The mills of the Gods grind slowly, but they grind small.
Sextus Empiricus, 3rd Century Greek philosopher
After last week’s heavy events, during which I hope you took the Tarot’s advice and allowed yourself time in quiet contemplation, we now have a powerful Major Arcana ally ushering us into the month of September. This is the 3rd time we’ve gotten it since 2021, which is not an unusual pace. But we got it six times during the Felon-in-Chief’s first administration. Plus, it was a Year card during that time. That was uncommon. This week, say hello to our friend Justice.
Throughout Tarot history, this card has been invariably titled “Justice,” and the figure is traditionally depicted as a woman with a sword and scales. Occasionally she has a halo; almost always she is seated on a throne. Usually the sword is in her right hand; occasionally it is in her left.
Justice is one of the three cardinal virtues represented in the Tarot. The others are Temperance and Fortitude (or Strength).
According to Tarot legend, the late Rachel Pollack, the image on the Waite-Smith deck is the Roman Goddess, Justitia.
Often, in other forms of art and sculpture, this Roman Goddess of natural law may be depicted blindfolded. But in the Tarot, She is connected to the psychic laws of Justice, “by which,” as Rachel explains, “we advance according to our ability to understand the past.”
In order for this to happen, we must see clearly the truth about ourselves and about life; so Her eyes, like our own, must be open.
Symbols and Ancient Wisdom
Like the R-W-S High Priestess, Justice is a woman sitting on a stone between two columns that hold a veil.
But she is also a reflection of The Magician. Like him, she is clothed in a red robe and holds one arm up and the other, which holds her perfectly balanced scales, is pointed downward.
As Rachel notes, this intertwining of the two cards points to the fact that, “true action arises from self-knowledge; wisdom arises out of action.”
Enlightened people cannot simply accumulate the rewards of power and manifestation that are the gifts of The Magician. Nor can we spend our lives in High Priestess-fueled inward journeys. Both action and insight must be combined in balance.
The Buddhist Eightfold Path to Enlightenment exhorts us to right action, and here, the Tarot depicts how right action is the result of insightful doing. Justice is the card of ethical conduct.
The Universal Law
Not only does the Tarot image of Justice represent legal systems of law and order, like making criminals pay for their wrongs, it is the representative of a deeper, Spiritual Justice.
Holding the two-edged sword of compassion and consequences, as well as her scales, she listens to our alibis and extenuating circumstances. She weighs all the evidence. With the clarity of the ancients, in her stone temple, she will at last arrive at a verdict.
And so, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once pointed out, “Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.”
But beyond trying to live a moral life (or at least stay out of trouble), nearly every world religion, tradition, or philosophy holds at its core a requirement that the well-lived life must include working in the world on behalf of justice.
For example, many Jewish scholars and teachers would urge, “One cannot claim to love God and not be passionate about justice… Justice is an eternal religious obligation, at the very core of what it means to be a Jew.”
Similarly, the Reclaiming Tradition’s Principles of Unity declare an active commitment that, “We work for all forms of justice: environmental, social, political, racial, gender and economic.”
It is, therefore, up to us to be active protectors of moral rectification. This, again, shows the influence of the High Priestess, of knowing, combined with the power of the Magician, who asserts on behalf of.
The Reckoning Grinds Ever Closer
Since his first administration, the Justice card has continued to show up at pivotal moments for the Felon-in-Chief. The wheels of the legal system continue to grind ever closer to home as his mental condition continues to deteriorate in ways that even his most loyal handlers can barely cover up.
And, as has been his style for the last decade, he continues to deflect attention from his personal failings and rising unpopularity by inventing new dramas to hijack the attention of the public. Demolishing the Kennedy Center? Increasingly unhinged and cruel deportations? Chopping down the iconic cherry trees at East Potomac Park in DC? Incoherent, acrimonious speeches at events that are supposed to honor our astronauts or encourage schoolchildren?
Not to mention his various wars and the quickly closing window to save ourselves from a secretive surveillance system that has no accountability or oversight. Ever more unbridled greed and corruption.
Pretty much the complete antithesis of justice and democracy.
