I use tarot and oracle cards as tools for reflection and contemplation. Rather than divining the future, they are a way for me to look more deeply at the "now."
"The goal isn't to arrive, but to meander, to saunter, to make your life a holy wandering." ~ Rami Shapiro

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Keeping Justice Jolly

This week I'll be using the Ancient Italian Tarot, a Marseille deck reinvented by an anonymous Italian artist and published by Lo Scarabeo. I'll also be drawing from the Marseille Oracle, created and published by Lo Scarabeo with a lwb by Isa Donelli. Today's cards are Justice and 'Hard Work:'
          The scales of Justice symbolize impartial distribution, and her sword represents truth and protection of rights. While she personifies equity and harmony, she also demands responsibility. "Oops, my bad" won't cut it with her. Restitution or compensation will be required of the one who has caused those scales to tip out of balance. Yet according to Plato, Justice doesn't work alone but with other virtues: wisdom (Hermit), courage (Strength), and moderation (Temperance). It seems even virtues need a checks-and-balances system. The Hard Work card shows a man who has laid down his yoke and load to have a drink. But while he sits and takes a break, he keeps his eye on whatever he has been carrying. The phrase given in the lwb is "insist on the road undertaken." What would this road look like? It would be paved with attention to how thoughts, words, and actions don't just affect the person doing them, but also how they might impact others. That might even get a smile out of Justice.

4 comments:

  1. insist on the road undertaken is a sentence requiring some rolling around in my brain.

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    1. It had the same effect on me, until I figured it was a rewording of Frost's "the road less travelled." :)

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  2. "oops my bad" gets on my nerves. Cutesy idiom trying to pawn off the mistake. Own up to it instead of trying to solicit giggles.

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