Justice: tarot meaning, upright and reversed

A seated figure holds balanced scales and an upright sword between two pillars.

Upright

fairness · accountability

Weigh the facts and accept the consequences of a choice. Clear agreements and proportion matter.

Reversed

bias · avoidance

A judgment may be partial, or responsibility may be displaced onto someone else.

In a reading

The position gives this card a particular task: a description of the situation, a challenge, or guidance. Read its image and meaning alongside the other cards and the question that brought them together.

Golden Dawn correspondence

Zodiac sign: Libra. This is the attribution in Book T.

Sources

A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. These notes are original interpretations of the Waite–Smith imagery, informed by that text.