices and changes that are needed, which are perhaps far overdue.  Thus, the shadow aspect of this card might relate to staying stuck in old self-defeating patterns, feeling immobilized by inertia or fear, refusing to forgive someone who has hurt you (again, yourself included), being judgmental, critical or intolerant.  It might suggest feeling guilty, feeling consumed by your past transgressions, unable to forgive and move on.

The dichotomy of the gift and the shadow are clearly portrayed in the card’s imagery.  For example, the imagery could suggest concepts of Heaven and Hell but not necessarily in the usual monotheistic sense that we use these terms.  Rather, when one considers our day-to-day experiences, including the thoughts we think, the way we think about ourselves and others, and the way we act towards ourselves and others – and how these thoughts and actions contribute to the quality of our lives – these together make day-to-day living either “heaven” or “hell” on earth.  Thus, the coffins pictured in the Judgment Card represent limited ("hellish") thinking – thought patterns that come from a lower vibration (the shadow concept).  This is the confines of the past, of conditioning, of societal pressures to conform, of failing to forgive and intolerance.  The trumpet symbolizes the experience of being awakened to "heavenly" thoughts and actions, those of a higher, more spiritual vibration (the gift concept), one that would be free of the limitations imposed by the past and the environment.  This higher vibration is the key to the personal happiness, peace and well-being we seek, as well as the global answer to our current international turmoil.

Consciousness Revolution

Since the imagery of this card addresses the significance of the way we think and the way we act, and their impact on the quality of our lives, it embodies the concept of the “consciousness revolution,” or the taking of the higher spiritual path of love and compassion.  This card hones in on your ability to take an appropriate course of action and the implementation of a new way of being that steps outside of the usual way of perceiving and reacting to an experience.  In this new paradigm, we accept the power of our mind and our actions in shaping our destiny.  We realize that we can choose to live our lives from a lower vibration or from a higher vibration.  This card depicts the resurrection of the true self, the going beyond self-imposed limitations.  Yes, you have been shaped by your past, but you can overcome limitations.  Your life path can be revised based on seeing and interpreting life events beyond past confinements – now is the time to consciously create a way of being that is in harmony with your new perspective.  Inevitably, as you raise your own vibration, you will begin to meet people who will help you along this path.  

Thus, perhaps the most important aspect of the consciousness revolution portrayed in this card, and the most esoteric interpretation, is to focus on those who appear to be breaking out of their “coffins” and reaching towards spiritual or angelic forces.  One way to interpret this configuration is to think of it as rising above the lower energies found inside the coffin (which is playing it safe in life, no risks, and reacting to life experiences from a lower vibration) versus acting in a way that is of a higher (more spiritual) vibration.  When this card shows up in a reading, depending on where in the spread it appears, it is encouraging you to take this higher spiritual ground.  

For example, in a recent Tarot class, a woman named Mary (fictitious name) received this card as her final outcome in a spread in which she asked for advice about a conflict with her sister.  Her question pertained to a problem she was having with her sister’s condemnation of her Tarot studies.  Mary’s initial reaction to her sister’s intolerance was to be equally intolerant of her fundamentalist viewpoint.  Mary had a litany of negative and defensive counter replies lined up to say to her sister, most of which were aggressive and intolerant of her sister’s point of view.  The Judgement Card seem to be offering her another way of dealing with this situation, rising up out of the usual way of reacting to such a problem, and acting from a place of compassion and tolerance, qualities that we might imagine angels possess.  It was a powerful moment in time as Mary began to integrate the message of the Judgement Card and re-evaluate how she would react to her sister’s condemnation.  For Mary the message was clear, as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You must do the very thing you think you cannot do.”  I was, once again, moved by the power and wisdom of the Tarot.

Love and Unconditional Acceptance

This card invites us to cultivate higher states of mind and eliminate harmful lower vibrational states, leading us to develop compassion for others and happiness for ourselves.  Dr. Wayne Dyer, author of 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace and The Power of Intention, recounts stories of every day events that provide us with an opportunity to take a higher spiritual perspective.  Specifically, he tells a story of one evening in which he was at a restaurant and was receiving terrible service from the waiter.  He said his normal reaction would be to complain to the manager, or give the waiter himself a difficult time.  Instead, he approached the situation from a different perspective by striking up a conversation with the waiter, asking him where he was from, how long his shift was lasting and so on.  Dyer says that it transformed his reaction to the event as well as the waiter’s and the evening improved dramatically.  Dyer says, “Anytime we have a thought that excludes others - a thought of unkindness, for example, or a thought of non-love toward ourselves or anyone else - we lose the power of intention.  The power of intention is the power to manifest, to create, to live a life of unlimited abundance, and to attract into your life the right people at the right moments . . .  Give love and unconditional acceptance to those you encounter, and notice what happens.”¹

At any given moment in our lives we also have the opportunity to break out of the box, to rise up out of our coffins – while stuck in traffic, while waiting in line at the supermarket, while waiting for a child to pay attention.  The universe wants us to evolve and provides numerous opportunities for us to do just that.  The Dalai Lama in An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Every Day Life says, “In the Buddhist view, hatred, anger and desire are afflictive emotions which simply means they tend to cause us discomfort.  The discomfort arises from the mental unease that follows the expression of these emotions.  A constant state of mental unsettledness can even cause us harm.  If we continue to accommodate them, they will grow stronger, exerting greater and greater influence over us.  Spiritual practice, then is a process of taming the emotions and diminishing their force.”

In summary, the Judgement Card shows us a metaphor for breaking free of the limitations of our human consciousness.  Each day we have an opportunity to choose to perceive life from the inherent limitations of our humanity, or from the expanded viewpoint of spirit.  It shows us the paradigm for choices that we can make in each moment of life.  So, who or what in your life are you not forgiving?  What limited thinking is keeping you stuck in a difficult situation?  Is there someone you need to forgive in order to move forward with your life, to rise up out of your “coffin?”  What part of yourself are you not forgiving, or what do you need to let go of in order to move on?  These are some of the questions to ask yourself when this card appears in your reading.  Pull this card our of your tarot pack, study it carefully, meditate on it, place it under your pillow at night.  Perhaps, the angel is calling you, will you heed the call?