As I had feared, it seemed the worst was not over yet. This morning I pulled the Judgement card, a staunch reminder to prepare for the coming trials. I say this as a student in her final year of college – it’s quite a timely reminder. While most of my heaviest courses have been dealt with in the past weeks, I realize those tasks were only half the battle. I still have a couple papers waiting to be written. No, it wasn’t time to get into the holiday spirit just yet.
For many, the Judgement card is among the most ominous of the Major Arcana. Its illustration is literally the image of the biblical Last Judgement; the Archangel Gabriel comes down from the heavens, and the dead rise from their graves to meet him. There, the living and the dead both await their judgment. Will they spend eternity in paradise or in suffering? As a great tidal wave approaches from the background, who among them will sink, and who will rise?
Luckily, the Judgement card assures you of one thing: all that you need to face the trials ahead, you have already learned before. But of course, self-reflection and evaluation of your past decisions – right and wrong – is essential. The only way to elevate yourself is to return to where you were at your lowest and learn from there. Find out where you went wrong, and find a way to get it right next time, or at least, when it matters most.
The Judgement card also signifies big life-changing events coming your way, but that is not to say you must be completely powerless when it comes. Getting through the smaller trials, day by day, can give you control over your situation, more than you know.
When the trials grow too difficult, when the battle seems lost, and you feel you might sink rather than swim, remember that you don’t have to face this final judgment alone. You are surrounded by like souls, bound in the same journey, and thus the same sufferings. Guide and help each other along the way. The only way out is through, and the only way through is together.
Perhaps I had misjudged (pun intended!) the Judgement card. Where I had initially seen a warning, I found assurance and comfort. To be told that the worst of my battles have not been conquered just yet was pretty unsettling, to say the least. After all, I had just finished a student film and my undergraduate thesis. What else was there? How scary could the rest be?
Therein lies the card’s answer. There was nothing that I would face that I could not handle, nor would I have to face any of it alone – so long as I was willing to learn.
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