Wow, I've had such a hectic few days I haven't even had time to post a reply here! Sorry it's taken so long. And how lovely, Byrgypsy, that you picked one of my favourites in this deck, Justice
byrgypsy said:
The girl with the sword and wings combo immediatly makes me think "The truth will set you free."
I absolutely LOVE this thought. I wonder if this is meant to be echoed in the Sun too? It is also about the truth and known things, and also features winged figures running free in a field.
I also love how the wings make this image much more active than typical Justice cards, with the lady sitting solemnly on a throne. I never really identified with her before, but it's like how Byrgypsy pointed out that the Sun & Moon character has a torn apron; it's a welcome world away from the cold, queenly figure I'm used to in Justice! I mean, ok, the traditional image conveys a sense of authority - but Justice is about so much more than that. The Sun & Moon image really emphasises the element of Air/Intellect, with a winged creature floating in the sky, the wind blowing her skirt to one side and her hair whirling up above her head in the gust.
And being physically high up is also very symbolic of how, to be truly unbiased in your decisions, you must distance yourself from a situation. When we're "in the thick of it", so to speak, we don't see the whole picture, just a snapshot of a wider issue. But Justice from her vantage point in the sky can see the WHOLE picture and make fairer decisions as a result.
Pam O said:
Also, her hair reminds me of 2 snakes intertwined. I don't know why, but that is what I see...
Justice does traditionally have a snake in many decks, so this could well be intentional on the artist's part!
Pam O said:
I do notice that her head is tipped towards the right side of the card (which would be her left side) so she is leaning toward the "logical" side. So the message I'm getting from this is to be more intuitive to balance our logical side.
I'd never have thought of this, thanks!
The weird thing is, when I studied this picture I got a very similar message about the need to balance logic with more "human" considerations, but from a different part of the picture. I looked at the heart balancing the feather on Justice's scales. I know Vanessa must have intended it to be a reference to the myth (I think it's Egyptian?) about your heart being weighed against a feather at death. But since so many Tarot decks associate the suit of Air and logic with birds and other flying creatures, I immediately saw the feather as a symbol of intellect instead. And it's being perfectly balanced against a flaming heart... Well, hearts are normally a symbol of our emotions, and fire usually denotes our intuition and passion.
So the message I got from this is that Justice takes into account not only pure logic and intellect; otherwise there wouldn't be much difference between her and, say, the Ace or King of Swords. Instead, Justice takes into account her intuition about a situation, people's motivations, their background, whether they are sorry for what they have done, how others have been affected by their actions and so on. All these "human" factors represented by the flaming heart, in addition to the rules and intellect of the feather. She looks at the entire picture rather than just the letter of the law. This approach gives a much fairer outcome than being totally clinical and cold in your judgements.
A good example would be Les Miserables, where the main character is sentenced to 5 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving sister and family. He then is sentenced to a further 14 years for trying to escape from prison. This "letter of the law" approach is often unduly harsh (or it can also be the opposite, unduly lenient), whereas a more reasonable system that looked at the character's motivations, and the amount of harm done, would be much more fair. This is the kind of Justice that I see in this image. From high above the earth, she can see the paths that have led everyone to their current actions, and take all this into account.
Topsy
