An angel in the sky plays a trumpet in the 20th card of the Tarot, Judgement. (S)He has red wings and blond hair with wisps of fire emanating from the hair. A white flag with a red cross hangs from the trumpet. Below, people lift their arms up as if in praise, emerging from graves. In the distant background are mountains.
Praise the lord, one is reborn! Or at least, it’s the first impression we get from the card of Judgement. So many times in the bible we hear of the Lord coming on the last day to judge us all and raise the dead. Those righteous will be raised and those deemed unworthy will continue to burn in hell forever more.
Judgement is a card that reminds us we all have to answer for our actions. Maybe not immediately but either in this life or the next our actions follow us. Judgement also gives us hope that there is a follow on from our past. While maybe we cannot put whatever we did wrong back exactly, we can attempt to make amends and wipe the karma slate clean.
The angel is Gabriel, the archangel so often mentioned in the bible as heralding the final coming. His presence indicates that whatever was confusing before is about to become absolutely clear to us – that we will be able to know right from wrong and what choice we we should make. It may be worthwhile taking time to ponder or meditate on the choices and actions we face to ensure that we avoid easy temptations and make the right choices for us and the universe.
Emerging out of the ground or their coffins, the people are naked. It is like they are newborn, devoid of the grime that this life so often cakes us in as we go through it. Young and old, male and female, they all rise up to celebrate a second chance. In our own lives, perhaps it is time to leave the past behind, to stop reliving whatever we have done and mentally beating ourselves up over and over again. Having made our best attempt at amends, it is time to move on, that bit wiser, that bit more grateful and a resolve to act only from love.
Judgement being the twentieth card of the Tarot, resolves to ‘2’, which is the card of duality. The second card of the Tarot, the High Priestess, symbolised the hidden knowledge that was available to us, that there was something behind the veil. Now after a long journey, we find that knowledge and soon, all will be revealed to us. The red and white of the angel’s wings are the same red and white that The Magician bore in the first card of the Tarot.
This card also warns us that we are being judged. It may be by someone in authority but that judgement is to be welcomed. It may well serve to make us better in our actions.
Reversed: Judgement reversed can be a warning that we are being very judgemental in our lives. Perhaps we are being overly harsh to others and looking down upon them rather than helping them to do better. It can also be a warning that we ourselves are being judged. Perhaps we are engaged in wrong doing and inside, we know ourselves our actions could be a lot better. It is a serious call to change our ways.
If this card appears, it is time to take heed and evaluate exactly what it is we are doing in life.
If you find yourself clouded in self doubt, Judgement reversed is telling you not to spend so much time self judging. Rather, the message is to leave go, to trust the process and avoid spending undue lengths of time on self inspection.