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Judgement

MAJOR ARCANA · XX

Judgement is card XX of the major arcana. An angel blows a trumpet from the clouds, and below, people risen from their coffins spread their arms and look up to heaven. Upright, it stands for awakening, a calling and a fresh start; reversed, for indecision and clinging to the past.

Name and number

Upright meaning

Keywords: awakening, a calling, a fresh start, forgiveness, decision

In the light of the Sun, a trumpet sounds. Judgement is the card of what has been sleeping being called awake.

Upright, Judgement stands for drawing a line under what has been and being born anew: finally answering something that has long weighed on your mind, a dream you gave up or a broken-off relationship stirring again. It is read as a time to notice the call from within, "this is what I really wanted to do," and to rise in answer. It also stands for forgiving your past self or someone else, and traveling lighter.

Reversed meaning

Keywords: indecision, clinging to the past, regret, ignoring the call

Reversed, Judgement is read as the trumpet's sound not reaching you.

The time for change has come, yet you cannot decide; you are caught by past failures and regrets and cannot move on. You notice the call within but pretend not to hear it. It can also mean judging yourself or others so harshly that you cannot forgive.

What the picture shows

• The angel blowing the trumpet: in the Rider–Waite–Smith deck said to be the archangel Gabriel, announcing the signal to wake.
• The cross on the trumpet's flag: the red cross is said to stand for a call spreading in four directions, and for salvation.
• The people rising from coffins: a man, a woman and a child like a family, standing for awakening to new life.
• The outstretched arms: a pose that receives the call completely.
• The snowy mountains far off: as in the Hermit, a sign of a higher state.

History

Judgement is based on the Christian scene of the Last Judgment. At the end of the world an angel blows a trumpet, and the dead rise to be judged by God: a biblical story often painted on the walls and doors of medieval churches.

In the fifteenth-century Italian Visconti–Sforza deck, two angels blow trumpets, with God above and people rising from a tomb below. In Italy the card was also often called "the Angel."

In the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Tarot of Marseille, a single angel appears from the clouds blowing a trumpet, while naked people rise from their graves below. The Rider–Waite–Smith deck keeps the same composition, floating the coffins on water and adding mountains in the distance.

The shift of emphasis from the terror of judgment to the joy of resurrection comes from esoteric interpretation since the nineteenth century. The Golden Dawn linked this card with the element of fire.

Correspondences

Previous and next cards

• Previous: 19 The Sun
• Next: 21 The World
• The major arcana

Lucky colors for Judgement