Judgment

The 20th Key

Colour: Glowing Orange Scarlet
Sound: C Natural
MATERNAL LETTER: FIRE

This Path connects Kingdom with Splendour.

The Paths of Judgment, the World and the Moon are aspects of the normal waking consciousness of the personality. They represent stages of understanding oneself.

Judgement is an activating path of the intellect. While its opposite, the Moon is the formative path of Emotion. Judgment is the bright fiery probatory path of the intellect whilst the Moon is the dark watery probatory path of the emotions. Both are introductory paths to the true nature of the Self in incarnation.

This is a place where everything experienced in the World is evaluated and well, judged.

The card reflects the process the Personality undergoes whilst attempting to become conscious of how it works. A process which is perpetual in nature. A continuous monitoring of progress is made by the Personality as it moves toward Universal Consciousness. That which is deemed unworthy by the angelic powers, invoked by the desire of the student travelling is Path, is slowly burned away by a redeeming Fire in a very real way. The last illusions of separateness are burned away.

This Path is linked to the physical body, and the card depicts a resurrection or a rebirth thereof. The success of this resurrection and corresponding greater reality is also based on the more psychological progress made with the Moon, its opposite path. To illustrate, intellect applied without feeling is as pathological as feeling applied without intellect. Therefore, every thought we think, and every action we take coexists in us with its opposite.

To this card is attributed tooth, implying biting and chewing. It is the teeth the chew the food we eat prior to ingestion and thus causes the release of digestive energy. The energy here symbolising the kundalini fire.

Judgement aims to produce a balance necessary to understand the Personality's structure and its relationship with the greater Universe. It is where the Personality is lifted from the tomb of matter and elevated to the extent that has balanced the four elements of the World. Each personality must face what it is and what it has been, in answering the call of the angel, invoked by the Fire of desire.

However, this is not to be confused with the last judgement where Gabriel blows the trumpet. It is Michael, the ruler of Splendour and the Solar Fire that is blowing the trumpet in this card.

Judgment is also one of three maternal paths together with The Hanged Man and The Fool. Each of these paths are a type of baptism. Judgment is baptism by Fire. The Hanged Man is baptism by water, and The Fool is baptism by Air.