The True Meaning Of Judgment

Judgment is card 20 in the Tarot’s Major Arcana. Arcana means “hidden things, mysteries,” from the Latin arcanum meaning “a secret, a mystery” and arcanus meaning “secret, hidden, private, concealed.” Arcana are therefore “pieces of mysterious knowledge or information.”

In a standard Tarot deck, there are 21 Major Arcana cards. They define The Fool’s journey (the first card) through life and all of the life lessons we encounter along the way. As one of the final stages in The Fool’s journey, the Judgment card represents having learned sufficient lessons to now awaken from the illusion and limited perceptions.

The most well-known tarot deck is the Rider–Waite. Pamela Coleman Smith, aka “Pixie,” was a British artist who illustrated the deck. She deserves much credit for the brilliant way she captured advanced spiritual concepts in the deck’s artwork.

The Rider–Waite Judgment card depicts three resurrected figures, a woman, man, and child, reaching up to an Archangel overhead blowing a trumpet as a wake-up call. The scene is based on Christian imagery representing the Resurrection and Last Judgment. The flag of St. George hangs from the trumpet, which references 1 Corinthians 15 in The Bible.

The Judgment card reminds us that no matter what our background may be, we can rise up and transcend any trauma or adversity in life, regardless how challenging the situation. We also have the power to see through the illusion of life and wake up to the truth.

Enlightenment or awakening is not the creation of a new state of affairs but the recognition of what already is ~ Alan Watts

The Judgment card is often interpreted as legal affairs going in one’s favor, judgments we make about others, or their judgments of us. However, it’s true esoteric meaning is much deeper, as it can also represent in a reading karma, absolution, second chances, rebirth, renewal, inner calling, revelation, and spiritual awakening.

The Judgment card reminds me of the story I once read of a woman who had a spiritual awakening while stepping off a bus after work one day. She suddenly had the spontaneous realization that everything that she had experienced in her life was merely a tiny version of what is possible in the entire world. Her personal life experiences revolved only around her own limited thoughts and perceptions.

In my work I often see the Judgment card come up in Tarot reading when a client needs to awaken from the suffering of their past in order to move forward, or when they need to look at things differently to find a better solution. It also comes up when people need to repay a karmic debt in some circumstance or situation.

That higher awakening is called God-consciousness. In that condition, you will see that all the objects of the world are your own universal self ~ Krishnananda Saraswati

I believe the Judgment card also firmly reminds us that God, Source, Spirit, the Divine is in charge and that it is not our place to pass judgment. Rather than obsess over who’s right and who’s wrong, we must see beyond the restrictive patterns and false narratives of our own and other people’s lives, and instead rely on our inner wisdom and intuition. That is true freedom.

The Judgment card also reminds us to stop blaming others for the events unfolding in our life. It only prevents us from moving forward to fulfill our purpose and live the incredible life we came here for. Having the sound judgment to see beyond the self-limiting illusions and narratives, liberates us from the past, so that we can move into the future and become the person we were meant to be.