Pearls of Wisdom - Justice

Rede Seeker

What strikes me first is Lady Justice's haggard expression. She looks like she has been ridden and put away wet. Still, her posture is as erect as her sword; her stance is as even as her scale. Her robes are purple, the color of Justice; the columns behind her have a purple-ish tint to them. One column is in Night, the other in Day.

Justice is bare-foot and bare-breasted. Both wrists wear golden bracelets, one plain (right) and one jeweled (left). Her right hand holds the sword; her left holds the scale. Her crown is a lavender color and seems to have horns - a sign of wisdom. The crown is jeweled. Her necklace is lavender and jeweled, too. The pendant is an infinity symbol on it's side, with a pear in each lobe. Justice wears a sash in red, yellow, and green. Her purple robes and bright sash make it hard not to see her bare breasts. Her face and breasts are open for all to see - one in a less than flattering state, the other shocking to most people - modesty dictates they be concealed. Justice isn't modest and she is relentless, she'll rest when her task is completed - until then, she's earned every crow's foot and wrinkle and it's the crackle of energy that keeps her hair floating like Medusa's. Justice looks out with clear eyes.

Her sash is bound at her shoulder with miniature crossed swords inside a circle of gold beads beneath which hang a circle of pearls. A similar arrangement binds the sash at her hip near the belt. The belt has an enormous buckle. The sash and belt are a mystery to me - is this like wearing a 'belt and suspenders'?

Justice stands on a black and white floor, much like a game-board. Justice plays by the rules. There are veils attached to the columns in the background. The veils are blowing from left to right. but that wind does not affect the direction Justice's hair is flowing.

There are no Runes on this card. The borders are covered with pears and sunflowers with the miniature crossed swords in the corners and circle of pearls on the side.

Justice is marked as 'XI' the eleventh card in the Major Arcana. I prefer the older arrangement where Justice is the eighth card and Strength is the eleventh card. I re-arrange my deck accordingly so that The Chariot-Justice-The Hermit form a triad: Experiencing the World-Personal Responsibility-Self-Knowledge (ref: 'Tarot and the Journey of the Hero' by Hajo Banzhaf).
 

Sulis

I've not much to add to your description and insights Rede-Seker but I have a few little things :)

The deep red and black flowers surrounding our Lady Justice are black-eyed Susans which according to the little green book symbolise justice :)

I'm a bit confused by the pears. There are a lot of them in this deck and I'm at a loss as to how to interpret them. My Penguin Dictionary of Symbols says that they are a symbol of eroticism and sensuality due to their shape (feminine) and their juiciness (also feminine ;)) but I can't really see how that relates to Justice or to many of the other cards they appear in (the Emperor springs to mind)...
Thoughts on pears anyone?

I just noticed that the scales contain a red liquid and I'm wondering if this is blood.

I'm also struck by the way the curtains attached to the pillars behind her are blowing about yet Justice is unaffected... This tells me that no matter what is going on around her she will stand tall and always be fair.

Lastly, I too cannot think of Justice as anything other than number 8, the number of balance and Cosmic order...
Luckily the numbers on this deck are tiny and so I changed mine with a Sharpie pen.

Edited to add an image of the card.
 

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Rede Seeker

Scales of Justice

I rede the color inside the scales as empty interior space. The scales are balanced indicating objective Justice. The balance changes when something is placed in the cups.

I used my magnifying glass to be sure and noticed the infinity symbol on each cup. A further sigel for eternal, objective Justice, perhaps?
 

lark

Sulis said:
I'm a bit confused by the pears. There are a lot of them in this deck and I'm at a loss as to how to interpret them. My Penguin Dictionary of Symbols says that they are a symbol of eroticism and sensuality due to their shape (feminine) and their juiciness (also feminine ;)) but I can't really see how that relates to Justice or to many of the other cards they appear in (the Emperor springs to mind)...
Thoughts on pears anyone?
I don't have this deck...been waffling about ordering it so I peek into this thread from time to time.

Sulis according to one of my symbol books (An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by Thames & Hudson) in Chinese culture pears are a symbol for longevity; justice; good goverment; and good judgment.
 

Sulis

lark said:
I don't have this deck...been waffling about ordering it so I peek into this thread from time to time.

Sulis according to one of my symbol books (An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by Thames & Hudson) in Chinese culture pears are a symbol for longevity; justice; good goverment; and good judgment.

Thank you so much for this Lark. That does explain the pears more, especially when they're on cards like Justice and The Emperor. I'll jot that down in my journal :)

Oh and I think you should get this deck }), it's so crammed full of symbolism that something new pops into your head with each reading (sorry for being an enabler but I love it :)).
 

lark

Sulis said:
Thank you so much for this Lark. That does explain the pears more, especially when they're on cards like Justice and The Emperor. I'll jot that down in my journal :)

Oh and I think you should get this deck }), it's so crammed full of symbolism that something new pops into your head with each reading (sorry for being an enabler but I love it :)).
HEY HEY! What are you doing to me!!
I just want everyone to know I have this deck in my Amazon basket and I pulled cards earlier to see if it was a good choice and got yes...THE DEVIL.
Sulis you are a naughty minx...but I have almost decided to order it.
And I'll join the study when it gets here.
 

Marli

2 Other Thoughts

Wow - good thing I looked here, as for some reason this card was difficult for me to relate to on some level, however in reading through your insights, it has helped me turn a new corner, though I did want to highlight one thing that I noticed, which was that in the background, half of the background is in daylight with the 1/2 of the sun behind her head, and the other half of the card is at night, with the 1/2 of the moon completing the circle behind her head - again representing balance.

One thought that occurred to me after reading your thoughts about the curtains on the post is of yet another example of opposites coming together and balance yet again, the posts seem very rigid and almost male if you will, (as do the posts in the Hierophant card), however, the curtains on the posts add a feminine touch and soften their appearance even if only a little, yet still it seems to be an quite an acceptable combination.
 

shadowdancer

thanks for the insight re the curtains.. something I missed until now.

This also came up in a reading (my first with the deck) and if I were to see those curtains as important it could show she is unswayed by opinion or the wind of change around her. she stands firm for what she believes in.

I am sooo glad this deck has a full study group. It has so much in it, I think a study group can only help newbies to the deck (like me) really get as much as they can from it

Davina
 

lark

I just found out that in dream symbols a pear means duality..pretty good symbol for the Justice card :)
 

Sulis

lark said:
I just found out that in dream symbols a pear means duality..pretty good symbol for the Justice card :)
I wonder if that has anything to do with the name 'pear' and 'pair'.