Judgement

The Egyptian god Thoth, known as god of writing, medicine and death would – upon death - weigh the heart of a person against the feather of truth to determine the fate of the soul. The Judgement card tells us that we are at a point in our lives (or situation) where we have to pause… This is a time of reckoning… and of judgement.

Who is the judge that weighs up the truth of our hearts, the truth of our situation or intent? For the purpose of this examination it is we ourselves who are our judge. Our conscience will do the judging of our hearts, for we cannot avoid or deceive ourselves indefinitely. This, as mentioned already, is a time of reckoning…

Jesus rises Lazarus from his tomb

The judgement card reminds us that it is time to examine our intent. Time to ‘measure’ ourselves as-it-were. Self-examination has become necessary as we brave-up to our reflection staring back at us in the all-revealing mirror. In doing so and in the process of self-examination and self-judgement we see too that this is a time of rebirth. So much of the path we have walked thusfar has lead to this very moment of truth, and as Lazarus of Bethany in the Christian bible was commanded by Jesus to rise from his tomb four days after his death, it becomes time for us to rise-up too once we have died off the unwanted in our pursuit of self-examination and truth. The time has arrived for us to accept the challenge and rewards of renewals after we have closely re-examined our intent. Upon determining that our hearts are true and our intent sound, this does indeed become a period of renewals. Renewal of commitment perhaps, or approach.  

Thoth weighs the heart against the feather of truth

In some Magic groups, upon initiation one’s measure is taken, length and sometimes width too. This cord is kept and safely guarded by the guardians of the group to be used, if necessary, to keep initiates in check. Just so when we use self-examination either by listening to our conscience or our concept of a God judging us, we need to measure what is good and bad in order to embark on a period of renewals. Be it a renewal of commitment perhaps, or approach; or pulling ourselves into check to remain on the straight and narrow.

Thus, this process of honest re-evaluation is what is called for when the Judgement card appears for us. This of course can and should be applied to almost any area of our lives. Our relationships with ourselves and others being one such area that may need honest scrutiny. It is wise to do regular ‘housekeeping’ within our relationships. We might need to ask ourselves tough questions such as whether we are adding an element of toxicity to a relationship, or whether the relationship itself has become toxic. It may be time to honestly re-evaluate whether we are investing as much as we could in the relationships in our lives. And how DO we relate to others that we have attracted into our lives? Is there room for improvement? Having said that, we may need to find the courage to remove ourselves from relationships that harm or damage us. We need to know that we are far too precious to be abused in any shape or form by anyone, including ourselves.

Thus the death of many things may occur when we find the courage to invest in honest self-examination. But, as the truth of our hearts and our intent are weighed-up at these deaths we will triumph over negativity – providing we judge ourselves and our lives with utmost integrity along our pursuit to live a life characterized by the truth reflected in our hearts.