Tarot Card Comparisons: The Thoth Tarot-Key 8- Adjustment & The SpellCaster's Tarot- Key 11 -Justice

In many Tarot Decks, the common way to present this State of Energy Conscious is as the Judgment Card but I personally think that Crowley hit the nail on the head with the title of : Adjustment.  Because in our world of patriarchal rule, Justice is merely revenge and a show of state power to destroy the life of dissenters, which then keeps the populace in line. Plus, Nature is not, morally or ethically, just. As J.C. is quoted as saying, "...rain falls on the just and unjust alike."[ Romans, 8:18]

The Supreme Spirit Identity, in this case, The Conscious State of  "Will to Form", and/or Geburah doesn't deal in revenge----She deals in freedom of choice. She Trusts you, as the Psyche, to know that if you think a thought, and supply life-force to it (often called emotion) that you know what you are doing. This is often why we know this aspect of the Divine Feminine as Severity, for you get what you "think you are" and she judges not if it is a thought of folly or wellness. Freedom to choose our own thoughts, makes us a Psychosomatic creative, which simply means, our Psyche (Soul) runs and describes our Soma (Physical body). The repercussions of cause and effect, manifest as and in your body, and the law of attraction produces "like attracts like" which many call luck, good or bad.

If you followed the Gnostic Qabalah axiom of"Above all things, know thyself!" you wouldn't have any difficulty with "freedom of Choice": However, due to belief in the divisions of the Patriarchal thought process of "divide and conquer", the union of your will and self-identity has been corrupted by the indoctrination of the Patriarch. Hence, our souls are divided from our bodies, by worshipping a religion or state and believing the Soul and body are separates. Herein lie the false prophets and false idols, most theologies and governments warn us against, as their personal propaganda, which is very clever, for by warning us, we are focused elsewhere and can't see that they are the very ones we must not follow or worship! So now most people have forgotten their Divine-Power of Limitation and Wholeness, becoming powerless and scattered, lost in the forest of  Ruler-identity-propaganda used to design "slaves of the state", not moral people.

The Qabalitic Tarot- Adjustment card is the Path of Lamed, between Geburah (Severity) and Tiphareth (Beauty) on the Tree of Life. Adjustment represents the  Faithful Intelligence of the Great Mother, who has faith in you as Her Divine Children...who may wander off and forget themselves, but with the proper "goading" (Lamed means--ox goad.) they will find themselves again.

Adjustment is the Rule of Balance (operates from Binah- through Geburah, both aspects of The Great Mother) and maintains the outpouring of energy so that the "innocent child" (The Fool card which has been called the "Holy Ghost") will operate within the confines of a natural pattern: The Pattern of , I AM ME. Not what others identify Me as----but as I Am identifies Me as. You see that is Free -doom, the Anglo Saxon word that the English freedom  is derived from.  To the Anglo Saxon, Free-doom, was a declaration against slavery. For "Free-doom" means, "I choose my own death" and therefore is the meaning of freedom. Freedom of choice is "my choice", and  if I choose to react to the identity enforced on me by "others" (the enemy of freedom) then I am doomed to the dysfunction of that thinking. If I Know Myself as I was identified to be by the Divine Collective....which is also process of "I think--therefore, I am", then I am  functioning in the Natural State of our Divine inheritance!

With the knowledge of the natural flow of Adjustment we know that balance will be made so that energy will always flow to the living Spirit (Spiral Energy-Entity) through the balance of Spirit-Mind,Body  union. If that union is interrupted by incongruous thought patterns of fear such as "I lack" ...the lowest denominator---the body, is doomed to unbalance (disease) mentally, emotionally and physically; for "I AM", the Creator of "Me", is now "I AM Lack". Because of the Soul's freedom to identify "self" any way it wants, even if the Psyche is an ignorant servant of another "master", thoughts of emotion are what that identity will produce in form.

The Will is Spirit, and for it to operate Life in an expansive and liberated way, it must be willed Love of Mind and Body to keep the balanced between the Loving Mother of Form, and form's operational self-conscious. For, to seek love, is to deny you are it, a statement of"I lack" and this places you in "impoverished love", a state of low self identity that builds the consumer who is in the "pursuit of happiness"; a pursuit of unequaled proportions, for the love sought, is always "just over the next hill", or "just the next expensive thing" and the stress this constant seeking, builds in the self-conscious will doom the self to futility and disease (dis-ease). 

