Justice, Karma, and the Hermetic Principle of Causation

Oh, Justice. Justice, Justice, Justice.

This card pops up and some see it as a simple and concrete thing-

You're soon going to get your rewards or just desserts, or maybe even a literal legal ruling.

She represents many simple things; balance, law, social order, but to some- also nebulous concepts that are human and slippery. And she holds a much greater one; The Natural Order. We'll focus on that shortly.

I'm sure everyone hears people incessantly talking about what a bitch karma is, especially when they are unhappy with others' actions. The thing is, karma is simply the reflexive effects of an action. The personal judgment/offense of that action and the implication of immediate punitive measures are not what karma essentially is, but I'll leave that for those who who wish to dive deeper into Eastern concepts of kriya, karma, dharma, pap, etc. 

 In the traditional RWS tarot, we see Justice depicted as a woman, very similar to the goddess/personifications of justice in Greek mythos. She can be construed as both Themis (Divine Justice), and her daughter Dike (Human Justice), holding a scale in the left hand, for fairness and balance, and a sword in the right. This sword is double edged, and as the truth does in life, it can set you free or cut you. It is what it is. Clothed in red, she can harness the passions aroused when doling this justice by balancing her intellect and emotions. The grey pillars, which she is seated squarely between, and floor represent neutrality. Logic is upright but the blue jewel of her crown is on point, if you know what I mean.  Her white foot peeking out hints at the spiritual effects of the actions and judgements.

  In Greek myth, Dike had a sword to pierce the hearts of the unjust. Ouch. Here's the thing, though - in early Greek society, law and order was dictated by tradition. Law was law because that was the way it had always been done and that's how the group does things. There were no moral implications in Greek justice. (I mean, look at their gods, amiright?) This card really has a lot more to do with how actions, and inactions, affect others within your circles than you might want to admit. 

If I lost you with that human moral thing having little bearing on Divine justice, I'll bring in the Hermetic Principle of Polarity to illustrate.

"All manifested things have two sides, two aspects, or two poles. Everything "is" and "isn't" at the same time, all truths are but half truths and every truth is half false, there are two sides to everything, opposites are identical in nature yet different in degree, extremes meet, and all paradoxes may be reconciled."

So, there's that...

"Every Cause has its effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law." 

The Kybalion

And that above, in a nutshell, is Causation, the 7th Hermetic Principle, as told by "Three Initiates" in The Kybalion. 

 My favorite version of Justice is from the Holy Light Tarot. 

This deck is thematically my all time favorite with its alchemical and esoteric allusions and artwork. It is a bit busy, but if you're wanting to dive deeper into a deck with history, zodiacal, kabbalah, alchemical, Rosicrucian, various occult traditions in general, it's the deck for you. The imagery is lovely and dynamic, with special attention to the fire and water balancing on the scales- action and emotion, as well as a reference to Natural Law and the Stoicheion-Somata. 

The major arcanum is ever so slightly rearranged, from 11 to 8, to have her depicted in the Fool's evolution/transmutation as an Arbiter of the Greater Good. Moving on from self focus in the first septenary from the Chariot in 7 to the next stage of development, she's moving outside of the self and bringing light to working with the world. Seeing others and their truth as equal and deserving of consideration is prerequisite for affecting their lives.
 In whichever deck you're seeing Justice, it's important to consider the context of the query and position within the layout. However, for a daily pull, I'm all in on assessing your personal cause and effect relationship with the Greater Good.  We're all in it together, after all. "The Universe is mental--held in the Mind of THE ALL." & "All is in THE ALL." -- The Kybalion