A few days ago, I posted about this notion of The High Priestess serving as a sort of “Gatekeeper” who can allow passage through her pomegranate curtains to worthy seekers, where they will then suddenly find themselves in the landscape of the Moon card. We talked about this in the Tarot Toolkit course, and one of the students – Mike (@magickmike7 over on Instagram) – asked the very astute question about whether other cards might similarly serve as Gatekeepers. We were specifically talking about the Justice card, as that’s the only other Major that also features a central character sitting in front of a curtain. Mike theorized that maybe passage through the Gateway of Justice would lead you to the realm of the Sun card, which is a suggestion that has its merits, for sure.
For my part, though, I landed on the notion that maybe Justice leads through into…Judgement. I have three main reasons.
1) Both cards feature titles and concepts that have found their ways into our society’s legal arena. Justice and Judgement are both terms and ideas that populate our judicial system.
2) Justice in Tarot is often about balance…and a balanced approach is arguably necessary in dealing successfully with the kinds of upheaval that can beset a person undergoing the processes symbolized by the Judgement card. Just as The High Priestess might bar the gate and force people to take the long way to The Moon if she’s not satisfied that they can bear up under its energies yet, maybe Lady Justice similarly forces pilgrims to travel by the long path to Judgement if they don’t yet show a solid enough grasp on balance.
3) In Egyptian Mythology, when you die, you’re greeted at the entrance to the Underworld by the great God, Anubis. He holds a set of scales – just like those of Lady Justice – and tests your heart to see if you qualify for either eternal afterlife or total deletion from reality. In other words, if you get past his application of a very Justice-style evaluation, you’re ready to deal with a new phase of your existence, post-“death”…much like the figures emerging from coffins in the Judgement card might be poised to do.
Just some musings aloud, inspired by Mike’s great question. Answering thoughts are most welcome! #tarot #tarotcards #tarotcommunity #tarotreadersofinstagram #tarottoolkit #tarottip #divination #cartomancy #justice #judgement #Anubis #highpriestess #moon #ladyjustice #indigokyanite #crystal #metaphysics #metaphysical #esoteric #occult