elena_jaymz
Hi headincloud, thanks, I see these two cards in the same way.
Yes, Judgement is also about decisions, it's really up to us to make that important choice.
Death vs The Tower vs Judgement
MandMaud
Death as advice - I agree with accepting that some thing's truly gone. Over.
The Tower, I'm with Thirteen
plus the system (structure) to "knock down" is often one that you've spent time or energy building. And often, for me I think always, the Tower has suddenness. Death can be gradual - the change to be accepted can have been very insidious.
Also, Death is natural. It arises from the state of being alive. The end was there, embryonically, from the outset. Whereas with the Tower its source is external.
Judgement... Does anyone find this card NOT difficult? As advice : sometimes, to forgive. I think my go-to keyword for) Judgement is closure. With a tinge of overview.
Great question, I'm finding everyone's thoughts very useful.
The Tower, I'm with Thirteen
plus the system (structure) to "knock down" is often one that you've spent time or energy building. And often, for me I think always, the Tower has suddenness. Death can be gradual - the change to be accepted can have been very insidious. Also, Death is natural. It arises from the state of being alive. The end was there, embryonically, from the outset. Whereas with the Tower its source is external.
Judgement... Does anyone find this card NOT difficult? As advice : sometimes, to forgive. I think my go-to keyword for) Judgement is closure. With a tinge of overview.
Great question, I'm finding everyone's thoughts very useful.
MandMaud
PS Sometimes the Tower as advice is saying you need to be the lightning. Hard as it can be to bring an end to something. I mean need to put an end to someone else's "structure". Can be very painful.
elena_jaymz
Hi MandMaud, thanks for your reply.
Exactly.
True! The Tower change takes place suddenly, that's another reason why it's so shocking.The Tower, I'm with Thirteen
I agree.
Yes, it's one of the most difficult cards of the deck. I agree about the forgiveness aspect.
Thank you
elena_jaymz
Yeah, I'm with you on this.
Nemia
In general, I prefer to see cards as "action items" than just as things that happen to us but much depends on the question. If the spread position is advice, it can have two meanings: the advice to accept something even if it's unpleasant, or the advice to do something. Even Death, Tower and Judgement can be read both ways.
Death - yes, accepting that something has died for us and letting it go. I like to stress the active part of letting it go, letting it pass. A dream, a feeling, a project, a hope - if we continue to cling to it, we'll get emotional sepsis. This thing has grown fungus and is old and rotten. Let it pass away by itself and if you can - remove it.
Tower - this is one of the few cards where I feel that something happens over which we have no influence - that's the core meaning of the card. We can read it as "shake that boat" or "break that bond" or "rattle that cage", but this is really the one card where often all we can do is accept it and hope that ultimatively, it's for the best. It's an earthquake card, and the best advice may be to take cover and wait until it's over, collecting inner strength to deal with the aftermath.
Judgement - indeed one of the most difficult cards of the deck to read for me. It has something really terrible to it, the calling of the angel and the rising of the dead. I always think of the anastasis or harrowing of Hell - do the dead want to be called? how do we deal with this deep inner call that makes our former conceptions crumble?
There is joy and comfort in this card, the epiphany and deeper understanding, but it is definitely an uncomfortable card with this meeting of life and death, heaven and earth. Tower and Death don't frighten me, Judgement sometimes does.
As advice, I'd read it as the need to rid ourselves of every pre-fabricated conception, to reflect upon ourselves down to our bones, and to open our ears to the angel's trumpet. This angel, more often or not, is the truth that we knew but pushed back, or karma that comes back to bite us. And it can be a difficult truth. It may call us to do something we tried to avoid. I feel Judgement is very deeply related to ourselves, who we are and how we have lived our lives. We are the angel, we are the dead, and we are the spectator who sees them rise.
I hope I make sense somehow.
Death - yes, accepting that something has died for us and letting it go. I like to stress the active part of letting it go, letting it pass. A dream, a feeling, a project, a hope - if we continue to cling to it, we'll get emotional sepsis. This thing has grown fungus and is old and rotten. Let it pass away by itself and if you can - remove it.
