Justice Tarot Card Meaning & Interpretations

At the beginning of the 20th century Tarot went through a revolutionary change with the publication of the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) tarot deck. Up until this point the most popular Tarot decks had followed a structure and format based on the Marseilles Tarot. The cards in the Minor Arcana had no pictures and were closer to playing cards with pips than to the fully illustrated deck of cards that the RWS deck introduced. In addition to this radical evolution Waite and Smith also swapped the positions of two of the Major Arcana cards. Traditionally Strength was card 11 and Justice was card 8.

The majority of modern Tarot decks have continued with this modification to the Major Arcana even though the reason Waite gave, in his description of Strength, was "for reasons that satisfy myself" which doesn't give much insight as to why it was so important to him or Pamela Smith. Tarot has a well ordered structure based on the symbolism of the classical elements and numerology. The 8th card of the Major Arcana, according to the symbology of numerology, should have a meaning and interpretation of power and control. For this reason Strength is numerologically better suited to position 8 than Justice. Giving Justice number 11, which reduces to 2 in numerology (1+1=2), relates it directly to all the other cards with a numerology of 2 including The High Priestess and Judgement. The number 2, in numerology, represents balance, diplomacy and fairness. Swapping these cards corrected and improved the overall structure of Tarot significantly.

To fully understand the meaning of where and how Justice is applied, when this card appears, it is worth comparing its similarities to the 2 Of Swords. If you have ever seen a statue of Lady Justice then you will be familiar with the scales she holds in one hand and the sword in the other. The difference between Tarot's traditional depiction of Justice, including the RWS, is that Lady Justice wears a blind fold but Tarot's Justice does not. Pamela C. Smith illustrated the character in her 2 of Swords wearing a blind fold. The blind fold represents impartiality and the 2 of Swords card meaning is one of decision making without regard to wealth, power, status or emotion and based on logical reasoning alone. Tarot's Justice does not wear a blind fold because she takes all factors into consideration. Remember that the Major Arcana cards represent the combination of all the elements and not just one as in each Minor Arcana suit. Therefore Justice weighs on her scales all the elements in applying fairness and not just logical arguments. This does not mean that she is biased or prejudiced only that she will take into account material, emotional and constitutional factors as well as logical and factual arguments into consideration.

Take care not to confuse Judgement with Justice. These two are closely related but they are two separate stages in a process. Justice is the system and methods by which fairness is applied in trying to reach a decision. Judgement is the delivery and application of that decision. Justice is like a mathematical equation. When you enter values into an equation you get a result. Judgement is like that numerical answer you derive from putting values in an equation.

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THE PICTORIAL KEY TO THE TAROT

By Arthur Edward Waite (1911)

As this card follows the traditional symbolism and carries above all its obvious meanings, there is little to say regarding it outside the few considerations collected in the first part, to which the reader is referred.

It will be seen, however, that the figure is seated between pillars, like the High Priestess, and on this account it seems desirable to indicate that the moral principle which deals unto every man according to his works--while, of course, it is in strict analogy with higher things;--differs in its essence from the spiritual justice which is involved in the idea of election. The latter belongs to a mysterious order of Providence, in virtue of which it is possible for certain men to conceive the idea of dedication to the highest things. The operation of this is like the breathing of the Spirit where it wills, and we have no canon of criticism or ground of explanation concerning it. It is analogous to the possession of the fairy gifts and the high gifts and the gracious gifts of the poet: we have them or have not, and their presence is as much a mystery as their absence. The law of Justice is not however involved by either alternative. In conclusion, the pillars of Justice open into one world and the pillars of the High Priestess into another.

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