As a child of the seventies I felt but didn’t fully know what was happening for women’s rights in this country. From Title IX to Roe v. Wade, laws were passed to provide women equal rights to men in academia, particularly sports participation, to give them autonomy over their bodies, to balance inequities which had been pervasive since our forefathers bumped onto the shores of Jamestown, Virginia. I reaped the benefits of these new laws, and took them for granted as I developed into a woman. I certainly didn’t consider I would some day live in a country where Roe v. Wade was overturned and women would have to fight yet again for the right to control and have autonomy over their bodies. But one move in a fair direction today: Title IX is reestablishing rules to protect the LGBTQ community against violence and bullying in schools, as well as pregnant people and parents, who experience discrimination and harassment. It’s something, I think, in a sea of injustice I feel crashing around me these days.
The figure on the Justice card is always represented as a woman, and usually holds a balance and a sword. The sword has been removed from some very modern decks to reinforce the idea of justice without force, but here I’m going to talk about the classic depictions with both the sword and the scales. The Justice card stands beside the Temperance card, which we will discuss in a few weeks. Justice represents the goal of external and objective fairness, what creates a just society. The scales represent our need to reach homeostasis or equilibrium in the world, and the sword shows both the mental objectivity required and the possible force necessary to achieve it. This card is about how we act, what we do, to balance the scales of fairness.
But still. The world is rarely fair or just. We see glimmers in such actions as the revised Title IX rules, but more often we are appalled by the lack of justice in society, ironically so apparent in what we call our “justice system.”. Justice, then, is a social construct which provides a social contract or road map we follow with each other as humans living together.
The only other card in the Waite Smith deck which has the symbol of the scales is the Six of Pentacles, and this is important because it gives a concrete example of how we can achieve some fairness in a just society: by feeding the poor, sharing our wealth, taking care of those less fortunate. But though the action of the man in beautiful clothing dropping coins into the poor man’s outstretched hands is an act of charity, we can’t help but notice the man does not bend down to meet the eyes of the poor. The status quo is somehow maintained. Can people ever be truly fair or does self-interest always get in the way?
When I think of justice in society today it is really easy to feel despondent. I had trouble even attempting to write anything about this card. It feels too big, and too relevant, and yes, sometimes hopeless. The newsreel in my brain counts endless injustices, and I have to work to grab one move toward a more just society.
In ancient Greece, Justice was represented by Themis, the goddess of truth, the personification of divine rightness. So while I point to Justice as a regulator of external fairness, what drives this desire? It can’t be pure intellectuality. It has to point to a heart, or a spirit, of DIVINE RIGHTNESS. As with all the cards in the tarot, there isn’t pure duality, external and internal, order and chaos, right and wrong. There is nuance, and middleness, and inbetweeness which requires human interpretation and results in meaning making.
Lady Justice is often depicted blindfolded, as if the truth can only be objectively discerned without subjective views of the world. I find this to be an impossibility, though if we close our eyes perhaps we can think with more clarity.
We refer to poetic justice, when it seems as if the world has doled out someone’s just desserts. We smugly say, “See!!! They got what they deserved!”
I can’t help but think of The Shawshank Redemption, which throws a critical light on the corrupt nature of the justice system, particularly for those incarcerated. The film addresses the nature of justice, and our limitations as humans expected to execute it.
So I suppose, the Major Arcana shows us the nature of the cardinal virtues, of which Justice is one (along with Strength, Temperance and Prudence represented by the High Priestess). They are aspirational. We are human. We can take the high road, and we don’t always choose it. But focusing on and being reminded of these virtues can probably only assist us as we traverse this mucky road, our boots squashing in the mud as we try not to slip and fall. It’s a mess out there. We keep walking.
xo Hanna
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