Hanson Roberts-XI Justice

Satori

I need help with this one.
I love this deck, and I only own the little mini version, not the larger full sized one. In Justice, a crowned woman who reminds me somewhat of Joan of Arc, is wearing armor, chain mail to be exact, is robed in red with some kind of white and potentially fur collar, and holds a sword and the scales in her hands.

My problem with the card is her hair is over the chain mail. So it looks like a wig to me, because it doesn't make sense to me to have her hair over the mail. I would prefer it if she were wearing just the chain mail....no hair at all...because the hair should be under the armour? Right?

What do other people think?
 

sapienza

I agree that it's rather strange that her hair is over the armour. This might be somewhat of a stretch, but it's all I can think of.... if she is associated with the Astrological sign of Libra, which fits with the idea of balance, logic etc, it's also a sign of grace and beauty. So logically she has the armour to protect herself, but she's not going to sacrifice her graceful looks by hiding her beautiful long hair away. I guess maybe it's another representation of finding a balance between practicality and vanity, or logic and emotion even.

Not sure if that will be of any help. I'm only quite new to this deck myself.
 

Satori

OK, what the card speaks to for me is the idea of balance, whether by force or by choice. The sense that if you set something into motion that is out of balance, or that sets the scales tipping, you will pay the price of bringing them back into balance. That whatever you need to do to bring things right, you will need to do.

The diamond pattern on her clothing is interesting, because there is balance there but also a skew to things....So that I think what we think of as balance may not be the whole story. Also the smaller diamonds that are within the larger diamond seem to hint at there being layers to Justice, that each act builds upon the acts before, so that you have the sense of karmic balance across time, perhaps across lifetimes.
 

HoneyBea

This has made me look at the HR Justice card a little more closely than I had before, mainly because it bears the same symbols as a lot of other Justice cards. Armour can in this case not so much be about protection but maybe above defensiveness, her willingness her to defend her principals those by which she hands out her justice. When I take a look at her she wears a crown of white and has a white collar to her cloak . The Crown of course represents authority and in white could well allude to the highest expression of the personal self and of course is the colour of truth, and illumination. Her red cloak that surrounds her armour could symbolism here the self confidence she has to take the necessary action and the sense of purpose she may well feel.

I have read that Red and White are alchemical colours and together here in her cloak could well signify pure intention with action. Of course the scales represent balance and weighing up and the sword for clarity and cutting to the truth. Behind her head is a cloth of purple, a colour I always associate with wisdom and of higher/spiritual knowledge and insight — the ability to look within and see the truth.

Justice is a card that asks one to look at their selves with objectivity and honesty in order to understand where they are in life and what they stand for. It makes us realise that where we are today is because of the actions we took yesterday.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to look at this little card in more depth. :)

~HoneyBea~
 

Morwenna

There's another detail to this card: the purple drape is between two columns, but if you look closely you can see that around the edges of the drape (sides and top) there is blue sky.

She is a part of a man-made system (being framed by the pillars and the drape), but she represents something much larger in scope (represented by the sky beyond the artifices of mankind).