La Giustizia/Justice
Justice is the cardinal virtue that regulates personal interactions to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and lawfully in a well-regulated society. The allegory of Justice has only one depiction in European art: a woman holding scales and an upright sword. Until the late twentieth century, when artists began experimenting with new ways of imagining the tarot archetypes, the Justice card was locked into this traditional image. To explore the origins of this image, we need to go back to ancient Egypt.
Ma’at: Justice in Ancient Egypt
Ma’at, the embodiment of divine order, was the daughter of the Sun god Ra. Her attribute was the ostrich feather she wore in her hair that was used to weigh the souls of the dead. Ra set the cosmic and social orders in place, while his daughter made sure the order was maintained. Ma’at presided over the recurring cycles of the seasons and the stars. By maintaining the divine order, she kept social chaos away and was the keeper of social mores and ethics.
In the Judgment of the Dead, shown here, Anubis, god of the underworld, weighs an individual’s heart against Ma’at’s ostrich feather to determine whether the soul would go to paradise or be eaten by monsters. The large scale in the center of the scene inspired ancient Greek and medieval European images of justice.
Themis: Justice in Ancient Greece
As a consort of Zeus, Themis became the mother of the Seasons, Law, Justice, the Fates, and Dike, a goddess who maintained law and order. Like Ma’at, Themis embodied divine law, the social order, and proper relations within the family. She made sure traditional customs were upheld, and that proper conduct was maintained, especially in public assemblies. Themis established the Oracle at Delphi. As the Delphic oracle, she spoke for the gods, advising petitioners to perform actions that would please the gods and uphold the social order. She has been described as holding a scale, but the few statues of her that exist have broken arms, so we don’t know for sure what she’s holding.
Themis’s daughter Dike, enforcer of the law, was associated with swords. According to the playwright Aeschylus, she pierces the hearts of wrong doers with a sword, and rewards those who act justly.
Justice and the Last Judgment
The Justice card from the late 15th century Budapest Tarocchi (left) is numbered 20, which places it between the Judgment and World cards. Justice is also in twentieth position in the earliest known list of trump cards, the Sermones de Ludo Cum Aliis (Steele Sermon), written about the same time the Budapest deck was created. The Angel in the Judgment card calls people to rise from their graves and proceed to the Last Judgment. According to popular Christianity, not the Bible, Saint Michael will be waiting for the newly risen souls with his sword and scales, ready to decide which souls will go to heaven, which will be turned over to the devil, and which will wait for the Last Judgment in Purgatory. Saint Michael in armor with a sword and scales, as in this 15th-century painting by Hans Memling, was a very popular motif in late medieval and Renaissance art. It seems the creator of the Budapest deck repurposed the allegory of Justice to stand in for Saint Michael in the final act of the tarot trumps.
The Visconti-Sforza Justice card, created shortly after 1450, has a unique twist on the Last Judgment theme. Above the traditional allegory of Justice, a knight on a white horse wields a sword. This may be a reference to the book of Revelations in the Bible, Chapter 19:11: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” In medieval society, knights enforced justice by hunting down wrong-doers and often meted out punishment on the spot.
Justice in the Tarot
The earliest 15th-century tarot decks depict Justice as the traditional allegory with sword and scales. In these two decks, the hand painted Charles VI and the block printed Rosenwald Tarocchi, both figures wear a scalloped halo that identifies them as an allegorical figure.
In the earliest French decks, known as Tarot de Marseille Type I, Justice seems to have sprouted butterfly wings. Shown here are the Rolichon Tarot from the mid-17th century and the Dodal Tarot from the very early 18th century. Both decks were created in Lyon, one of the original centers of Tarot production in France.
On the other side of France, in mid-17th century Paris, Jacques Vieville printed a deck that became the ancestor of the Rouën-Brussels pattern. The Vieville wings (left) are less butterfly like and seem to be evolving toward angel’s wings. In the 18th-century de Hautot tarot (right), the wings are completely angelic.
Italian Justice cards of the 18th and 19th centuries often have extravagant angel wings. The Soprafino style created by Carlo Della Rocca about 1835 probably started the trend. The Strambo deck printed in Piedmont in the late 19th century may illustrate a regional tradition of winged Justice.
Justice in the standard Tarot de Marseille Type II does not have wings. The allegorical figure sits on a high-backed chair, which gave rise to the theory that some block carvers misread the chair backs as wings. Since wings appeared in the Justice card long before the elaborate chair back, this theory is not valid.
Traditional Justice Card Interpretations
Justice has always been seen as a function of the government and the legal system. The Justice card can indicate anything related to the judicial system and social control, such as jails, the police, lawyers, bail bondsmen, city hall, and the bureaucracy. When the card turns up in a reading about a legal matter, it may give assurance that justice will prevail and the verdict will be fair. But it could also mean that the letter of the law will be upheld in a cold, impersonal manner. The sword is a symbol of a clear-cut, impartial decision; but it’s also a weapon of retribution and punishment. Until the guillotine was invented, beheading with a sword was the preferred method for dispatching condemned aristocrats. Interpreting the Justice card in terms of personal qualities or states of mind is a very recent development that we’ll discuss below.
