Hi, welcome to the web site of Toni Allen
Surrey UK based Tarot Reader, Astrologer and Creative Artist.
Learn Tarot Online
This site is owned and maintained by Toni Allen
Copyright © 2000 - 2006 Toni Allen. All Rights reserved.
Judgement Tarot Card Interpretation
The Judgement tarot card sits at number 20
In tarot Judgement represents a wake up call, a split second in which one is able to rise up out of the darkness of samskara and change oneself or ones life for the better. It is a realisation after a period of confusion or misunderstanding.
If we follow through the major tarot cards in linear progression we might well have thought that by the time we arrived at the Sun card that we had truly “arrived” in a state of bliss. However, for every part of our samskara that we deal with their are other levels and layers lurking deep within us that will eventually erupt and present themselves and demand attention.
With the Sun card we can truly fall into the trap of believing that life is fulfilled and happy and that there is nowhere else to go except heaven. However, it is often into these quiet, blissful moments that something drastic happens which wakes us up to the fact that we still have a long way to go.
The graves, tombs and dark pits which we see the figures rising up out of towards the sound of the trumpeting angel are symbolic of the darkness that we all constantly live in. They are ignorance, and there is a phrase which states that ignorance is bliss.
Numerologically the number twenty is composed of the number 2, zero, 2 x 10, and 4 x 5.
Number 2 is The High Priestess symbolising all of the things we do not know.
Zero is the Fool symbolising freedom.
10 is The Wheel of Fortune symbolising the continuity of ups and downs during life, and the cycles of life, death and rebirth.
Number 4 is the Emperor symbolising a sense of “I Am”.
Number 5 is The Pope symbolising sound and the etheric level.
If we analyse these numbers and the patterns they create within number 20 we come to an understanding of how our sense of identity (I Am) may be be changed and freed (zero) through the knowledge (High Priestess) that suddenly arises through the ethers (5). The correspondence with 10 lets us know that this is not a one off event but something we may experience time and time again.
In our everyday lives we experience the Judgement card as a Eureka moment, which means “I have found it”. We all have bits and pieces of our lives, or current problems, that don’t make sense. We fuss and stress over them and everything gets more tangled. Then one day we switch off for a short while and the answer quite suddenly appears as if from nowhere. Hence in a reading where the questioner is thinking too much the Judgement card advises to stop thinking and start letting things simply be, as the answer will be shown.
Often the Judgement card is accompanied by physical evidence that is required to substantiate a particular point. I recall for one client how she truly believed that, during her current divorce, she would lose her rights to a foreign property she owned with her husband. The Judgement card was prominent in her reading showing that there was a piece of evidence yet to be found that would sway her argument with the courts,during her current divorce and that she wouldn’t have to walk away empty handed. “There is nothing more to be found,” she said sadly. “My solicitor has every document.” A few weeks later she phoned me in a state of heated excitement. “I was cleaning out an old cupboard and found ancient bank statements showing that I’d paid the mortgage on the foreign property,” she exclaimed. “They literally came to light! And now my solicitor says I should be able to win my fair share.”
For other clients I have seen it as the moment they discover that their partner is having an affair. One client had already confronted her husband and asked if he was having an affair which he had hotly denied. Some months later she had innocently answered his mobile phone while he was in the shower only to find the mistress herself at the other end.
Another pertinent interpretation for the Judgement card is when someone is looking for a medical diagnosis. Often having the unwellness named goes a long way to aiding recovery and establishing correct treatment, and in these circumstances the Judgement card always signifies a positive result.
When the Judgement tarot card is reversed it signifies that one is kept in the dark or unable to break out of current difficulties. Ironically individuals who have this card reversed are often more likely to believe that they will find the answers than those who have it upright. Over the years I have come to understand that these types are more likely to be physically orientated rather than spiritually based and tend to skip over the larger dilemmas in life rather than truly dealing with them, thus building more samskara for future incarnations.