Why so judgmental?
Judgement is the name given most often the next to last card of the major arcana in the Tarot. It has the number 20 and is has been one of the hardest ones for me to connect with so I thought I would study it a bit more and write an article.
The general idea of this card is that its time to make a decision, and not just any decision, a life changing decision. For this reason I have stopped thinking of the card so literally and renamed it the Huge Decision card in my head which has helped immensely. Here are some examples and some of the nuances that come with them. If you want more info on the decks that the cards come from please go to the page of this blog on tools of the locksmith.
Whoa! Am I right? This card from the Afro-Brazilian Tarot says huge decision with high drama for sure. Its literally asking you if you are ready to grab the lighting in the storm within and transform. Well…..are you? Maybe you would like some time to think about that.
Sometimes this refers to a huge decision that we made in the past depending on the location of the card. It might have been a decision you had to make to survive. If that’s the case you should look at how that decision is currently impacting your life, and understand why it was necessary, but if at all possible do so without…..wait for it….judgement.
Well this seems a bit more low key…almost, I mean its a monkey how bad could it be? Beware, this is from the Tarot of the Divine where legends, myths and fairy tales abound. This is Sun Wukong, the monkey king born from stone who acquired supernatural powers through Taoist practices. The story of Sun Wukong is a long and winding one where he made some very bad and downright evil choices, and then later on proves himself by accompanying and protecting a pilgrim on a journey of 81 tribulations.
In this case this judgement might be more about redemption, and being able to look at what led up to this moment as a whole story instead of only seeing either mistakes or victories. Its more than the “simple” balancing act of the card called Justice, its the ability to look with detachment at the whole picture to inform the choice for redemption.
In the Voyager Tarot the card with the number 20 is called Time-Space. Its the ability to see all things as one and how they are connected. This is less of a judgement or decision, and more of the ability to have this kind of perspective and awareness.
In many ways this is harder than making a big decision, because we often blind ourselves to important bits and pieces if our judgement is clouded by the past, or if we are projecting something that is not really there into the future.
Lastly I offer this simple vision of transformation from the Way Home Tarot. Is the now transformed cicada looking back on its shell from the past, or is the shell from the past looking forward to the future transformation. Trick question, there is no time or space at this point in the archetypes because we are about to come to the final realization that they are all the same thing.
In this case the transformation is inevitable, even if the cicada will have to wait 17 years to experience it. So then what? I think the message then is to prepare and study for this big impending moment.
The Rambling Locksmith 
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