#8 Justice
Justice must eternally calibrate the cycle of hate and love
Please read about the Tarot Tracklist for my approach working with tarot cards.
The Chariot whisks me away from the Realm of Gods and deposits me in a new realm, the Realm of Earthly Reality and Ego Consciousness. Before, our hero was led by the the internal God-like archetypes. Today, we are on land, and the Gods are only whispers on the wind. The first card in this new land is none other than Justice.
Justice is a checkpoint. A moment to pause and look around. To stand on the cliff and look out, look ahead. Note the obstacles that lie ahead, then look behind at what you’ve overcome. Ask yourself, “Is how I’ve been moving the way I want to continue to move?” Calibrate. Hold your values on one side, then weigh your past actions against it. All of it. Your values allow grace and accountability, not perfection.
When embodying this archetype, remember the interconnection of Libra, Justice, and Venus. Libra rules Justice, and Venus—planet of love and beauty—governs Libra. Libra is a social sign. This card is very much about balancing how you act in the external world with your internal values.
I’m not sure many people would immediately think of Justice as a card of love and beauty. Justice is threatening. After all, she carries a sword. But Justice is not brazenly swinging her sword in battle or war. Justice wields her sword discerningly. She is not unaware of the need to bite back. She balances these energies through the creation of beauty and love and art.
Justice reminds us we are all innocent and we are all guilty.
Let me give you an example of my relationship with Justice. Are you ready to see the worst version of me? I’m ready to share, if you’re willing to witness the ugliest thing about me.
I am a cheater.
Not a onetime cheater. During my long distance relationship, I’ve kissed other men, I’ve texted other guys, I was the disingenuous person on the apps. I argued this as justifiable because I was too ugly to actually pull someone. A tragically pathetic, self-absorbed excuse.
Icarus will always fly too close to the sun, and the consequences will always come.
After a compound of damaging decisions, I finally broke my boyfriend’s heart. I wasted countless hours chasing the desirability of men (as a whole), only to break the heart of the actual man who loves me.
“I’m not some heartless person. I’m not with you out of some obligation.”
Even writing this, I want to desperately explain the nuances to you. Patriarchy! White supremacist violence! Sexism! Fatphobia! My mom!
All true. I am very much the product of my environment. And my relationship is the product of my actions.
The sword of Justice relates to language and discernment.
When I was on a two-hour drive home from my sister’s apartment, I encountered Justice through Esther Perel. She was having a guest on one of those NYC dating podcasts.
Cheating is not black and white. Justice holds nuance. She doesn’t ignore the reality of the imperfect system that we are all forced to live within. She demands accountability. When I was listening, I felt the familiar excuses rise, the indignation that yes, I was wrong, but how else am I supposed to be? Her sword quickly cut across my skin.
“Objection! I am aware of your insecurities, and I have noted them for clarity. Keep to the actions of the story.”
Three years ago, I stopped running from my actions. Not just my cheating, but also my accountability to how I was playing into a bullshit desire to need male validation. The years I wasted caring about validation from people I didn’t like. I needed to bare witness to all of this and the pain and emotional abuse I had inflicted on my boyfriend.
Later that year, I’d also start therapy. Highly recommend not trying to maneuver Justice’s accountability alone.
Who is Justice?
The concept of Justice can be found in the Spike Lee film, Do The Right Thing. If you are white and have not seen this movie, it’s now at the top of your queue.
There are key questions about Justice in this movie. And there’s not a satisfying answer. The whole movie tilts, then centers, only to tilt again. There is a constant parry of racial tensions in the community. It escalates and, as too many of us are familiar, a Black unarmed man is murdered by police officers.
Where is Justice in this movie? Mookie gets paid. Sal will receive insurance money after the looting of his store. It’s dissatisfying. Radio Raheem is dead, murdered in front of his community. Kids, teenagers, adults, older adults all helplessly witnessed the death of their friend at the hands of a few cops.
The cops tell everyone to go home. Mookie yells back, “This is our home.”
Lee wraps the movie all up brilliantly with quotes at the end of the movie, quotes that seem opposing.
The first is an MLK Jr. quote over the use of non-violence. The second is a Malcolm X quote over violence as a means of self-defense, is intelligence. Justice asks you to bring these quotes into equilibrium with each other.
Robert Ebert’s review says it best.
“Some of the advance articles about this movie have suggested that it is an incitement to racial violence. Those articles say more about their authors than about the movie. I believe that any good-hearted person, white or black, will come out of this movie with sympathy for all of the characters. Lee does not ask us to forgive them, or even to understand everything they do, but he wants us to identify with their fears and frustrations. ‘Do the Right Thing’ doesn’t ask its audiences to choose sides; it is scrupulously fair to both sides, in a story where it is our society itself that is not fair.”
Important characteristics to understand Justice:
Equilibrium
Greatest good for all
State of adjustment
Take and give
Impulse control
Actions have consequences
People/Characters that embody Justice:
Ballet dancers
Mavis Staples
Nina Simone
The Janes
Sister Helen Prejean
Death penalty abolitionists
Mookie, Do The Right Thing
Polyonomy of divinities (Themis, Ma’at, Nemesis, Dike, Astræa, etc.)
The Song of Justice
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood by Nina Simone
Simone’s underlying civil rights connotations and symbolism are well known. There’s an urgency and resignation to this song, for me. Everyone is misunderstood. I misunderstand others, intentionally or not. People misunderstand me. At the checkpoint of Justice, it’s time to hold ourselves accountable and sweep up the ashes.
Archetype Playlist
My one goal for this playlist is to honor Venus as much as possible. The creation of this playlist helped me calibrate my understanding of Justice—the charming, loving Justice who balances the chaos with beauty.
Visual Intentions for Justice
My final thoughts on Justice:
Seek justice for yourself, go to therapy.
Justice is #8 in Marseilles deck and #11 in modern decks. Both capture the theme of equilibrium and balance.
There is no one-size-fits-perfectly-for-every-single-imaginable-situation. Sometimes (see most times), it’s not going to be perfect. The goal is to the do the greatest good for the most people involved.
Watch Midnight Gospel episode 5 to better understand how to bring Justice into your life.
The Venutian beauty is found in a prison’s hospice. PRISON TERMINAL: THE LAST DAYS OF PRIVATE JACK HALL. It’s $3.99 to rent.
Inigo Montoya’s justice.