The arcana of (11) Justice is that of the goddess Themis. She is the goddess who weighs up situations with her scales, and who makes a decision – cutting the false from the true with her sword. She also presides over social mores, over the conventions of what is “the done thing” in a given situation, which seems to take its raison d’etre from considerations that are handed down from on high, and yet through oracles and omens she can also deliver the will of the gods which may set aside such conventions.
Sometimes this arcana is interpreted as a card of “balance” because of the scales and the relationship with Libra. However, the function of the scales is not so much to “balance” as to weigh up claims so as to favour the one that has more weight, or if there is a superfluity, to adjust accordingly. In short, we are being called on to weigh up situations and to make a just decision based on the circumstances before us.
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