The judgement tarot card is one of reckoning. Of coming to peace with our past to be able to enter a new stage of life.
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Definition of Judgement Tarot Card
Simple Upright Meaning
Recognizing past mistakes, transformation, release
A Full Explanation
The Judgement tarot card is a card of change. Of transformation. It’s a card of breaking the illusion and being free in your life.
Finding this tarot card in a spread doesn’t, as it can seem, represent a savior coming to break you free from the bonds you’ve been placed in. This card should make you think about how you can save yourself, of everything you’ve gone through to get here, and how to move forward.
The judgement card is based on the day of judgement, with Archangel Gabriel blowing his trumpet, resurrecting people from the grave.
This card does not mean that you are able to forget about everything from the past. It’s a card that reminds us that we must own up to our past, to be able to move forward.
If the past is forgotten about, the same mistakes will be repeated and we will not be able to get to the next stage of life. We are the only ones who can save ourselves, and create a better future for us.
Judgement can be a positive card, of coming closer to enlightenment, or entering the next stage of life. But it’s also a card to think about what we’ve done in the past. To remember.
As with this coming right before the world tarot card, this is the card where you have to rehash the past and recon with it before coming to the enlightenment state of the world.
My Design
Judgement is typically depicted as people rising from graves as Archangel Gabriel blows his horn (like in the Rider Waite cards). Which does not resonate with me at all. So I made this card in a way that would resonate with me. Which is of metamorphosis.
Instead of someone coming to our savior in this card, I think of it as we are transforming ourselves. It’s a part of the journey, of leaving the cocoon and becoming something new, something different. This doesn’t mean we are completely a different person, but there has been a transformation.
The biggest part I disagreed with is how it seems that someone else is coming to save us. Which doesn’t actually happen in life. In real life, we have to reckon for ourselves and save ourselves.
Other Thoughts
Personally, I really disagree with how the judgement tarot card is depicted, compared to the meaning most books give it. But that’s because this has a very Christian identity to the card, being “the day of judgement,” where Archangel Gabriel blows his trumpet (read more here about that).
I thought long and hard about this tarot card, and did an Instagram post about it when I finally decided what I wanted the image to look like. Find that here!
Are you new to tarot and looking at practicing? Try your hand by picking one card a day, or try one of these tarot spreads! If you’re still having a really difficult time connecting with this card, leave it by your bedside or under your pillow to further connect.