Judgment. It comes up a lot around here. And I'm not talking about judgey-judge judgment, or even the more polite judgment of discernment. Like Death, Judgment is one of those cards whose meaning is more nuanced and archetypal than the dictionary definition.
To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, it doesn't mean exactly what you might think it means.
Judgment is often called Rebirth in the tarot, and yes, that is exactly what you think it means. And as I noted before, this cards turns up a lot for me (and for you, dear reader, since you're here and all). It turned up most recently in June, in my big Three-Card Summer Solstice reading, and also here and here. Judgment and I have some history, which is fine—I understand that rebirth is often a multi-step process—so I asked for some further classification this time around.
Dear Judgment, I said, care to elaborate on what exactly you are illuminating?
And the answer was even bigger than the question. For corresponding factors, I got Strength and Justice (you can click on the links to read my take the last time those cards showed up). It's like old home week around here, all these familiar faces. So what does it mean, all of them showing up again, this time in each other's company.
My thinking? For one, there is something BIG on the horizon. These are all major arcana cards, which means this next step in our rebirthing is going to be a doozy.
And for two, it's got the presence of the Divine Feminine written all over it.
Just look at those cards. There's Justice with her sword and scales, severity and mercy all in one swift impersonal stroke. And there's Strength, with her hand in the lion's mouth, the very emblem of soft, yet powerful, control.
So what's up for us creative folk this week? I'd say that whatever you have been working on over the past few months—or the past lifetime—is going to reach an interesting stage in its gestation. You might need a midwife to help you along. And by that, I mean all the fierceness of the female way of thinking and knowing and being in the world.
This might be in the form of an actual woman you know, a friend or sister or daughter, a mother or mother figure, a mentor or maven or minister. If this is this case, she will have advice. There will be wisdom on her lips and she will offer it freely. It would be oh-so-smart to heed those words this week.
But She Herself might show up, usually veiled and in your peripheral vision. In that case, get in touch with the part of you that connects to others even as it remains sovereign unto itself. Open your heart and mind simultaneously. Listen for the whisper that comes from just over your shoulder, the nudge and the pull, the feeling in your gut. Let your feet take a spiraling path instead of the straight and narrow. Stand in your truth. Walk in it too. Speak it as clearly as you can. And know that forgiveness and compassion and empathy are not weaknesses. No, they are actually quite muscular. As is She.
What has all of this got to do with writing? I don't know. But I am certain, absolutely certain, that I will know, in a very little while. And so will you.
The Earth is spinning her way around the Sun in a dance older than every story we have ever told, soon to be at one of the year's two solstice peaks. For those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the Summer Solstice approaching, the longest day of the year. The word "solstice" has its root in in stillness, and so that is what we are doing this week—slowing down and looking at the Universe in a grain of sand.
Or a spread of cards.
I've been analyzing the three-card reading I did over a month ago, one that turned out to be rather monumental—Judgment, The Moon, and Temperance (you can read my individual analyses by clicking on any of the previous). As in the above illustration, Judgment was the central card in the spread, the thematic statement of the reading, its message flavored by and echoed in the two supporting cards. So let's start there.
Judgment is the card of the calling, and as such, shows up at times when the Universe is delivering a summons (being "called" is a feature of all the cards in this spread, a through-line that gives us the major theme of the reading). Judgment features the angelic messenger Gabriel blowing upon his celestial trumpet, waking the departed from their graves, and as such it calls to parts of us that perhaps we have thought long-dead. It bids us to rise and come forth and—and this is the most important part—heed the call.
That's your first question—what are you being called to do? Since this is a celestial call, you'll feel it in your bones, which are made of stardust. This call might scare you—angels are not exactly the bland pastel presences that greeting cards make them out to be. They are the messengers of all that matters and can be frankly terrifying, with beating wings and rushing air. So there might be fear associated with this call, perhaps a deep existential kind. Your rational brain will probably try to hold you back from leaping to this call, terror being one of its clues that maybe you are venturing too close to the edge/the sun/the monster/the unknown. It responds to this cue like a dog to a whistle.
Such is fear, which is the most primal of protective responses. It's a huge part of the second card, The Moon, too. The Moon beckons you to move forward, from the waters of the subconscious and past the baying wolf and hound, up the crooked path and between the imposing pillars. The Moon send up the warning that whatever you are being called to do, it will have a nightmare or two attached. But all calls that matter come with fear because all calls that matter come with the threat of loss. So ponder for a while on these moonlit shores—what are you attached to that is preventing you from answering this call? What do you fear might happen if you say yes to it?
Take some time with this step. Call your fears up from the deep. Look at them clearly. Sit with them for a while. This is the hard part, but it is necessary preparation for the second angel, Temperance.
A
lchemists describe the process that Temperance initiates as solve et coagula—dissolve and coagulate—and as you might expect, people sometimes have a harder time with the breaking apart of things than the coming together. But breaking must happen. This is how the building blocks of whatever is coming next will be formed, in the ash and crush of something returning to source. Think atomic energy. Think combustion. Think raw materials. Temperance may be compassionate, and deliberate, but she is not necessarily gentle.
