Look at a detail of the Justice card.
I've written more about the my thoughts on Justice in my journal/blog.
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Justice
Instead of the familiar “scales of justice,” we see a numinous figure who, with his outstretched hands, has become transformed into the scales himself. He stands tall and upright, with a look of deep compassion in his eyes. In one hand he holds a passionate, flaming heart; in the other, a feather. In Egyptian mythology, it is said that the heart of the recently dead is weighed against the feather of Ma’at, Goddess of Justice. If the scales balance, he or she is welcomed into Paradise. If the scales do not balance, the person’s heart is devoured by a demon.
The story of Ma’at reminds us that beyond the social laws of societies and nations is the universal law of cause and effect, of karmic balance.
Every day we make ethical or unethical choices that make our hearts lighter or heavier. This happens on a global level, too. When human beings take what they want from the natural world without considering the consequences, devastation occurs. Sometimes this is due to ignorance, sometimes to greed, and sometimes to “loving [a species] to death.”
All the plants and animals pictured on this card are endangered or threatened species: Spotted Owl, American Ginseng, Canada Lynx, Echinacea, Vancouver Island Marmot, Fender's Blue Butterfly, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Black Necked Stilt, Northern Sea Otter, Trillium, Red Wolf, Whooping Crane. We also see, in the distance, a forest of stumps left over from a clearcut. Each of these species has its own story of why it is threatened, and how it might survive.
The beauty, mystery and diversity of our extraordinary planet is diminished every time another species becomes extinct.
The running river symbolizes the force for good when many people stand together to right old wrongs and prevent new ones from happening. There are many folk songs with a similar refrain: “Let justice flow like a river . . . ”
Justice asks us, with each choice that we make, to consider the consequences of our actions.
Is my heart — is yours? — as light as a feather?
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