Justice & the goddess Themis
Goddess of Justice is usually depicted as a woman blindfolded and holding aloft a set of scales. Ancient Egyptians knew her as Ma’at, often shown carrying a sword and wearing an ostrich feather in her hair to symbolize truth and justice. Ma’at and Osiris judged the dead by weighing their hearts against her feather.
In ancient Greece, she was called Themis - the organizer of human affairs and the assemby of the Gods of Mount Olympus. Themis had the gift of prophecy and was one of the Oracles of Delphi. This led to her recognition as the Goddess of divine justice.
Classical Greek images of Themis do not show her blindfolded or holding a sword. Given her talent for prophecy, she had no need to be blindfolded. The lack of sword shows she represents common consent, not coercion. She instructs in the way of peace and lawfulness.
Themis was based on one of the earlier, pre-Hellenic nature deities known as Titans. She was the daughter of the Titans Uranus and Ge. The daughter of Themis and Zeus, Dike is also known as a Goddess of Justice and her mythology is similar to that of Themis, so it’s possible that they may be different versions of the same Goddess.
The Roman Goddess of Justice was called Justitia and was often portrayed as evenly balancing both scales and a sword and wearing a blindfold, just as she is in the Rider-Waite tarot decks. Representations of the Lady of Justice appear frequently in the West. The blindfolded figure is more common in Europe, but she usually holds a sword and scales. Almost always draped in flowing robes, mature but not old, no longer commonly known as Themis, in modern times the Lady of Justice has come to symbolize the fair and equal administration of the law, without corruption, avarice, prejudice and favour.
In Aleister Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck, Justice has been renamed Adjustment, an acknowledgement that the ways of the Gods are not always the ways of men, as well as tapping into the broader symbolism of the scales as a measure of the heart of man.
Justice was one of the faces of the Great Triple Goddess of the ancient Greeks. References to Justice can be found in Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey. He uses the words Dike and Themis to designate behaviour that accords with what is ordained by human law, however he also preserves the tradition of the primal Mother-Goddess under the guise of ‘Fate’. It is she who rules the universe and whose power binds both men and gods. Her power, if ignored or challenged, brings retribution. Themis/Dike represents a force higher than the law, and higher even that the decisions of the Gods.
In our own lives we experience the natural justice, or result, of our actions. We remember that Justice/Balance is a living force, alive and divine, not simply a philosophical or social concept.
We remember that balance in our selves and in our lives is not static. It is a dynamic, constantly shifting force. Today we consider what we need to adjust, what we need to bring into balance and bring it before the wisdom of Themis, Goddess of Divine Justice.