As you can tell, this is no fortune cookie reading. This is Big Deal Stuff. Yesterday I posted about love, and how this is the only thing that can save us in this burning world. This reading compels you to love as fiercely as you can through whatever art you make—writing, painting, singing, sculpting, playing, moving, acting, dancing, praying, storytelling—and to do it now. Release whatever you must to make room for that love to thrive in this world, even if that means letting go of a fear that seems to be keeping you safe. Share your art with others, and receive theirs in return. This will make you wildly vulnerable. Do it anyway.
You have been gifted. It is time to unwrap that gift and take it out of the box. It really really is.
This tarot thing, it's a practice. That word can be looked at as a verb: to perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain proficiency. It can also be extended to a related noun: praxis. The practical application of a theory.
And in the case of tarot, the theory we're applying is the theory of divination, the idea that something like a deck of cards—or a set of runes or a group of I-Ching sticks—can be used as a tool for wisdom and guidance. A way to bend the attention of the Universe your way for a short time. As such, it is very personal.
That paradox is the foundation of what I do here each week for you, the members of my writerly tribe. I ask the cards what I, as a creative person, need to know in the coming week. I ask for me, but since the truly personal is also the truly universal, I am also asking for you.
Usually, I pull one card—either randomly or by design—but this week I decided to pull three. It's spring moving into summer, the light growing stronger day by day. It felt like a big time, engaging the larger gears of the celestial clockwork, so to speak, so I decided to honor that feeling with a slightly bigger reading than usual.
The Universe heard my request. Everything but the "slightly," it seems. Because let me tell you, this reading was big. Three major arcanas: Judgment as the central card flanked by Temperance and The Moon.
So no, not big. HUGE.
Which is why I decided to take this reading one card at a time, and then explain the significance of the cards working together. I decided to do this in parts, starting with the card you see on the left.
First of all, don't take the title of the card at its most obvious—this actually isn't a card about judging (which I explain in this post). In fact, many decks prefer to call this card Rebirth, and the most important aspect of it isn't the naked folk rising from the grave or even the angel above—it's the trumpet.
As you might expect, this is no ordinary musical instrument. For starters, it's a trumpet. Trumpets have a very long history, dating back to at least 1500 BC. They were found in Tutankhamun's grave in Egypt, also in China and Peru and Scandinavia. They were played in Solomon's Temple and mentioned many times in the Bible, especially as the symbolic "last trumpet sound" that announces the End of Days. In this sense, they are associated with the archangel Gabriel, the Great Revealer.
So no, not an ordinary instrument. And not an ordinary card.
Judgment reveals that you are at a crossroads. To quote the old Chinese blessing/curse, you are about to enter the Land of Interesting Times. Make no mistake, though—the road ahead is the one you were meant to be on. It may not be the road you wanted. It may not be the road you chose. But it's your road, and as such, it is as royal and rewarding as they come.
For writers and other creative folk, begin listening. Extraordinary trumpets rarely make a lot of noise. They are the still small voices of the creative ether. But once you've caught the note, there's no pretending you haven't.
Don't worry. Despite this card's title, it isn't judge-y. If you are a writer or artist or creative person of any stripe, you have enough of that to deal with from your own Inner Critic.
No, this card refers to Judgment Day, the prophesied moment when the angel Gabriel sounds the heavenly trumpet and the dead rise again, clean and rested and rejoicing. As such, it is more properly titled Rebirth or Resurrection. It's also one of the Major Arcana, and as such is A Very Big Deal.
In other words, don't ignore this one. Like the trumpet call, it requires response. But first, it requires deep listening.
Clarion calls are not always easy to hear. Sometimes the noise and din of our daily lives drown out that clear ethereal tone, even one blown through an angel's trumpet.
Take a moment. Make yourself still and quiet, as silent as the grave. I know -- this can feel like death to people accustomed to accomplishing much, people with detailed to-do lists, people who Get Things Done. But it's the only way to hear that clean high note.
You will know it when you do. It will pull you with the force of magnetic north and full moon tides. It will require a powerful surrender, but if you choose to follow, it will be irresistible.
That sounds like a paradox, and it is. Ponder such if you will. And then get ready to do the work. Because work is required, and that puts some people right back into the tomb. Not all heed the call of purpose and joy. Some prefer to sleep as if dead and merely dream beautiful dreams.
But not you. I'm quite sure of that.
This week, the Universe is calling. It is a personal call, directly to you. You already know what it means. You already know the good work that is waiting for you, whether it's the page or the clay or the blank canvas. Choose it. Choose it now. Give it five minutes. Make it real. And feel the rush as if you were suddenly lifted on the wings of angels.
And the answer was even bigger than the question. For corresponding factors, I got Strength and Justice (you can click on the links to read my take the last time those cards showed up). It's like old home week around here, all these familiar faces. So what does it mean, all of them showing up again, this time in each other's company.
Just look at those cards. There's Justice with her sword and scales, severity and mercy all in one swift impersonal stroke. And there's Strength, with her hand in the lion's mouth, the very emblem of soft, yet powerful, control.