Tower - this is one of the few cards where I feel that something happens over which we have no influence - that's the core meaning of the card. We can read it as "shake that boat" or "break that bond" or "rattle that cage", but this is really the one card where often all we can do is accept it and hope that ultimatively, it's for the best. It's an earthquake card, and the best advice may be to take cover and wait until it's over, collecting inner strength to deal with the aftermath.
Judgement - indeed one of the most difficult cards of the deck to read for me. It has something really terrible to it, the calling of the angel and the rising of the dead. I always think of the anastasis or harrowing of Hell - do the dead want to be called? how do we deal with this deep inner call that makes our former conceptions crumble?
There is joy and comfort in this card, the epiphany and deeper understanding, but it is definitely an uncomfortable card with this meeting of life and death, heaven and earth. Tower and Death don't frighten me, Judgement sometimes does.
As advice, I'd read it as the need to rid ourselves of every pre-fabricated conception, to reflect upon ourselves down to our bones, and to open our ears to the angel's trumpet. This angel, more often or not, is the truth that we knew but pushed back, or karma that comes back to bite us. And it can be a difficult truth. It may call us to do something we tried to avoid. I feel Judgement is very deeply related to ourselves, who we are and how we have lived our lives. We are the angel, we are the dead, and we are the spectator who sees them rise.
I hope I make sense somehow.
MandMaud
You have made me think, Nemia. I found myself starting to think: Judgement is a difficult card because none of us has done death yet, it is unimaginable for us while we are living. Which of course made me realise it would more obviously be the Death card I should say that about!
So maybe... Death is about the death/ending of something/someone *else* - not oneself, but someone that one cares about - whereas Judgement is about one's own end. I'm not stating this as my opinion, it's an option that has just come to me. It would explain why we can't get a handle on Judgement, whereas we have experienced Death many times in our lives (from infancy on) and so that is comprehensible to an extent.
(Also, whenever I use the word 'end', I want to clarify - it is not 'finish' which means coming to a conclusion; and it isn't 'stop' which means cease, regardless of whether the thing is finished or not. It encompasses both in my opinion, those two are "subsets" of 'end'; a finish and stopping are two kinds of end.
If this bit is too nit-picky for anyone, ignore me!)
So maybe... Death is about the death/ending of something/someone *else* - not oneself, but someone that one cares about - whereas Judgement is about one's own end. I'm not stating this as my opinion, it's an option that has just come to me. It would explain why we can't get a handle on Judgement, whereas we have experienced Death many times in our lives (from infancy on) and so that is comprehensible to an extent.
(Also, whenever I use the word 'end', I want to clarify - it is not 'finish' which means coming to a conclusion; and it isn't 'stop' which means cease, regardless of whether the thing is finished or not. It encompasses both in my opinion, those two are "subsets" of 'end'; a finish and stopping are two kinds of end.
If this bit is too nit-picky for anyone, ignore me!
)elena_jaymz
Hi Nemia, thanks for your insights. I agree about this.
I see this card in the same way.
Mmm yes, The Tower is usually caused by an external factor and you can't do much about it, I mean it's hard to ignore it
it's painful, but necessary.I see that, some inner calls are frightening, that's why we often tend to repress them
so yes, this card is problematic, because it's about karma as well, indeed we have the Judgement Day here, if you kept to the straight and narrow, you have nothing fear, but if you were a sinner, you'll go to hell so yes, you cannot escape from Judgement, a very scary card, but it's the last step to completion after all as well as probably the last one to live the life you really want at last. You did!
elena_jaymz
I think you're right Mandmaud. Death is often about moving on from an external loss, while Judgement is about us, that is letting our old us die and when it comes to us, especially with changes, it's always hard.
MandMaud
Yes - I was literally thinking aloud or rather typing as fast as I was thinking, when I suggested that, but the more I think about it the more I think it fits.
