A Justice Reading~ Mystic Dream Tarot Deck. 08/18/10

"Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land the Eternal (YHVH), your god, is giving to you."

(Deut. 16:20 From The Torah)

(the five books of Moses, Deuteronomy is the last)

St. Augustine said "When God wants us to hear something, He says it twice." I study and practice The Tarot. Yesterday and today i got the major arcana card XI Justice. Justice twice. I've been going through the book Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, in the book she goes through each card one at a time and at the end has reading layouts that correspond to the Major Card you just read about. The Justice card traditionally refers to legal and court affairs, but what was interesting was her take on Justice without legal situations. Justice of Self. Justice in following our genuine inmost nature. truly trusting who we are.


this past weekend, i was going through pretty bad personal silly things, 2 days picking XI Justice. i realized that, hardly coincidentally, i was to the chapter on Justice in the book. i usually wait for a sort of nudge before going on in the book, depending on my personal life. each time i get a sign, i read on in the book, and each time the chapter is totally talking about what i was going through. The author even mentions her own experience with getting the word Justice twice. so i read the chapter and got to the end where you do the reading.

(roughly how the spread looked like, i did it in Paint to give an idea)

Each position is where a card goes and there are questions that go with each position. so the theory is the card that you flip over on the spot is the situation or sometimes answer to the question. The spread is laid out to represent the Scales of Justice. Now I'm going to take you through the reading (now that I've given some back ground information) how i do readings for Myself and others. I'm going to try to include some inner dialogue that i think to myself during the readings with a ** symbol...


1- What is Outer Justice

-card: 10 of Wands

-*I really have no idea! how is a card that's about burdens and carrying loads have anything to do with Justice?!*
Ok, the question is "What is outer Justice?" and the card is the 10 of wands. To figure this out, first you have to ask "Well, what IS Outer Justice?" The word Outer is Outside. Outside ourselves.*ok that's simple* The form of Justice I'm using isn't legal, it's personal, so Justice in the "True to Self" sense. So the question is asking "How am i presenting myself in my life right now to my friends, family and coworkers (outer), and how is that presentation being True to Myself? *ha!*
So now that the question makes sense, how do you incorporate the card, the 10 of wands? *psh! i still have no idea!* so what i usually do in this situation when i just don't know is get out the books! the 10 of Wands like i said usually implies burdens and needing to delegate. ask for help. *but i don't do anything except work... that doesn't make any sense at all!* then i read in handouts about the 10 of wands my Teacher gave us during my class on tarot. it said "if you love your work but it's all consuming, you may be too narrowly focused in one area. Balance your life with other interests." *Oh there it is* looking at it that way i figured out the card and question were addressing my "Either's". I'm either ALL about work during my work week, to only being about my boyfriend. Work. Him. Nothing else. So then, when he's off doing his things, i get mad and jealous because he has other things besides me. and i don't. *of course* so! the 10 of wands in the "What is Outer Justice" position is talking about my invisible burdens. the burdens i place on myself because i DON'T have physical burdens to deal with (if that makes any sense at all). i don't have school, i don't have hobbies, i don't have projects. all i have is Work or Him. *ok ok next freaking card...angry face*


2-What is the Wisdom of Pursuing it? (IT being question #1)
*What is with these confusing questions?!*


-card: XX Judgement
*of course*


So! the major arcana card XX Judgement is all about Rebirth, letting go of the past, Change, and making a moral inventory. the wisdom in pursuing the 10 of wands (balancing life with other interests) would be XX Judgement- an initiation of sorts, to be reborn into a life that has more to do than just work or Boy.*easy enough* so that leads us to:


3-What action is best?


-card: Queen of Pentacles


-What action is best, meaning what action is best to take now that i know what my outer self is like in public (10 of wands) and what wisdom i could gain from pursuing a changed life (XX judgement). The Queen of Pentacles. So a card i never really associate myself with. The Queen is about house keeping *Dad don't even start* and creative projects and crafts. She is loving, and nurturing. i always envision the Perfect Relief society leaders, the ones that run the perfect house that do all of the crafts *i really really really Hate crafts*. so what is the answer to what action is best? What i got was this: i need to start creating. The Queen of Pentacles likes feeling accomplished. "Crossing things of her lists". I need to do these things for myself. By myself. Something to do for ME, not for work, not for Boy but for ME. The accomplished description reminded me of an article in a magazine i saw about Jennifer Hudson. she's been doing weight watchers and has lost a ton of weight and she said in this article that she loves the challenge, and loves challenging herself and showing herself she can do it. i haven't felt that way about anything for a long long time. i feel like i need to challenge myself with something and, like the Queen of Pentacles, to do it and be proud of myself. Right now, in life i dont have anything that's mine, and oddly enough that emptiness, that invisible burden (10 of wands) will lighten by adding more physical strain. and by letting go of past issues (XX Judgement) will balance my outer Justice! *PHEW! that was pretty cool how those three cards on the Scale spread worked out... time for the next scale*


4-What is Inner Justice?


