I had a real struggle to get these lesson notes completed and I couldn’t work out why. Finally it dawned on me that I was experiencing the imbalanced energy of the negatively aspected Justice card. This card sits balanced at the mid way point, or the ‘heart’, of the Major Arcana.
Although you are probably familiar with the saying ‘Justice is blind’, meaning non-discriminatory, the Rider-Waite Justice is not. Her eyes perceive clearly as she holds the sword of intellect and the scales of Justice. She is the clear headed and objective decision maker and the personification of the impartial force that drives the natural and inevitable order of things.
To the Ancient Egyptians this force was known as the goddess Ma’at, daughter of the Sun God, Ra. Ma’at is the Light that Ra brought to the world. She is Order arising from primordial Chaos. She represents universal order, impartial justice and wears the red feather of truth, showing purity of thought and motive. It was believed that upon death the deceased’s heart, a symbol of the soul or true self, would be weighed on the Scales of Justice against the feather of truth. Thoth was the scribe who recorded the findings and gave the deceased the opportunity to justify their actions.
Some time ago I had a dream that I actually died and found myself facing Ma’at and Thoth. My chest was slashed open and my heart torn from the cavity. It sat red and beating on a man’s hand. My heart was placed on the scales. Thoth made a note in his book. He looked across at me, frowned and said “You need to be more confident.”. My chest was sore for days afterwards.
The Hebrew letter attributed to Justice is Lamed which means oxgoad or whip, as well as ‘to teach’ and ‘to discipline’. Aleph is the Hebrew letter attributed to the Fool and means ox, the creature who plows the furrows from which life giving food will eventually burst forth. The whip corrects, or adjusts, the behaviour of the ox in this activity. Aleph can also be interpreted as ‘life-force’. Thus Justice can be seen as a power that directs and focuses life force in a fruitful way.
When we experience a negatively aspected Justice, we find life unfair and feel a need to lay blame. Arguments and stress may arise. Imbalance is experienced in our lives or our Selves. During these times, we experience a need for adjustment – a change in behaviour or attitude.
Justice gets to the heart of the matter. Her sword cuts away illusion, showing us what adjustments need to be made to create state of balance.
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