Lady Justice

What a Fickle B*tch

Lately, in my Tarot readings, I’ve been pulling the Justice card in her reversed position, which feels like daily at this point. While I am a Tarot enthusiast who trains professional mental health professionals on how to use Tarot in their sessions with clients and therefore, I always stress the importance of not labeling cards as “good” or “bad.” I must admit a secret…

I hate the Justice card.

Rosebud Tarot by Harper & Stilwell

Or perhaps hate is a strong word…But I really REALLY don’t like her.

I find her to be cold, controlled, ruthless, uncaring, and uncompassionate.

While other cards get a bad reputation in Tarot, like the Devil or the Tower, I have always enjoyed working with these cards both personally and when giving readings to others.

The Devil, to me, represents gaining mastery over our shadows and the ability to free ourselves from the restrictions placed upon us both externally and internally. The Tower echoes this freedom, because even though the tower's fall might be destructive, it is often this destructive force that sets us free to create a new structure that is needed to replace the old.

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck

Therefore, despite the scary appearance of both of these cards, their meaning to me once we can lean into the dark and our shadows is much more empowering, and dare I say, even hopeful.

But Lady Justice…I don’t feel hopeful when looking at her. In fact, I often feel angry.

Justice For All?

The archetype of Lady Justice can be seen throughout the legal and governmental systems within the United States and globally, as evidenced by the Justice statue outside the U.S. Supreme Court.

The statue is actually titled Contemplation of Justice by James Earle Fraser and depicts a seated female figure holding a small figure of Justice in her right hand. The figure of Justice is blindfolded, and she cradles a set of scales in her arms, much like Pamela Coleman Smith’s image of Justice on the Rider-Waite-Smith version of the card.

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck

Moreover, there are many other statues of Justice across the world where she is seen with the swords and scales of the Justice card, but the majority of these figures are always female.

Justice Statue on top of Old Bailey, London, England

Yet why is that?

Historically, we can trace the portrayal of Justice as a female figure back to depictions of Themis and later, Justicia, in Greek and Roman mythology. In ancient Greece, Themis was revered for her clear-sightedness and was therefore regarded as the Goddess of Justice and Law. In ancient Roman mythology, Justicia (from which we derive the English word Justice) was one of the four Virtues, and over time, she became associated with the scales, which represented her impartiality, and a sword to symbolize truth and power.

Astrologically speaking, the scales, and even the Tarot card Justice herself, can be associated with the Zodiac sign Libra, and therefore its ruling planet of the Goddess Venus, or Aphrodite as she was known to the Greeks.

Which begs the question is Justice a beautiful goddess of love and beauty or a ruthless bitch with a sword of “truth”?

Perhaps, as is true for most women, the answer changes depending on who is telling her story.

Two-Sided Bitch

I call Justice a “two-sided Bitch” to be all tongue-and-check, and yet I think for most women they have been accused of being two-sided at least once in their life. We as women learn how to “play the game,” believe that if we do everything “right,” Lady Justice will bless us with the “perfect” life. The good husband, the picture-perfect family, the successful job, a big promotion —you name it —we expect her to deliver the goods.

And it’s not just women who believe this; we all do. We grow up in a society that tells us that if we work hard enough, we should be able to afford a home, a reliable means of transportation, a stable income, and financial stability. Yet for most individuals of my generation or similar age ranges (Millennials, Gen X, and Z), we are discovering more and more each day that those “promises” are not available to us. Or rather, we are having to adjust our expectations on what we thought was once achievable, which comes with a sort of disenfranchised grief and a heavy amount of displaced resentment.

Some of us may choose to blame our parents, many of whom are Boomers, or our current political system. Some of us might decide to blame billionaires who flaunt their disposable income by renting out a whole town to celebrate their wedding, as Jeff Bezos and his new Bride did this past weekend. This display of wealth, when I personally know so many people struggling to pay their bills or even afford rent, feels very reminiscent of the French Revolution. Except the rich aren’t in the Palace of Versailles; instead, you are being bombarded with their frivolous displays of wealth on social media constantly as you work your 8-5 underpaid job and possibly pull a second shift or side hustle or look for a new roommate as another way to budget and save to make ends meat.

Which brings me back to Justice…

Often, Tarot experts will say that the Justice card reversed can indicate that an individual is undergoing their karmic reckoning. Or they need to atone for their past actions or reflect on their past behavior. Alternatively, it can mean that they are experiencing legal troubles or that things will not go in their favor. Or, of course, it can always mean that someone in an individual’s life is being deceitful, and thus the individual should take precautions.