-card: 9 of wands


-Inner Justice = 9 of wands. *hmm* well we talked about Outer Justice as being how we are publicly (outer) so Inner Justice is How we are true to ourselves on the inside. the 9 of wands is about wounds and scars. about Wary Defensiveness. in the Guide book to this deck it talks about being dissatisfied with something. how the girl in the picture is just concentrating on the one Wand that isn't blooming while there are 8 more Wands blooming in the background. sometimes, no matter how much anyone does right by me, no matter how many times I'm more happy with a person then mad, i always tend to dwell on the negative. and that negativity grows in my mind and starts beating me up and giving me more bruises on top of the ones that where already there. this bully in my head taunts me,dissatisfies me, and makes me become defensive against the people closes to me that i love. that bully feeds images into my head about things that they could possibly do to hurt me and shows me what to hang onto to use against them. to not really trust the people i love. My inner justice is wounded and scarred. "Even if we aren't hurt physically, our psyches are wounded. Our openness, innocence and trust are gone, replaces by Wary Defensiveness".


5-What part do I play? (regarding Inner Justice)


-card: III The Empress


-*Does this surprise me? NO!* III The Empress in the Major Arcana can be described as the Empress over all the Queens. Out of all the Queens, the Queen of Pentacles (see question 3) is the MOST like the Empress in regards to description. Both nurturing and Loving and Creative. The Empress though, is more like Mother Earth. Where as The Queen is more to do with daily things and personality traits. The Empress is about Life/Death cycles and birth and fertility. She loving holds all forms of life. "What part do I play?" The Guidebook to the deck said: "Your role is to nurture without forcing or neglecting your project. pay attention to where you are in the cycle of your project or situation and take the proper steps. there is great potential for abundance if good care is given. this may require Action on your part or it may require a time of waiting." The bully inside my head is always hurting my feelings, and making me doubt myself and others.Kicking me in the shins, pulling my hair... For Inner Justice, to get rid of the bully that creates the 9 of wands, i need to be Motherly. Both the Queen Of Pentacles (outer justice) and The Empress (inner justice). if they saw a bully picking on their children, they would take the kid home by the ear, have a good talking to with the kids parents about bullying, and take their own child home and baby them, and hold them and love them. The Part I Play for Inner Justice is to be that mother that pays attention and watches her kids and who nurtures the life process. *and for those of you who were following along with the spread you may find it interesting that the Queen and the Empress are next to each other in their positioning... just saying*


6- How Will Justice Come About?


-card: XVIII The Moon.


-(From the Tarot Wisdom book) "As the central card of the 4th triad **a triad is what you get when you take all the Major arcana cards and lay them out in order from 0 to 21 in rows of 7, then you read going down** with the Emperor above (justice) and the Moon below, Justice balances Structure And Mystery." the book also goes on to explain numerology and how you can get a different Triad with The High Priestess, Justice and Judgement (see question 2). SO! So far in my justice reading i have pulled 2 cards that both sync up to the book and the triads concerning Justice. XX Judgement Outer and XVIII the Moon Inner. "Only by facing fears (inner subconscious symbolized by the deep water and the crab) can progress be made." How Will Justice come about? "Through a roller coaster ride of emotions!" With the moon card i can choose between 2 things:"Wander through this crazy, lunatic landscape howling at the Moon (wallow in depression, alienate friends and family with wild antisocial behavior) or GET ON THE PATH AND GO THROUGH IT PURPOSEFULLY." *because it's easier said then done to give Justice to your Inner Self!* with the moon card "You must travel in the dark, not knowing for sure if your path is the right one. There is no sunlight to guide you, no distant landmark in the hills to direct your steps, no one to travel alongside. this is a journey that must be made alone in the darkness, without a map or compass. You must learn to rely on your own inner light to lead you along the true path"


7- What is the Link between Inner and Outer Justice?

-card: Page of Cups


*oh no please dont start crying...*


-the link between Inner and Outer Justice is ME: The Page Of Cups. As soon as i turned over the card i thought to myself "It's like past Bridget came to talk to Future Bridget about my issues". Me: That girl that could be in the world but not of it. Who's head was always in the clouds but whose feet were always on the ground. Who loved deeply and unconditionally. who saw magic in everything. Who Imagined. That used to be me! i wonder what Past Bridget thought about Future Bridget when she saw me. did it scare her away seeing all this darkness inside of what once was her? did she even want to be around me?
The Tarot Wisdom book talked about the heart. It said "the heart chakra (or center or what have you) is right in the middle, between 3 chakras of physicality below and 3 of awareness above. The Heart forms the boarder, the place where Above and Below join together. What weighs down the heart-when we seek to 'come into the light' is guilt, fear and shame. What opens the heart, makes it weightless, is Justice."

So, what the whole spread basically boils down to is to

Know Thy Self.

When you know your self

problems aren't so problematic.

So that's the tarot for you! well, in my world anyhow...