[Sulis]

This is one of the simpler Major Arcana cards in this deck.
Against a pale pink / lilac background we see an angel. The angel is blowing a large trumpet shaped horn and a pale blue flag hangs from the horn.
The flag has a golden symbol on it which the little white book says is the symbol for Pluto - "the planet of rebirth and transformation".
Below the angel are 4 winged hearts.

The hearts seem to represent souls answering the call of the angel and replace the people emerging from coffins that most Judgement cards depict.

So this is a time to answer a call.
A new beginning.
A turning point or crossroads.
A time to look back and decide what you want to leave behind and what you want to take forward.
Could it also be a time when you will need to atone for sins of the past?

[Enchanted]

The first thing I noticed with this card were the winged hearts, which kind of had me stumped for a bit. So I broke it down and took the heart to symbolise love and passion and the fact that they had wings to relate to this passion taking flight. No longer just a dream or something you hope for but something that is becoming real or a real possibility. I also saw that as connecting to your calling in life, your hearts desire or your higher purpose.

The symbol of Pluto on the horn really emphasises the rebirth and transformation elements of this card. Pluto is very much an "out with the old, in with the new" type. So shedding old habits to move on to a new phase of development.

The thing that reinforced all this for me was the fact that the angel's robe, appears to be adorned with hearts and diamonds. If you relate that back to playing cards, then hearts is cups and diamonds is pentacles. So perhaps taking the spirituality, emotions, heart and creativity of the cups and being "reborn" to the material plane, or bringing it into being in your daily life.

[Debra]

I'm afraid this particular judgment image leaves me a bit cold, so I'm eager to hear what everyone things. I appreciate that there are no corpses arising from the graves--but winged hearts? That has a bit of a greeting card feel to me. And the angel itself, the horn and the flag, all seem a bit too ... concrete to me, to symbolize cosmic judgment, that is, in comparison to the somewhat more sublime images in some of the other majors and the pips.

Maybe my problem is not with this card, but with Judgement altogether!?

[Sulis]

It leaves me quite cold too.
It's one of my least favourite cards in the deck for the very reasons you stated Debra. The winged hearts do look like they belong on a greetings card and I don't like the angel at all (but then I'm not that keen on angels).

I do like the Pluto symbol on the flag although I needed to look in the LWB to work out what it was as the Pluto signs I've seen look more like a letter P than this does.

Enchanted I really like what you're saying about the diamonds and hearts on the angel's robe, I've been trying to work out the significance of them and what you say fits well with the meaning of the card.

Not a favourite but a deck has to have the odd dud card in my opinion and it's one of the few cards in this deck that I don't like.

[Papageno]

I'm glad we're talking about this card, I've never quite known what to make of it when it does show up......which is rarely.

maybe we need a discussion of Death also since the two cards speak of re-birth.......but perhaps in a different sense.

The winged hearts are kinda saccharine but the re-animated bodies always seemed a bit over wrought....I dunno whatever.

i guess Judgement represents a spiritual re-birth.....a revelation that guides your moral path and directs your footing one way or another. I wouldn't say it's guaranteed to be for the better even though most cards feature a angelic messenger....it has an almost prophetic quality to it.

[Enchanted]

According to Wikipedia, the Pluto symbol on this card is the astrological symbol for Pluto and the more familiar "P" like one is astronomical symbol.

I like the Pluto symbol on this card because I think that Pluto is a good association, however, I have a slight chronological pet peeve with this, in that this deck is based on Renaissance symbols and imagery and the planet Pluto wasn't discovered until 1930. But I'm getting over it!

I read in the book that those winged hearts are supposed to represent the souls answering the angels call. So much like the rising corpses I suppose, but I totally missed that association!

I do prefer to see this card in general in terms of a more "personal" sense of judgement, rather than a cosmic one.

For me, it sometimes refers to the need to really acknowledge your own mistakes and not just recognise them but accept them and forgive yourself for getting it wrong. If you live in a state of constantly beating yourself up for your mistakes instead of accepting them and forgiving them, then you can never grow or develop any further. In a way, you're creating your own purgatory. This is why this is such a tough card in many ways... it is often easier to forgive others than to forgive yourself.

So to me this is sometimes about accepting mistakes, accepting that perhaps you made a wrong choice, an error in judgement or have veered off course, but this is your call to get back on track, everyone deserves a second chance! And with this card, I think you are being given that chance.

[Papageno]

Originally Posted by Enchanted

So to me this is sometimes about accepting mistakes, accepting that perhaps you made a wrong choice, an error in judgement or have veered off course, but this is your call to get back on track, everyone deserves a second chance! And with this card, I think you are being given that chance.

oh you're good!

I love this study group

[Enchanted]

Aw shucks! But not really, I just seem to like to learn these things the hard way. That was just a personal experience with this card, when it kept appearing for me. Admitting you got it wrong is sometimes very hard, especially when you like to be right!

[Papageno]

Originally Posted by Enchanted

Aw shucks! But not really, I just seem to like to learn these things the hard way. That was just a personal experience with this card, when it kept appearing for me. Admitting you got it wrong is sometimes very hard, especially when you like to be right!

you n me both girlfriend
I was never really able to fully grasp this card in that way.
I don't know why, it's so damned obvious.......

yeah, I remember we had the same conversation about the 7/cups.......which ties into this card in that respect. picking the right cup, instead of constantly going for the same one time and time again and making the same mistake over and over again. the right cup is the Ace of course.
once we drink from the Ace then we can experience the blessings of the Judgement card.

[Papageno]

this discussion of The Judgment card reminds me of Bette Midler's "THE ROSE"
which I'm sure you're all familiar with:

Some say love it is a river
that drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razer
that leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger
an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
and you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed
that with the sun's love
in the spring
becomes the rose