Self- Love is the balanced flow of Creation, throughout the Tree of Life, because it is the pattern of The Supreme Spirit Identity recreating it's Self-Images in order to expand and liberate Self-Awareness as "The intimacy of being Alive".

Because of this Faithful Love of Her Children, those of us who contact the Anima (Divine Feminine) by mentally journeying on the Path of Lamed, may decide to bring ourselves in to balance, but if we do not, it will be done for us as an act of "Tough love"! Much like driving a vehicle that has an automated correction system on board, if the driver won't adjust the steering wheel to stay on the road, the Natural Automated system will!

The SpellCaster's Tarot-Key 11- Justice, keeps to the traditional principle of karma. In one hand she holds the balance scales of justice, and in the other skeletal hand, she holds the Sacred Pomegranate of the underworld goddess Persephone, depicting she is the Balance of Life and Death.  This life-death balance is also shown by the white and black pillars, and the Wheel of Fortune above her head. Around her waist is wheat, woven into a belt. Wheat is the sacred plant attributed to Diana the huntress.

Being constructed of the Psycho-dynamic principle of  Spirit-Soul-mind and body, all must be united in a balance of communion, an Understanding of Impeccable Being that is continual up and down the Tree of Life. As above so below, is not a far off metaphysical concept of Mercury-the Magus; for it is the conception of YOU as if the Qabalistic Tree of Life is a messenger's travel of Psyche! So being Faithful Intelligence, The Divine Mother of Psyche will always make the adjustments necessary to get Psyche, and body on the right track, whether one likes it or not! Once one understands this Universal Law of Freedom of Choice, one will always "Treat others as one wishes to be treated" for they now know to think ill is to be ill....and by thinking ill of those who think ill of us, just transmits the disease into a plague of illness where no one is well.

Again, there are no enemies in the Photon Psyche of Spirit, only another way to be "Me". Let each other Be...is a very good motion! You cannot escape your thoughts for they are "how your Life Forms" so let's make them the best balance they can be. If we pay attention, we'll then find our lives to be balanced and smooth flowing no matter how many rocks are out there!

As the Tao states, " If it isn't here---It isn't there. If it is there, it is here. For what is here is there and what is there is here." Remember, our thought project ourselves on the Mirror of Life, and to create Monsters outside of us (There) creates Monsters inside of us (Here) and the Great Mother of Life...will supply the necessary surgery to remove them, so that her children can expand and liberate themselves from self-condemnation. Knowing thyself---helps us avoid the discomfort of this surgical-severity.

Between  Tiphareth (6-Beauty) and Geburah (5-Severity) lies the Emerald Green Path of Lamed. Lamed-The Ox Goad- is the spear like prod which keeps the ox moving down the path which points to the letter's special relationship with Aleph (0x) on the Path of The Fool. Although complex, their relationship can be stated: Adjustment (Justice on some cards) maintains the balance of the Tree of Life, so that the outpouring energy of The Fool (often called the Holy Ghost)  will operate within the confines of a natural pattern. Adjustment or Justice is the administrator of the laws of Binah (Mother of Form), written by The Heirophant.  Key-8 is therefore, the "Ruler of Balance".

Adjustment-is the Intelligence Faithful to that symbolized by The Fool; the alignment of forces of the Twenty Second Path  is an amalgam of  all the Paths and is described as being within the essential life force symbolized by The Fool.

Lamed can be a Severe Path, as it is continual activity "in the above and the below" and will do whatever is necessary to bring the physical, mental and Soul/Psyche into equilibrium. Sometimes a "cutting away" process represented by the Sword, which is not always pleasant.  The Sword of Geburah, that is shown in the center of the personage on the Thoth Tarot card, represents the part of our Psyche that cuts away all that which is unnecessary.  Often, this surgical adjustment is less dramatic and much like driving a car, Adjustment/Justice is constantly correcting direction through slight corrects of the steering wheel, while traveling down the road of life (the "steering wheel" for driving an ox is an ox goad). This car analogy continues, when one understands that the Sephira (Mind Forms) are aspects of the soul itself who is the driver of the body-vehicle and not the external agencies that self-conscious likes to blame for its own folly. Thus, this "driving" process is  to be considered psychologically as a condition of self-assessment.