Yet, for my own life, much like the Justice card herself, these interpretations have never resonated with me.

Oddly enough, in some decks, my Life Path or Birth Tarot card is Justice. Yet, I have always resonated much more with the card of Strength.

Ethereal Visions Tarot Deck

Strength to me is a card about overcoming challenges, which is something I am very familiar with in my own life. In fact, it is easy for me to be the “fighter” advocating for others when I feel that an injustice has occurred, which perhaps is how I channel the Justice card in my own life. Yet, what I love about Strength is that it reminds us that we find true strength and healing through compassion and accepting our darkest parts.

Whereas, Justice to me has always felt absent of compassion.

Justice gives me Queen of Swords vibes, and while there are times when we need to be detached and think objectively, laws without compassion only benefit those who have the power and influence to bypass them.

Light Seer’s Tarot Deck.

On a personal level, as a former survivor of an abusive relationship and as a retired clinical mental health therapist who primarily worked with survivors of Domestic Violence, I know firsthand how fucked up the Justice system can be towards survivors. How “justice” is rarely served, and instead, often abusers are able to walk away with little to no consequences to their lives or relationships with others. Yet for the women who escape these situations, their life is forever changed and can often feel like the weight of the world is against them.

Which is perhaps why I call Justice “two-faced.” As a woman who has had to learn to take care of herself and attempted to do everything “right.” The career, higher education, the big house or city apartment, her own private practice, being debt-free, and having the “loving” fiancé —none of these accomplishments protected me.

I am like millions of other women who still end up in an abusive relationship, who also tried to do things the “right way.”

I am also like millions of Americans, back in credit card debt, since the cost of living has now become unsustainable for me to keep up with on a single household income.

I am also also like millions of Americans currently unemployed or choosing to make a job transition in an attempt to have more income to afford my rent. Yet, I am having difficulty finding a job, despite being overqualified for most of the positions I apply for, as recruiters will often make comments about my PhD-level of education.

If I sound like I'm complaining, perhaps it's because I am. Personally, I think I have the right to complain, as I think most individuals my age have a right to complain, since my experience is not at all unique. I also have the awareness that I have certain privileges right now as someone with a PhD and who can have the luxury of living with her parents temporarily.

I am fortunate and I am also fucking angry. Both things can be true.

So when Justice shows up reversed for me, and the words of Tarot “experts” tell me it is a result of my own karmic reckoning or not taking accountability, I feel infantilized. I feel like most Americans do when they are told to stop buying Starbucks to be able to afford a home, meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is having a 3-day wedding in Venice.

In other words, it doesn’t add up.

Somewhere along the way, it seems like Lady Justice’s scales have become off balance, and she has left us “common folk” in the dark. She is no longer a Goddess of truth, wisdom, and beauty to us anymore. Instead, she is a symbol of how power becomes corrupt when one cuts oneself off from one's soul.

We do not trust her, perhaps because she has spent so much time guiding men to their source of truth that she has abandoned her womenfolk. I think of how the systems of justice were used during periods like the Witch Craze to condemn women and put them to death. I think about my clients whose abusive partners and husbands walked away scot-free, even when evidence was brought against them. I think about myself and the times I have had to speak out against colleagues or other individuals in my life who have done something “wrong,” which later came back to bite me. I think of Adriana Smith and what the medical community forced her unalived body to endure in the name of “science.” I think of the women who have died or been unable to get the healthcare they deserve now that Roe v. Wade is overturned. I think of the women across the world being murdered in “honor killings” and the threat of violence that we all still endure.

And I often wonder why it seems like Lady Justice has abandoned her sister during a time in history when we need her the most…

So as I sit with my reversed Justice card this morning. I wonder if perhaps Lady Justice isn’t against us, but rather if she has suffered the same fate. She is a woman after all, and men have often found female allies to do their bidding. Perhaps she thought if she spared herself her compassion, she would not suffer the fate, and yet her blindfold, which was used to help her “see” the truth, appears to have hidden her eyes from the truth she actually needs to witness.

That Justice requires compassion and humanness. That true injustice occurs when we forget our humanity and believe we are “above” it. That perhaps for true justice to happen. Lady Justice needs to remember her feminine strength. Her compassion, her empathy, and her own humanity.

Because without it, she just becomes a pretty empty statue that can easily be swayed and knocked over on a whim.

OX

Your Dark Fairy Godmother