March 8, 2010 - Judgement

This is not the first time Judgement has shown up in these daily readings. What's depicted on this card is the Day of Judgement, the Angel of the Lord blowing his trumpet and call the living and dead to the final reckoning. It is a card about making judgments, making an honest appraisal, getting off the fence and making hard choices. Since there are plenty of places in my life that require a more honest appraisal so it's hard to know specifically what the card is referring to so it might be wise just to generally grow more honest in all of them.

The card is also about feeling reborn, awakening to possibilities, enjoying renewed hope, making a fresh start, and discovering joy. Oh for the joy, the unfettered, heartfelt, Hallelujah. I am alive and well (I think, I hope). There is plenty to be joyful about. Maybe it's time to trust a bit and be joyful.

When Judgement comes you hear a call, recognize your true vocation, and act on it. You decide to make a difference. Not just feel drawn to a new direction, but know what to do, and to do it. That is perhaps one of my greatest challenges, not just to know what to do but to be brave enough to do it. It requires judgment, discernment, to know what calls you and when to act.

Finally, this is a card about finding absolution, releasing guilts and sorrows. All of us have done things we are ashamed of, small and large. And it requires atonement, sometimes confession, sometimes restitution, always resolve not to repeat that mistake again, hurt those we know we shouldn't. Often we are harder on ourselves than anyone else would ever be. And so sometimes we have to forgive ourselves as human and resolve to do better. I think it is my time.

In the Jane Austen Tarot, the Judgment card depicts the characters of Emma at the end of the novel, or close. Each of the characters has reached a point where he or she is reaching out toward the future. For Emma and George Knightley, it's a future together. For Mrs. Weston, Emma's governess, it's the chance to start her own family, to be loved and loving wife, as well as mother. For Harriet Smith, it's marrying and finding herself at last as Mrs. Martin. For Mr. Woodhouse, the perpetual worrier, it's letting go enough to allow his daughter to marry, not to make her choose his happiness over hers. Everyone has his or her own path and the Judgement card encourages you to find yours and to follow it, to move to your next level, to be what you were meant to. The trumpet has sounded. I guess this is my time, my turn.