French Occult Justice Card
French occultists associated the Justice card with the Hebrew letter Cheth, which looks like two equal columns, or the beams of a balance scale. Oswald Wirth put the Justice figure on an elaborate chair rather than giving her wings, then he exaggerated the chair to resemble the Hebrew letter in the bottom right corner of his card.
According to Wirth, the sharp points of the crown and sword depict justice administered harshly, since punishment is necessary to restore social balance. The pans of the scale remind us that fluctuations between good and bad times are inevitable. When interpretating this card, occultists emphasized proper conduct, piety, social accord, and good administration. They said an orderly society was like a well-run household presided over by a competent housewife who organizes chaos, puts things in order, and distributes goods in a rational and measured way.
British Occult Justice Card
British occultists also saw justice in terms of a well-organized society where all components worked together harmoniously. The Golden Dawn put Justice in the eleventh position in the major arcana so it would correspond to the Hebrew letter Lamed, which is associated with Libra. The Golden Dawn called this card the Daughter of the Lord of Truth and associated her with Ma’at.
The Waite Smith Justice card is structured like Waite’s High Priestess card. Justice sits in front of a curtain draped between two pillars. Waite said that even though the two cards have a similar design, the curtains on each card open to completely different worlds.
Modern Justice Card Interpretations
Contemporary card interpretations focus on personal mental states, describing a mind that is scientific, objective, logical and impartial. The card may indicate a person who is rational and disciplined, or rigid and perfectionist. When this card turns up in a reading, we are advised to weigh options carefully before making a decision. Justice advises us to play by the rules, be honest, face reality squarely, and take responsibility for our actions.
Contemporary Justice Cards
These 20th century cards take a rather cynical view of justice.
The Pirate from the deck of the same name, has been viciously whipped even before being sentenced. It’s obvious he won’t get a fair hearing from the vindictive judge.
The Just Desserts card in Brian Williams’ PoMo Tarot delivers the message that “What goes around, comes around.” If you sow the wind, be prepared to reap the whirlwind, and don’t be surprised when it happens because that’s how the universe keeps in balance. Lady Justice might be holding a balance scale, but she has her trusty Glock in the other hand, and she knows how to dispense justice with it.
One of the balance scale pans in the Songs for the Journey Home card holds the natural world of ocean, whales, and green hills. The other, weightier, pan holds an artificial urban environment with high rise buildings and polluted skies. In today’s world, the artificial environment weighs more and is given more consideration. This card calls on us to do our part to redress the balance and give more weight to the natural environment.
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Images
Statue of Justice. Frankfurt, Germany
Anubis weighing a heart against an ostrich feather. Egyptian Book of the Dead
Themis of Rhamnous. Attica, c. 280 bc. Chairostratos, sculptor.
Budapest Tarot, late 15th century. Recreated by Sullivan Hismans, Tarot Sheet Revival, 2017. Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Last Judgment Triptych. Hans Memling, c. 1470. Saint Mary’s Church, Gdansk.
I Tarocchi dei Visconti. Milan c. 1450. Reproduced by Il Meneghello, Milan, 1996. Collection of the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.
Tarocchi Charles VI, c. 1460. Collection of Bibliothèque Nationale Française, Paris.
The Rosenwald Tarocchi, c. 1475. Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Nicolas Rolichon Tarot. Mid-17th century. Restored by Florent Giraud, 2023.
Jean Dodal Tarot. Lyon, 1701. Collection of the British Museum.
Tarot de Jacques Vieville. Paris, mid-17th century. Collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale Française.
Adam C. De HautotTarot. 18th century. Recreated by Sullivan Hismans, Tarot Sheet Revival, 2020.
Tarocco Soprafino di Gumppenberg, 1835. Il Meneghello, Milano 1992. Collection of The British Museum
Tarocco Piemontese Strambo. Varallo, late 19th century. Il Meneghello, 2014.
Tarot of Jacques Burdel, 1813, Fribourg, Switzerland, restored by Yves Reynaud, 2019
Oswald Wirth Tarot, 1887. Collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale Française, Paris.
The Centennial Waite Smith Tarot Deck. London, 1909. U.S. Games System, Inc., Stamford, CT, 2009.
Pirates Tarot. Bepe Vigna. Lo Scarabeo, 2007.
PoMo Tarot. Brian Williams. Harper San Francisco, 1994.
Songs for the Journey Home. Katherine Cook and Dwariko Von Summaruga. Self-Published, 1996, 2006.
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