Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.   Today’s post is a Tarot Tuesday look at the Judgement card in Tarot, marking the final of my posts focused on individual Major Arcana cards!   The Judgement card is the twentieth card of the Major Arcana.

The Judgement card is often depicted showing the final Judgement, full of Christian imagery including angels and souls rising to heaven, as in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.   However, that imagery shows just one aspect of the Judgement card, and my favorite decks tend to focus on other aspects of the card.    In Celtic-based decks, the Judgement card is most often characterized by a time of rest, renewal, and rebirth.   While these aspects are also there in the Rider-Waite-Smith card as well, the Christian imagery combined with the name can sometimes lead to the querent thinking that the card is one of simply being judged and held to a certain standard, when in actuality the card is one of having already gone through many trials and tribulations on the Fool’s Journey.   It denotes a period of renewal and rest before the final card of the World closes out the Fool’s Journey with the culmination of what has been worked so hard for!

Some of the most common interpretations of the card include a time of feeling free from the restrictions of how your life has been going recently.   It is an awakening to listen to your higher self amid the time of renewal and regeneration!   When the Judgement card appears in a reading it can be said to serve as a wake-up call from the Universe to make the next steps in your life path journey.   That is why its placement right before the final World card of the Major Arcana makes such great sense, it is the time of assimilating knowledge before the ultimate culmination!       

I want to finish this post by talking about two of my favorite versions of the Judgement card.    The first version of the Judgement card I want to mention is The Sacred Circle Tarot which calls the card simply Rebirth, renaming the card to more aptly describe the energy the card denotes in a reading.   My other favorite version of this card comes from the Tarot of the Hidden Realm which calls the card Life Renewed, which is also a name I find to be more apt to align with the card’s overall energy!   Both of these Celtic and Faery-based decks have shown this card’s meaning more profoundly than the Rider-Waite-Smith, at least when it comes to my own preferences.
I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Judgement card in Tarot.   What is your favorite aspect of this card?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a lovely version of the Judgement card.   I found the image on https://displate.com/displate/6806504.  

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/  

Further Reading

• The Sacred Circle Tarot by Anna Franklin 
• Tarot of the Hidden Realm by Julia Jeffrey & Barbara Moore
• The Only Tarot Book You’ll Ever Need by Skye Alexander