Definition:
awakening, renewal, spiritual transformation, and the opportunity to break a cycle
Poem:
glory to god in the highest
and peace to his people on earth
but the people on earth aren’t much for peace
they just love repeating the same cycles of violence over and over
dropping their bombs and starving their children
until it becomes so normal we don’t even realized we’re hurting each other
and god just sits there and watches
it seems cowardly to me
but I don’t thinking hating on the christian god is ever gonna get me free
freedom is here somehow
in the muck and mess of this world
in the violence of the state and the systems and our families
in the desperation and delusion of its people
i want to see my way out
but all I see is the enemy
HE’S THE REASON I’M SUFFERING
NO IT’S THE GOVERNMENT
NO IT’S CAPITALISM
and that feels good
but i’m still in pain
i’m still just a droplet in this endless river of history
blindingly following the patterns of my ancestry
there has to be something more for me
i claw off my blindfold and i can finally see
the truth burns these blue eyes
but at least I know…
at least there’s a chance….
that her fate doesn’t have to happen to me
but breaking this cycle is a heavy responsibility
it’s the price of being free
and now i understand why they couldn’t pay
why it had to be this way
and so I say again
with eyes that can finally see
glory to god in the highest
and peace to his people on earth
Invitation:
Judgment is card that feels much bigger than the concerns of everyday human life. It is cosmic, catastrophic and ground-breaking. Because of this, it can’t be a process you initiate, but rather one to which you surrender. Judgement is an awakening where some knowledge comes to you that changes irrevocably how you see the world. You can try, but you can never truly go back to before this awakening. It can have a connection to ancestral patterns, or larger human stories, although of course it has an personal implication in your life.
Journal Prompt: What is awakening in you know? What have you come to understand lately that you haven’t in recent past? How has this changed you?
Ancestral Exploration: If it interests you, it can be helpful to see your personal awakening in the context of your familial line or in collective conditions. Judgment invites you to look at the larger stories that are at play. This could look like:
researching the history of your family members as far back as you can go
researching the traditions and historical practices of some part of your lineage
reading about a historical figure or movement that you feel connected to at the this time
Research the symbolism of the card: In the Smith-Rider-Waite deck, the imagery of the card is quite striking and it could be interesting to dig deeper into the symbolism and what it represents.