← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 12/121
Justice
Justice is the card of fairness and of consequences: weighing a situation honestly, taking responsibility for one's part in it, and making a clear decision. It is often read as a reminder that actions have results, and that a balanced, truthful view is worth more than a comfortable one.
The image
A crowned figure in a red robe sits between two grey pillars, a purple veil hung behind. The right hand holds a double-edged sword pointing straight up; the left holds a pair of scales. The sword is usually taken as clear thinking that cuts both ways, the scales as the weighing of evidence, and the steady, forward gaze as impartiality.
Upright
Truth, fairness, accountability and sound judgement. Waite gives "equity, rightness, probity, executive" and the deserving side winning a dispute. In everyday life it can point to an honest conversation, a decision made on the facts, a contract or agreement, or simply owning a mistake and putting it right. It tends to favour whoever has acted in good faith.
Reversed
Waite lists bias, excessive severity and complications in formal matters. Modern readers often see an imbalance: unfairness given or received, avoiding responsibility, a judgement clouded by self-interest, or being too hard on oneself. Some readers do not use reversals at all.
Correspondences
Major Arcana card XI in the Rider–Waite–Smith deck. Older decks, including the Marseille tradition, number Justice VIII and Strength XI; the Golden Dawn swapped them so that the order of the cards follows the order of the signs, and Waite's deck kept the swap, giving Strength 8 and Justice 11. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, Justice is the Hebrew letter Lamed (the ox-goad), the 22nd path on the Tree of Life, and the sign of Libra; its element is air. French (Papus) tradition attributes some Majors differently.
In a reading
In the past, Justice can describe a decision whose consequences are still unfolding. As an obstacle, it may point to an imbalance that needs facing honestly. As advice, it asks for fairness and clear facts; as an outcome, a result that tends to match what was put in. Beside Judgement it often reads as a reckoning that brings closure.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Sign: Libra
Element: Air — the element of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius
Mode: Cardinal — Libra is a cardinal sign