Justice is blind
I'm thrilled to welcome Rebecca from Ten of Swords Tarot as The Chalice’s first contributor! If you haven't already, you can follow her at @tenofswordstarot. I've been an admirer of her work for quite some time, finding her readings not only clear and honest but also filled with compassion.
A warm thank you to Rebecca for being such a joy in our community and for contributing her passion for the cards to The Chalice!
There’s nothing that quite slices through the fog quite as quickly as Justice (XI) does when it pops up in a reading. Justice is impartial and unbiased, readily encouraging the querent to welcome their analytical side.
As someone who drew exclusively Swords for herself as she learned the tarot, Justice feels like the “patron card” of the suit, comfortably sitting (perfectly balanced) in the middle of the major arcana. Part of this “patron” energy comes from the sword held aloft by Justice, which makes it hard not to imagine Justice and the Queen of Swords as the same person. Both of their swords are raised, and if we look to the RWS, we can see that the sword is actually in the same hand in both cards. While their thrones and physical appearances differ, who is to say that we’re not just seeing the Queen of Swords straight on instead of in side profile?
However, while the Queen of Swords smoothes out some of the harsh nature of the Swords with her watery, feminine energy, Justice maintains a level of distance. We are met with cool, judgemental expressions in most versions of this card. In Stephanie Burrow’s and Adam Oehler’s Smoke, Ash and Embers, the dragon depicted in Justice certainly has mastered a kind of disdainful look at the frogs that sit before her. Despite the warm brown tones of this card in the Avisomnia Tarot, the eyes that look out at us from the scales embody this coolness in their discerning stare.
XI. Justice. Clockwise from top left: Golden Dawn Magical Tarot, Avisomnia Tarot, Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, Smoke, Ash and Embers, and Medieval Scapini Tarot
Perfectly balanced scales are another hallmark of the Justice card, balancing all the parallels we seem to live in as humans (e.g., unconscious/conscious, self/others, emotion/logic, past/present, etc.) This balancing act automatically brings to mind the weighing of one’s heart against a feather, believed to be carried out by Anubis and recorded by Thoth. As a result, it is no wonder a jackal curls up at the feet of Justice and a feather features prominently in the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot. The severity and finality of this particular act of judgment really snaps a reading into focus, asking us to grab a sword and cut off the ties that are literally dragging us down now before it is too late.
From top left: Smoke, Ash and Embers, Oak, Ash and Thorn, and The Forager’s Daughter Tarot
Where there is no sword, often creators turn to other “sharp” subjects. In The Forager’s Daughter Tarot, the fangs of the wolf pierce the tail of the snake, whose fangs are preparing to trap the frog. The food chain or natural order of things may seem cruel, just as the acts we may perform to bring our personal systems back into balance, but it’s the way it is meant to be. It’s what makes sense. (And, with The Forager’s Daughter, of course we have a healthy dose of fungi to remind us that even the wolf is not exempt from this perfectly balanced cycle). Oak, Ash and Thorn also features a wolf and the parallels are not lost here. Take away the wolves, or any apex predator, and the rest of nature is out of balance. (Google the impacts of reintroducing wolf at Yellowstone National Park for a nice example). The message here is that while Justice may seem very direct and drastic in some scenarios, or maybe even cruel, it’s often necessary for the greater good.
So, next time you pull Justice (XI), embrace your critical nature and go forward with some Queen of Swords-adjacent energy. Look to the facts and the plot holes. Cut out the bullshit. And ultimately, you’ll feel lighter now that the scales are even.