All the cards up to this point describe our individual path and aspects of our personal growth. This card transcends individuality and puts us into perspective as a conscious collective. It is the first card in which we see a group of people united in the same action. What does this mean in this context? Judgement shows us that our individual path has symbolically ended with The Sun, and now all human souls together are taking this last step towards The World. This is not an uncommon concept in many world religions and spiritual teachings. More specifically, this scene is clearly the Christian resurrection, the Last Judgement. In our time, the old teachings and modern quantum physics are said to agree that we float in a vast sea of consciousness. Is it only by chance that there is a vast body of water on this card? The motif that usually comes with this card is that of death and resurrection, showing us that as soon as we begin to approach the Infinite, individual boundaries start to break, bringing the ego a momentary sense of death, followed by a new, broader sense of reality: resurrection. On a more subconscious level, it is about the integration of all facets of ourselves. We must integrate our past and present, our dark side and our good side into one whole. Our goal here is to be One and to see that all our experiences are within our grasp: they live inside us, not outside. This is another card of transition, in some respects very similar to The Tower, but the main difference is its non-destructive, transformational nature: this transformation comes through transmutation and integration.
On the card
In the foreground of the picture we see a man, a woman and a child. They represent the conscious, the subconscious and their child, the personality. They are standing in coffins. Closed coffins are full of darkness, symbolizing lack of knowledge, but opened they are filled with light, showing us that resurrection brings understanding of one's deeds. The adults stand in rectangular coffins, but the child is in a square one, and the square is a symbol of justice and order. The coffins here also symbolize the limitation of the material world, which is now being dissolved by the power of resurrection. The coffins seem to float on a sea or some other body of water, an echo of the river that begins in the dress of The High Priestess and finally ends here. The mountains in the distance also seem to be the same mountains as in The Fool card. Up in the sky there is an angel, probably Gabriel, blowing a trumpet. We can connect this with the importance of the esoteric Breath of Life in raising the dead. There is a cross on the banner, which represents measure and reason. Correct judgement depends on reason and measure. The angel is in a cloud, and the cloud symbolizes the material illusion that surrounds the True Self, the angel. We can also notice that the people have a greyish complexion, indicating that they have overcome the opposites.
Upright
This card is telling us that we are about to live through a serious change in our lives and that we must make some serious decisions, usually the kind of change and decisions we fear most. If we embrace the change with courage and vision, we will profit. If we procrastinate and fear the change, we may even be fine, but only for a while, because that path will bring us back to the same place at some other time, usually in even worse company. We must understand that fear is the greatest enemy of change.
Reversed
This card is telling us that we are about to live through a serious change in our lives and that we must make some serious decisions, usually the kind of change and decisions we fear most. If we embrace the change with courage and vision, we will profit. If we procrastinate and fear the change, we may even be fine, but only for a while, because that path will bring us back to the same place at some other time, usually in even worse company. We must understand that fear is the greatest enemy of change.