In this Card-key 8-Adjustment/Justice , on many traditional tarot cards, the soul weighs itself on the scales in the left hand and then makes necessary adjustments wielding the sword or in the case of the SpellCaster's tarot a pomegranate, in the right hand. However, In the Thoth Tarot, She balances the Scales on Her head, symbolizing a psychological balancing, of both the Alpha and Omega (Beginning and the end or Life and Death).  

By placing the Sephiroth on the body that is facing the Tree, it can be seen that Geburah (Severity) is on the left and Chesed (Mercy) is on the right. This placement is the proper way to view the "Adam Khadmon" as "facing inward" rather than some artistic formats that place Him, the Soul, facing outward on the tree. For only in "inward" traveling of our Psyche, can we find the Tree of Life and it's many paths to wholeness.

Also in palmistry, if one's right hand is considered the primary hand,  the left hand is seen as one's  "receiving" feminine hand, while the right is considered their "giving hand" or masculine expressive hand.

Often this card is said to represent Karma-an often misunderstood Sanskrit word. Instead of meaning that a soul is reaping what is sown from past lives; Karma means to myself and Paul Foster Case,  an action of continual adjustment. It is related to education; Lamed-The Ox goad, means to teach, and though many of us lament the maintenance  of balance, as we think going off in tangents of emotional "mopery" is important. Hence, this balancing is definitely a learning process. Slowly and sometimes, painfully, we learn how to analyze and re-balance ourselves as necessary for different situations that assist us in our magus performance.

In the Hermetic Qaballah, it is understood that the principles of the  Path of Adjustment  maintain Tiphareth-Beauty; beauty being a harmony.  On the Thoth Deck Card the Principle of Balance is depicted as the figure of Maat, The  Egyptian Daughter of Ra; The Queen of Heaven. The Egyptian texts suggest that that it is through Maat the the Sun subsists, for Ra is said to "rest upon Maat," and to "live by Maat"---in other words, She maintains Tiphareth (The Sun/ Son of Goddess/God: our Soul). This is the Path that regulates Divine Life Force (Sex force). Aleister Crowley called Maat a Harlequin, " the partner and fulfillment of THE FOOL." On the Thoth Tarot, She stands in the Vsesica Piscis (the diamond shape). Behind her is the throne of spheres and pyramids, in groups of four which means "Law and limitation", which sums up the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

The Goddess, is also known as Venus, and The Planet Venus, is the only planet whose symbol encompasses every single Sephira on the Tree of Life. This implies that Love is the ultimate power of  the Universe and is the Law. As Maat, she wears ostrich feathers, with the serpent Uraeus, (Lord of Life and Death) on her forehead, She also holds the Sword of the Magus (male phallic symbol in this context) which suggests a sexual union, and the "completion" of the female (Crowley).

According to Crowley, this  Lovely Lady a standing on her toes, is the feminine compliment to the Fool. The Letters Aleph (The Fool) and Lamed (Adjustment) constitute the secret key of the Book of Law, that is the basis for a  Hermetic Qabalistic system so deep and sublime in meaning, that I recommend investing some time and money in obtaining Crowley's- The Book of Law!.  Because she is the partner of the Fool she is shown as dancing on her toes, with a hint of Harlequin.

 

In 777, Crowley described the "completion of the feminine" as "The Woman Justified by equilibrium, and Self sacrifice is the Gate."  Her Scale , weighs the Alpha and Omega (The All)  and as Crowley pointed out," She is the ultimate illusion which is manifestation; she is the dance, many-colored, many-wiled, of Life itself. Constantly whirling, all are possibilities are enjoyed, under the phantom show of Space and Time: all things are real, the soul is surface, precisely because they are instantly compensated by this Adjustment. All things harmony and beauty; all things are truth; because they cancel out."   This Path takes some study.

As mentioned before the Woman Goddess is also Harlequin; she is the Woman Satisfied, she is fulfillment of the Fool. She is also the ultimate illusion, which is manifestation. She is the many willed and many colored dance of Life itself. in which there will always be a balance kept by equal and opposite reaction, life and death. The Thoth Deck Card may illustrate Maat, but it can also mean Karma, the Hindu Goddess.

