XI – Justice Tarot Card Meaning

achieving balance

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Tarot Alley uses the Rider Waite type of deck for our meanings, symbols, interpretations, etc.

Justice represents fairness, balance, and equity. It is a balancing of scales, a redistribution of anything that leads to equity, reparations for wrongdoing, and more. There can be no peace without justice. There can be no moving on without justice. Justice is necessary.

A cornerstone of Justice is her objectiveness. However, in real life, objectiveness is an ideal that we can strive to move towards but we cannot ever achieve.

When one claims to be doing something “objectively” they’re claiming to completely remove themselves from their decision-making and relying exclusively on some external system of logic. But everyone – everyone – has bias, opinions, feelings, upbringing, and so much more that we cannot simply pretend doesn’t exist.

Objectiveness, in real life, is a ridiculous concept that’s regularly used to perpetuate unfairness, injustice, discrimination, and hatred. This is not what the Justice card should represent.

Film and literature does a beautiful job representing justice in an idealized manner. Good triumphs over evil, social change always wins out for the greater good, progress is made, fairness is the end result. There are struggles and losses to get there, but the end result is equity.

Justice as an archetype is perfect. Justice in real life is a constant battle that represent constantly evolving social and personal ideals. It is a straightforward and honest card that deals in truth and logic but in real life it cannot be fully emotionless. 

Important Note: Strength is usually card #8 and Justice is #11. BUT, in some decks that card numbers are switched and you’ll find Justice is #8 and Strength is #11.

Take a look at the Rider-Waite Justice displayed to the left (or above).

What is your first impression?

Who is this person? What are they doing? Where are they? What are they holding a sword and scales?

There’s no right or wrong answer here, just your interpretation.

Astrology: Libra
Element: Air
Numerology: 11 = 1+1=2 (debate, partnership, duality)

Common Symbols

• Scales to represent balance and fairness
• a Sword to represent rational thought
• Crowns, thrones, or other royal symbols to represent power and status

Keywords & Concepts

Justice for Personal Growth

Everyone faces limitations of some kind. Learn your own limits. Rather than allow them to define you, use what you know to better position yourself for success. Learn when to say yes; know when to say no.

Ask Yourself:

• To what extent is your life (or work) balanced? 
• How can you achieve greater objectivity?
• What course of action would be fair to everyone concerned?
• What would a judge or lawyer do in your situation?
• How can you enhance your own objectivity?
• What needs to be evaluated or weighed today?
• What information is crucial to your decision? What are the pros and cons?

Interpreting Justice

When the Justice card appears it means that you’re about to go through a process of balancing. And that’s exactly what justice is: a process. It isn’t a single moment in time or a result. 

Reversed Justice

How you read reversals is a personal choice. You can ignore reversals and read them as if the card is upright (this is what I often choose to do) or you can interpret reversals as variations of what they would mean upright. There are 3 common ways to read reversals: as a negative interpretation, as an opposite interpretation, or as a block on the upright interpretation. Check out How to Read Reversals for more information.

Negative: A negative reversed Justice suggests unfair treatment with little to no recourse.

Opposite: An opposite reversed Justice means you are being treated unfairly through no choice or action of your own.

Blocked: A blocked reversed Justice indicates something is preventing you from achieving balance.

Examples of Justice

Specific Interpretations

Specific situations are the general interpretation (from above) used for a specific situation (love, career, etc). There is no need to memorize these (or even look them up) if you understand the general interpretation. However, here are some basic interpretations for some specific situations:

Justice Tarot Card Meaning