It’s as if those of us who are not already exhausted and starting to check out are tapping our feet and glancing at our timepieces, wondering when or if any consequences are coming for the villains.
No, I Would Not Give You False Hope
Be of good cheer, my friends.
In my experience, the Justice card does not show up at meaningless, random times.
Its visit this week is a reminder to keep the faith. No matter what may come, it asks us to stay faithful to our highest values.
It may be an instigation to defend what we know is right. Our laws and our most noble ideals still matter, even as we watch in horror as the people in power trash them. We are called to hold in highest honor the contracts we have made with our Gods and with one another to be in this life, at this time.
Justice always, always shows up. Not necessarily in the most convenient or preferred human timing and not always in the ways we might imagine, but unfailingly in the fullness of Divine Time.
Speaking of timing, our incredibly accurate interpreter of the stars, Elisabeth Grace, tells us that this week is likely to be relatively quiet. On Monday, we’ll see a “trine between Jupiter (growth) and Saturn (structure).” And Venus enters its “shadow phase” before turning retrograde in Scorpio Oct. 3.
Then on Tuesday, we are treated to an exact square between Mars and Saturn, while Mercury is sextile Mars. Elisabeth explains:
A militantly disciplined tension builds to a release at 5:58 AM ET as Mars (action, desire, aggression) squares Saturn (necessary control, cuts, authority)… Translation: in April, Mars and Saturn began a new two-year cycle of development (like a New Moon), and today is when we can expect challenges and adjustment to their two year agenda of action based on an impulsive, pioneering, and because I said so sovereign authority. In recent days, that agenda is challenged by Mars — now in homeland security Cancer — and we should see some pretty bold actions forcefully succeeding — or crashing into a brick wall…
Whilst action may be forced or frustrated, information and communication may flow easily and effectively. At 9:21 AM ET, Mercury — highly effective in Virgo — makes a sextile with that otherwise frustrated (by its square to Saturn that happened a few hours earlier) action hero Mars. Translation: make your pitch with passion, but note the potential power play in the early AM, as Moon squares Pluto at 10:08 AM ET.
But then, after Tuesday, she tells us:
… We have no exact aspects among the planets except those involving the Moon until September 12th! Eleven days; the longest I can remember. What I’ve noticed in these days driven only by the Moon’s contact with the other kids in the sandbox, is that we get events similar to a ginormous ice shelf collapsing into the sea. Just like that–all of a sudden–it’s gone, with a big, long sigh!
So you may notice pressure building in temporarily invisible ways. If so, Justice is here to reassure you that all is working to the good. Just be sure that you, too, are acting on behalf of that goodness and not drifting along with those who are trying to hinder it. Keep fairness foremost in your actions and do all you can to maintain your balance.
In Our Private Worlds
This week, the obvious expectation is that legal matters may be in the limelight. Money, real estate, law enforcement, inheritance dealings, and civil or criminal jurisprudence could certainly be important now.
Additionally, since Major Arcana cards are usually less about particular events and more about our own spiritual awakenings, this is a time to be scrupulously honorable in all our dealings. We can start with being more fair to ourselves.
Something is working out the way that it must, for there is reciprocity in play. What results might you now be seeing due to decisions and actions that have been taken in the past?
Every day, it’s in our hands alone to choose whether to support and reinforce the dangerous garbage that currently passes for normal or else to resist, shine a spotlight on it, scrub it out, and demand its atonement.
Each and every person reading this is the ultimate champion—or else passive antagonist—of what is right, fair, and good.
Are you facing an important choice at this time? What declaration or verdict is waiting for your decision now? Consider carefully the evidence before you. Gather the facts. Hear all sides of the story.
Think it over with as much probity as you can, for it is likely to have long-term effects that will return to you one way or another.
Do not act until you are quite sure you have considered all possible repercussions in terms of what is right and wrong or how it will affect others.
But then it will be time to do what’s necessary, no matter how challenging, to gain, or restore equilibrium. Align yourself with what is virtuous and righteous, trusting that sooner or later, what goes around, comes around.
The wheels of Justice may turn slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. A reckoning is at hand.