As stated, Adjustment, is at work continuously in the above, The Greater Universe, and the below, our individual soul/personality. In other decks this is Key 8 Justice; However it is numbered, this powerful, natural equilibrating function occurs in our bodies, as they balance nutrition continuously to maintain proper operation as power tools for Spirit. And  Adjustment is also an equilibrating function that occurs in our personalities, making sure there are no constant extremes of behavior that keep us from operating effectively in our environments. In the Personality Adjustment is done by natural force and reason.

To go forward, the Soul is measured when it "stands"in the Divine Light of the Solar Logos, shown as the golden All Seeing Eye of many "I"s, that is, Tiphareth, the sixth Sephiroth on the Tree of Life, often called the "Christ Light". Only in this Light (bright and warm intelligence) does the dual- edged Sword of Geburah, do its work; pruning away the perspectives which are not worthy of Her Divine Child. Here the Sword's pommel is in the shape of the zodiacal sign of Libra, signifying that it is the Sword of Geburah and/or Goddess of Justice.  Pythagoras taught that the iusticia and aequitas (justice and equity) are"innate attributes of the feminine nature principle".[Rose,116]

 To reiterate: Since Ra is known to the ancient Egyptians, as the source of all Light, the Qabalists know Ra as the Fool or the Path of Aleph, who is the Source of All Light . This makes it possible to say, that Aleph rests upon the Path of  Lamed, making Lamed  the regulator of the Path of  the Divine Life Force. That is also why I teach that "The Solar Husband is invoked by the Great Womb'". This may startle some men who objectify women as an object of sexual desire for dominance and control, which is an error.  For it is well known to both Tantrics and practicing Qabalists that the Life Force, and/or "Sex Energy" is invoked by the Great Female, to regulate and establish  balanced expansion and liberation (Tantra) of her Life- Forms.  The Form of Him came from the Womb of Her, i.e. "Ra is said to live by Maat." The Lord of Lightning servers the Great Magnetic-Ocean Mother.  To put this simply, The Great One (Kether) became Two, by the process of adjusting/balancing Knowledge (Chokma) and  Understanding (Binah), thereby, realizing He/She as "One who is Two" and thereby established the equilibrium that produces and maintains all things. We know this as the symbol of infinity and/or the Mobius loop and/or the balancing scales.

The downward pointing Phallus and testes headdress on the female figure of this card attests to this understanding of Kether, as Ra who lives by Maat.  This is the Judex and the Testes of Final Judgment, symbolic of the secret course of judgment whereby all current experience is absorbed, transmuted, and ultimately passed on, by virtue of the operation of the  sword, to further manifestation. Those who Skry this card will not be unhappy that they did so, even if Geburah/Justice wields her sword in quick bright strokes, the discomfort of emotional burdens. With her help, the burdens of perspectives, just fall away and the skryer feels all "Warm and bright". Because she balances the First act and the Last act, she is to understood as assessing the virtue of every act and demanding exact and precise satisfaction. She is the very image of "Love is the law, love under will". Every form of energy must be applied with impeccable integrity, to the full satisfaction of its destiny. That is why I counsel my emotional reactive "Me" with, "Get over yourself and get on with You, impeccability is what we do!",  whenever it forgets the Soul's demand for impeccability in loving thought and action, for these are the action's that drive life forward, ever expanding and ever liberating itself from past error.

There are a large compliment of Planets involved in the Adjustment/Justice card.

The imagery on the Thoth card must be examined carefully for it is all about  "law and limitation", as symbolized by the throne of spheres and pyramids in groups of four,behind the Female figure. She is best described in Crowley's book: 777, as "The woman justified. By equilibrium and Self-Sacrifice is the Gate." He goes on to state; "She is the ultimate illusion which is manifestation:  she is the dance, many-colored, many-willed, of Life Itself.  Constantly whirling, all possibilities are enjoyed, under the phantom show of Space and Time; all things are real, the soul is the surface, precisely because they are instantly compensated by this Adjustment. All things are harmony and beauty; all things are truth because they cancel out." Crowley understood, that the Soul, is the Mirror that our image is reflected in and it is by the Adjustment of perspectives, that our healing comes from. This may be why when the medical journals state, "83% of all healing, is by  placebo". I AM Psychosomatic Life, i.e., Me.

When the Thoth or SpellCaster's Tarot card is thrown during a reading, the querent is experiencing or will experience:

Thank you for your interest, comments and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper.