The Lovers Unveiled (part 3)
How harnessing the ‘moment of truth’ will set us free.
Now it is time to conclude our story. But before we do, make sure you are familiar with what came before to get the most from what comes next:
>> First read part 1<<
>> Then read part 2 <<
The Journey So Far…
We have experienced the first two acts of the instructive story of The Lovers from the Kabbalistic Tarot. We started with The Lovers’ formula for enlightened human consciousness engaged in miraculous manifestation.
- The Angel
Spirit / Superconsciousness
Knows purpose and is connected to all things - The Woman
Feminine / Consciousness
Present awareness and the part of us that aspires and desires - The Man
Masculine / Subconsciousness
The attractor and arranger of external conditions and opportunities
The Formula: The Spirit is. The conscious feminine looks to spirit and desires progress to live as her higher potential. The subconscious masculine is informed by this conscious desire and brings about the conditions and opportunities to fulfill the desire.
Next we learned from The Devil and Death what happens when we break from this original pattern with our mental attachments and overwhelming emotions. Temperance taught us how to get momentum back by staying in motion, embracing change, and returning to the dynamic balance of the present moment.
Our Story Continues
For today’s conversation, the key players from The Lovers remain our primary teachers: the Angel (superconscious), the Woman (conscious), and the Man (subconscious). This time we are taking a journey further down the Tree of Life into the penultimate card of the Major Arcana: Judgement (XX). This time we can see the same characters from the The Lovers have returned, but they have made some changes to their formula.
Judgement, Not Judging
Judgement is a word that has multiple meanings, including: to come to a verdict in a court of law, or to commit to an opinion (often about another person). Both can be associated with the word “deserve”, because one must be in judgement in order to decide what outcome is justified for another. There is a commonly known biblical reference that discourages this kind of judgement, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” (Matthew 7:1). This is wise, because often those we judge most harshly are demonstrating the things we are the most ashamed of about from our past. The Judgement card has a different meaning entirely, but before we get there, let’s unpack the symbolism of the card.
Spirit is Calling This Thing
The Angel, or our higher self and infinite Spirit, is blowing a horn (aka sounding the buzzer). This symbolism illustrates to the concept of Judgement Day, the Apocalypse, the New Paradigm, or the end of the world as we know it. As an epoch completes, an age or phase of humanity ends, and we are assessed on what we were able to accomplish.
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:16
The same happens at the end of and individuals game of life. According to the oral tradition of the ancient Mystery Schools, when we die, we are no longer engaged in living or the rules of physical existence. Our life is assessed, and a score is given that is recorded for eternity in our Soul. Just like humanity as a whole, when this phase is over, there is an opportunity to score our performance.
But who judges us? Who judges all of humanity?
We do. The Judgement card tells us how.
Reversing The Flow of Consciousness
As you look at the cards together above, you can see that the man and the woman have switched sides for the Judgement card — or maybe we have moved behind them? The Woman (consciousness) is still looking up at Spirit (superconsciousness), but now her arms are outstretched toward the Man (subconsciousness). She is acknowledging. Her gaze is unmoved, but her actions refer to the subconsciousness. The Man is now on the left. He is looking up at Spirit for the first time, with arms close to his body signifying an acknowledgement of self. The arms indicate a role reversal for this couple from The Lovers, an active reversal of the direction of awareness. At the same time, both Man and Woman looking above to Spirit to receive feedback for this stage of becoming. Judgement is The Lovers checking the final score of progress, as measured by the Higher Self.
Through the Eyes of the Child
Let’s not forget about the Child. The youth is centered, with arms outstretched to connect the Man and the Woman, embracing the entire truth of this moment. The Child is gazing up toward the higher self along with the parents. This Child is the fruit of their labors; s/he is the score at the end of this game. Everything we create in our life becomes like our children, especially the things we produce that thrives beyond our active involvement, literally having a life of their own. These can be actual children, businesses, communities, products, and even ideas that become more than we intended or dreamed. It is by these fruits that we measure ourselves at the end of this phase of existence.
Out of the Box
Look down, and there is something strange going on. The Man, Woman and Child are all emerging from boxes. Some say these are coffins, and say that the pale color of their skin is are signs of death. These might also be the same box of illusion that the Man and Woman were tied to in The Devil, the limiting beliefs that held them fast… the rules of the game that no longer apply. Now they all rejoice in their freedom to expand into something new.
The Moment of Truth
The Judgement card is what I like to call The Moment of Truth. To illustrate, consider the championship game of a professional sport. All the players put intense effort and preparation, pushing the limits of what is possible, working for a lifetime to be at peak performance for the big game. The game starts. Everyone is putting their all toward the same goal of coming out on top. A true test of strength, agility, flexibility, stamina, intelligence, communication and team work.
Then something truly magical happens… the game comes to an end. The clock counts to zero. All the moves are played. All the points are awarded. The buzzer sounds! Game over. The final score is known. There are winners, and there are losers. The rules of the game no longer apply.
In Summary
Judgement is an end to a process of movement toward fulfillment or realization. As we attempt to create in our lives, at some point we have to call the work done, assess the success of our efforts, and then move on to the next iteration. Sometimes we fall short. Sometimes we do just enough. Sometimes we create something that takes on a life of its own, thriving beyond our wildest dreams. We won’t know until we invoke the energy of Judgement and bring the phase of preparation and execution to an end.
Important: the only assessment that matters is the perspective of our higher self (aka Spirit) who measures or results against the fulfillment of our unique and higher purpose… not the opinions of others. With the help of The Lovers and Judgement, we can make this move boldly and learn from a material assessment of our progress toward the full expression of our inner nature.
Thank you once again Lovers for sharing this very important message with us who seek your wisdom. Thank you for taking the form of Judgement to set us free from the game, propelling us to further progression.
Osiris Indriya teaches Kabbalah in the Ancient Mystery School oral tradition in the Seattle area, and can be reached at http://10thhouse.org.
If you would to do some self-study in Kabbalistic Tarot, please consider the Builders Of The Adytum system of Paul Foster Case.
Originally published at 10thhouse.org on December 31, 2013.
