Greenwood Week - Day Two - Justice

Greenwood Tarot, Ryan & Potter 1996

One of the many curiosities of the Greenwood Tarot is that the majors are not in the traditional order. This is probably why they don't have numbers on the cards, as it could confuse people. Instead, the cards are arranged in Wheel of the Year order. By this reckoning, created as far as I know by Mark Ryan,  Justice falls as trump number 4, at Spring Equinox.

Chesca herself seems to have thought of the cards more firmly in the traditional order, possibly linking them numerically with the minors. Either that, or she decided to present them in the order we're familiar with in her online guide book. She places Justice in position 8, and then follows that with words about each of the minor 8s. We can see Chesca's thoughts about the Greenwood here, where she states:



'Position on wheel: Spring Equinox
Element: Fire 
Chakra: brow
Colour: red. 
Polarity: red 

There is strength in this card, that will not tolerate injustice. The deer speaks with the voice of nature itself. This card is particularly applicable at the moment when so many forests are being destroyed. The figure stands firmly, watching you with ancient eyes; tangled moss-covered branches of the Wildwood are animated by the spring sap. The red dawn sky emphasises the reawakened will to act. In one hand it holds the cutting edge of the axe, in the other a shield, upon which is an oak tree, a symbol of injustice thwarted; of the dispossessed in the Greenwood mythos defending themselves, and their natural right to live off the bounty of the land. Justice is placed in the element of fire as it was the human discovery of fire which gave us the ability both to destroy nature and warm and protect oneself. Humans have so often misused this position, acting without care or responsibility. The energies in both Justice and The Archer cards require steadiness of intention; integrity of thought, and wise action. If unharnessed, one becomes selfish and headstrong; impetuous impatience leads to ineffective action. Justice is a strong and powerful ally; a guide to a wise balance between action and defence.'

The figure in the card is a guardian of justice. But that doesn't mean he rewards the right and punishes the wrong. Mark Ryan says, 'The concepts of forgiveness or reward are not appropriate in Justice. They are human ideas which have no reality in natural lore. One reaps what one has sown.'

He goes on to say, 'We must, as individuals, constantly observe the rules and regulations of society, and these can fluctuate as the views and knowledge of civilization change. Whether on a political or moral level, we subconsciously know when a realignment of our perception is due.'

Or as Maya Angelou said, 'Do right. Just do right. Right may not be expedient. It may not be profitable. But it will satisfy your soul. It brings you the kind of protection that bodyguards can't give you.  Try to live your life so that you will not regret years of useless virtue, and inertia, and timidity. Take up the battle -- take it up. Pick up the battle and make it a better world, just where you are.'

Celtic Shamans Pack

The oracle card from Celtic Shaman's Pack, by John Matthews and Chesca Potter, which I've drawn today to accompany Justice is The Eagle, which stands for wisdom, aspiration and clear-sightedness. All of these are essential qualities if we want to achieve and receive justice in our dealings, our lives and our world.

Today may I have the strength, clear-sightedness, and higher perspective of the Eagle, so that I can deal with others justly, and that others may be just in their dealings with me.

Tarot and the 12 Steps: 7-9

This is post 3 of 4 examining how the first 12 tarot majors fit the 12 steps of addiction recovery.

Introduction
Steps 1-3
Steps 4-6

 7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 

The Lovers card usually shows some type of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden scenario, which we see here, pointedly absent of the angel Gabriel, but with a split-bodied Cupid and a rather hairy looking serpent slithering between Adam's legs. Interesting... But what would Adam and Eve have to do with us 'humbly asking [God] to remove our shortcomings'? It's complicated.

In the Garden of Eden is where our 'shortcomings' emerged. It's there that we became self-aware, and thus where remorse and shame originated. Shortcomings like dishonesty, fear, pride, greed, envy, blame, harmful acts, and resentment -- all of these emerged because of self-awareness, because we learned to compare ourselves to perfection and understood that we could never, ever measure up to it. It's not our imperfections, then, that we need to 'humbly ask [God] to remove' -- it's our shame at being imperfect, and the things we do as a result of that shame.

I told you it was complicated.

Summer Solstice Reading 2014

This is my summer solstice spread for 2014. I shuffled the cards very well and laughed when I drew the Sun as the first card.

1. Sunrise - What is beginning in my life? - Sun
2. High noon - What is my greatest power right now? What should be my sharpest focus? - Dreamer Two (2 of Swords)
3. What is winding down in my life right now? - Justice
4. What is under the surface, at rest for the moment? - Dancer Three (3 of Cups)

Sunrise
I'm entering a new phase of optimism, success and achievement in my life. The figure in the Sun card beckons directly to the viewer to join hands and dance around the hill, which resembles Glastonbury Tor, topped by a tree framed by the sun, which is also the faery glyph. The little butterfly fluttering between us and the figure is a symbol of rebirth. It is also me, freshly emerged from my chrysalis, seeing everything with new eyes. Can you imagine what it would be like to be fresh born, looking around for the first time, feeling yourself moving for the first time, and the first sight you see is this scene? Nothing but joy and wonder would ever have been your portion. You emerge from your shell to go directly upward toward bliss. My, my.

 The sun in the card shows its great power, as it is the source of all life after all. The sidhe join hands and progress up the hill in a snake-like procession, toward the Source and the Tree of Life. This is kundalini rising, it is enlightenment of a kind. The upward spiral image is used to characterise kundalini and the awakening of bliss. Eion Finn refers to joy as an 'upward spiral.' We know that life itself is an upward spiral, we can see it in the form of the double helix of DNA. We see here in the card, the bottom of the card is somewhat murky in colour, though creatures of flight abound - birds, fluttering bugs and butterflies of various types. There are also some rounded objects in the two lower corners that look like geodes, a word that itself means 'earth-like'. The red-haired sidhe beckons me to join the creatures of the earth in a spiral dance into the greenness of life, upward, to return to source, to return to the True Self.

The card does not point to specific events necessarily, but an overall feeling of happiness and radiance. It is the start of my time to shine. Combined with the other cards, it suggests ways to gain in self-confidence and personal power, and that success and hope are on the rise. I can see many connections to my spiritual practice, my yoga practice, and the direction I hope to move my life.  All this is in the sunrise phase of the 'day'.

High Noon
At its zenith right now in my life is Dreamer Two, 2 of Swords, titled 'Half-Moon Truce'. The card shows a purply-bluey sky dominated by a huge circle, half black and half white, containing the ghostly face of a sidhe. It is ephemeral; there are wisps around the circle suggesting it may have suddenly appeared, and may be going into and out of focus. At the bottom of the card, the yellowing of the sky above two mountain peaks, in swirls of clouds, and hanging between earth and sky is a magpie, its wings outstretched. With its black and white colouring, the magpie represents duality in some ways. In folklore, the magpie can represent risk-taking, as its dual colours suggest both good and bad. Magpies are courageous, daredevil birds, they have amongst the most complicated of bird vocabularies, and they are notoriously attracted to shiny objects. All of these help us to see the sorts of things represented by the black and white moon - decisions, decisions. Do I dare to take a risk? Do I dare to speak my truth? Do I dare to go for the shiny objects?

Called 'Half-Moon Truce,' this card actually represent the pause between decisions. It is the moment of drawing breath between having an idea and speaking it into the world. We know that words make manifest. The moon is the silence of the heart, the mountains the resolution of the spirit, the magpie, then, would be the speaker of the magic. So all the swirling around the moon becomes the breath that gives life to the words.

In Dreamer Two, none of this has happened yet. It is the moment between initial foment and subsequent action. It is the balance that cannot last, it is like a rock that has been pushed up to the pointy top of a precipice, where it pauses, filled with potential energy, before either rolling back or teetering over and down the other side of the hill. It cannot just sit there forever. Natural laws will not allow it. Spiritually and mentally however, we can prolong this moment through hesitance to move either way. This is one reason why the woman in the traditional RWS image wears a blindfold and is seated in the non-land at the edge of water ('between the salt water and the sea strand', as Simon and Garfunkel call it, a non-place). One message of this card is that you cannot sit in this non-place forever. The moon in the card cannot stay half black and half white forever. The magpie cannot hover with outspread wings forever. Even the mountains will not endure forever!

So what is at its greatest power right now, what should be in sharpest focus in my life right now?  I am at the crossroads of possibility, the state between changed states -- and my greatest power is in being able to see with clarity, by looking inward, where I've come from and where I want to go. There are many decisions that must be made, but the card suggests that now I am at my greatest potential for making them.

Sunset 
The time for balance is over. The previous card just talked about how a balance act can't last forever. And then to represent what is on the wane, we see a card which represents a balancing act that lasts forever. In the sky of the card we see a sun and a moon side by side, the clouds around them forming the lemniscat of infinity. The green-haired sidhe, wearing a fetching red leotard, balances on the tips of the fingers of both hands on the handle of a glowing sword, which stands on its tippy-tip in the centre of a spiral, which is of course a faery glyph. The hair of the sidhe spills down from her head, forming the earth and the spiral, which actually looks like it could be the surface of a small pool of water. Here we have day and night, sun and moon, light and darkness, earth and sky, rock and water, and the flashing colours of green and red. The balancing sidhe can clearly maintain this pose forever. She herself is part of the landscape she balances on. It's all connected.

 However, the Justice card isn't about rock solid stability. Even this highly skilled, amazing strong sidhe cannot maintain such a posture like a marble statue. The balance requires continuous tiny adjustments to maintain the equilibrium to allow her to stay there in that position, which may vary in tiny degrees moment to moment, but which, overall, always appears the same. Look very close and you will see all the tiny tremours and miniscule movements of muscle that allow her to maintain the pose. (Just like in yoga.)

My time of 'continuous tiny adjustments' to maintain my status quo is now on the wane. It's on the way out. The time of tiny adjustments to keep everything looking the same is over! In conjunction with the previous Dreamer Two, the message is clear. Change is about to happen, based on decisions that I make. And because 'adjustment' is on the way out, making these decisions is something I can't avoid. Or even if I do avoid them, refuse to make them, change is going to happen. It's going to happen.

Night
Dancer Three or 3 of Cups is the card of celebrations, parties, festivities, community, lightness and joy. And this is dormant right now. Oh yes, I can certainly see that. We can safely say that I haven't felt like these water nymph type sidhe, frolicking together in the warm sea under the radiance of the full moon. I have felt isolated, agitated, and in many ways hopeless and directionless. Perhaps not hopeless, but certainly I have had no joy in community of any kind to speak of for many, many weeks. And in fact, this aspect of life is still dormant for me right now -- but there's one good thing about night. It doesn't last forever. If something is in the darkness of night, there is a clear implication that it will eventually see the light of day. If something is asleep, it will wake up.

And actually, I do have several social engagements lined up in the near future, and of course a big cause celebre is the end of this secondment, which is the main source of my feelings of isolation and unhappiness lately.

Advice
I decided after all this to draw one last card, asking for advice. How do I move more fully into the sun? How do I make the best of the Half-Moon Truce? What is the recommended action?

Week ahead - Deck of the Bastard

Rough night with dental discomfort/pain and nausea. Let's look at the cards for the next week and try a little predictive reading, then look at them again on each day:

Row 1: Sat Sun Mon
Row 2: Tue Wed Thu

Row 3: Fri

Today - 6 of Pentacles

This is a time when I must assess how much of my neediness in the material plane is down to perception. I feel quite on my knees to/at the mercy of events with regard to my physical body at the moment. I do feel at the mercy of those who seem to have more power over this aspect of my life at the moment; in this case, the dentists. I also feel that I am begging for mercy from a higher source for a good outcome.

It would probably not be a bad idea to get some perspective on events. There are many people in the world much far worse off than me with my dental pain/discomfort but the resources to eventually take care of the problem, even if I have to experience some pain for a few days or weeks, and even if the procedure is not the most pleasant in the world. No matter what happens, the worst case scenario for me is a tooth extraction. My life is not on the line. I'm not looking at chemo or open heart surgery. 

So this card is both an assessment of my current feelings and a call to remember I'm not the only one having troubles and in fact am better off than most.

Sun - Empress

It's hard not read every card in light of my most pressing problems. The Empress here suggests a day in which I should nurture myself in every way possible, mother myself. I should focus on the ways in which I do feel healthy. I should avoid talking about my problems. The Empress is a doer, not a talker. 

Mon - Justice

It's Easter Bank Holiday. It hardly seems fair to me that my dental woes have invariably fallen across weekends when the dentist is closed. Then, it hardly seems fair that the dentist is closed on weekends. A practice open on Saturday would do a booming trade. I can only hope that whatever discomfort I've been in for the last few days has seen a reduction.

In any case, the Justice card doesn't seem a harbinger of doom. Depending on how you number your cards, Justice is my year card. (The numbers of your date of birth added together and reduced is your year card. Mine is 8, which in some decks is Strength, in others Justice. I lay claim to both because my age is 47, 4+7=11, which seemed a coincidence too handy to ignore). 

It could be that Monday will be a day when I must deal dispassionately with the fact that life is impartial in dealing out woes. Or a day when I make connections between events and see the cause and effect. I might reach a solution or decision of some kind. 

Tue - 3 of Pentacles

It's back to work after being off since 11 April, but I must say, it hasn't been an especially fun holiday. There will be so many tasks to catch up on. I am not looking forward to it. I think I will probably be consulting with my manager a lot (if she's in). Team work is called for. 

Wed - The Devil

I think I know what this might point to. I originally booked off half a day's annual leave for this day (hubby asked me to). Should I go ahead and take it? Or should I stay at work for the day? The Devil is about feeling helpless, in bondage, thinking negatively, believing the worst, choosing to remain in ignorance, or any number of bleak concepts. It could be a day that I am tempted to call in sick altogether. But perhaps this could just point to a very busy day at work in which I feel like a slave! 

Thu - Wheel of Fortune

Does the worm begin to turn? Something is going to change on Thursday, anyway. I do hope it's for the better.

Fri - 9 of Cups

This looks hopeful....particularly following on from Devil, to Wheel, to 9 of Cups, as if a low point is reached on the Wednesday but looking better by the Friday. It is generally interpreted as achieving what you desire. I know what I desire as an outcome -- a settled down mouth, no pain, and able to eat without worrying about it. 

I'm going to do each entry for the next week in the evening to see how things actually panned out.

Right Speech

What a pretty card! I love the green colour. Justice here is associated with the crystal Jade, and the throat chakra.

I can see how one could associated Justice with the throat chakra. Justice is a very abstract concept, and we define justice and address injustice through words. Without language, I'm not sure there would be a concept of 'justice'. (Of course, without language, I'm not sure there would be much a concept of anything).

What does it mean to do the right thing? We must start with right thinking and right speech before we get to right action. The throat is so important; when it's closed off, when we can say nothing, we effectually lose the ability to change our minds and to change our circumstances. We have to speak up for others, and for ourselves.

Share the load

Prairie Tarot, Robin Ator 2010

That is one po-faced looking woman. What a face. A face like a smacked bum, I've heard it called. Well, maybe she just looks a little serious. Still, she's got a job to do. She's Justice, and Justice on the Prairie is serious business. Her expression says, 'Approach if you dare, but I am taking no sh*t from you. If these scales don't balance, I am fully prepared to run you through. Or worse.'

I like that there is a yoke in the foreground. It isn't really at her feet. It's closer to us. It makes me think of the pioneer spirit which said, if you don't work, you don't eat. Everyone must do his fair share. This is only reasonable, as survival depends on the contribution of everyone. No one can afford to carry an able-bodied person. Everyone who can contribute, must.

What is it that you can contribute, but you're not currently doing? What is that you could do that would take up part of the burden, that would share the load, that would make you feel better about yourself and part of something vital? What is it that you are now leaving out, and you know it isn't fair to others, or to your own self worth?

And what do you intend to do to remedy that situation? Because eventually, without balance, there's the sword.

Hit me with those laser beams

     

So much for Lady Justice being blind. Here, she's not only got her eyes wide open, they're shooting lasers out like Superman. I never really understood how being blindfolded meant you were being impartial, and anyway, a bit of research suggests that this idea of Justice wearing a blindfold only dates back to the 15th century. Before that, she had her eyes wide open.

I like this Justice card very much, there's a lot going on here. We've got day on the left side, night on the right, then the top of Justice's head is crowned with a tower having four visible windows with a golden light pouring out of them. She has a beams of light coming from her eyes and some sort of bird of prey at her left shoulder. Wearing a black robe which becomes the starry night sky, she leans over a big yin yang symbol and a set of scales embedded in a rose and entwined about with the Libra symbol. Each pan of the scale contains a red triangle with a black triangle inside it. These symbols may have a greater significance than suggested in the Cosmic Tarot companion book, which states merely that the upward pointing triangle represents spiritual matters, while the downward pointing triangle represents material matters, each being invested (symbolized by the black within the red) by its opposite, just like the yin yang symbol. That's pretty deep in and of itself, though. But where is her sword??

What a fantastic card this is. I just love looking at it. I have no idea why there is a tower on her head, or why the scales are set in a rose. Or why the two lasers of her eyes are going out at angles instead of straight ahead (well, that may be because it would be very difficult to draw the beams going in the direction of her gaze, since she staring directly out of the picture at us.)

The Golden Dawn title of Justice is 'Daughter of the Lord of Truth, Holder of Balances.' The lack of a sword in this card is an interesting choice, because the presence of a sword is important to Golden Dawn attributions, and the Cosmic Tarot seems more Thothy, or overtly GD, than RWS does. It is the sword, and not the scales, that keeps equlibrium. The scales are just a tool to detect imbalance, the sword is where the real work happens! 'The function of this path is to constantly compensate for imbalance. Justice acts like a carpenter's level, showing which side needs adjustment. If a person is imbalanced on the side of Mercy, the Sword of Justice swings to the side of Severity, and vice versa. The unbalanced aspects are severed by the sword of Geburah in a necessary, martial fashion.' (from New Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot) Maybe in the Cosmic Tarot, it's the Lady's laser beam eyes that will do the cutting.