Judgment Tarot Card Meaning

Judgment is the penultimate card of the deck and has an ‘almost made it’ vibe, pointing to one last big push, a final challenge to face before ultimate achievement is reached. And that challenge is usually facing, knowing and accepting yourself.

Judgment represents an awakening, a personal epiphany or revelation, a literal wake-up call. You need to see things clearly, let the scales fall from your eyes, and bring total honesty to where you’re at, who you are, and what you need to do. You are mastering yourself, evolving, growing, creating the 2.0 version of you that has been longing to emerge along this life path. It is a transcendent card.

Be judgmental, logical, objective and wise as you assess your position, personality, and trajectory. Know yourself and know your opportunity. How you evaluate yourself now will open new doors leading to your destiny. So be honest but also positive. Focus on your strengths, skills, and talents- the things that set you apart, that others notice, that radiate out. These are the qualities you should be building your life and living around. Finding your niche in this big, old world is a life’s mission and you are very close to it now. Don’t miss this opportunity to plan your route and take those final steps.

Forgive, forget, and release as you move ahead. This is a cross roads where you are encouraged and welcome to put down your grievances, regrets, sorrows, shame, anger, and self pity. Leave the misgivings of your past behind now. You don’t need them. Move ahead liberated of your old versions and their problems. They don’t serve you well anymore. You have changed, you are changing, you are becoming.

Self acceptance is also important. Stop comparing yourself to others and their ‘show reels’, pitting their strengths against your weaknesses. The only comparison that matters to you is that against your old self. You own trajectory is all that matters.

Reversed meaning: A reversed Judgment brings the shadow side of this card’s energy to the foreground.  There is doubt, mis-judgment, stagnation or poor logic which block the ability to progress, start afresh, reinvent or adapt to what’s happening and who you need to become. Reversed Judgment hints at a life not fully lived, for whatever reason. It can also hint at a preoccupation with others and their strengths, making the reader feel inferior and weak.

Astrological significance: Judgment is aligned to the planet Pluto, which is the planet of rebirth and transformation. Pluto represents the inevitable life cycle of all life, as in we are all born, live, and then we all die. This storyline is inescapable. Accepting it helps you to transcend the humdrum, the material, and the mundane to think and live more spiritually, cosmically, magically. We all also, though these lives, reinvent ourselves many times over. You now are different to you age 5. You are a constant work in progress. Lean in to that truth and keep turning the page, consciously designing new versions.

Scorpio is a fixed sign, positioned in the middle of a season, which lends Judgment the fixed ability to be a great analyst, attention-to-detail researcher, and dogged pursuer of truth and wisdom. It takes focus and sustained concentration to work on yourself and make lasting changes, this is the stuff of consistent effort and drive.

Scorpio is a Water sign which brings strong element of emotion and intuition to this card. Feelings run high with Judgment, we often feel things before we truly know or believe them. Follow your gut instincts here. Start with them.

Pluto is an outer planet, meaning it is a long way from Earth and its orbit is slow, so Pluto-related transits unfold over years vs months or weeks. Scorpio season starts at the end of October and lasts until the end of November, which may be when this card’s influence unfolds.

Numerological significance: The number 2 represents relationships, partnership, nurturing, care, support, and working in harmony with others. Judgment is about taking that attitude and applying it to yourself, to building a healthy, nurturing, positive, honest, and robust relationship with yourself so that you can recognise what’s going on, what you need to do, and do it without self-recrimination or doubt.

Key actions:

• Forgive and forget. Look at wrongs in your past, your own and others, and come to a new understanding of them, a more compassionate view of why they unfolded. No one (well, very few people) sets out to do ‘evil’, people think they’re doing what will make them happy, people get it wrong.
• Truly understand, accept, and celebrate your own strengths, skills, talents, and personality. Know that you are unique and special. Use what you’ve got to make a living.
• Release baggage, weight, grudges, fears, and expectations created by your past life. Decide to consciously turn the page and move ahead free of all of that.
• Ask for feedback. What makes you special, different, unique?
• Do your own self assessment on where you’re at right now in life. Look at key areas and make a judgment of how close to your ideal you are and what might need to happen to make a step closer.
• Set yourself a challenge aligned to your personal development and growth.
• Accept your flaws, issues, demons, bad decisions, wrongdoings, and mistakes. They happened. They are part of the fabric of your life and character, and as long as you atone, correct, and learn, they can turn out to be a positive thing. We learn from the negative more than the positive, it resonates deeper.
• Hold a mirror up to yourself. What do you see?
• Reinvent your outer self- physical changes, makeovers, new looks, social media overhaul, professional network revamp. Reinvent what others see.
• Be proud of who you are and where you’ve been and what you’ve done so far.

Yes / no meaning: This card has ‘YES’ energy as long as you are making a change, turning the page, starting afresh with a clear and authentic understanding of who you are (that is different to what you thought last week) and what you want. Total honesty, total alignment with your true self, total belief that this is your path.