From the Hermit to Justice

September 23 is when we move from Virgo to Libra, which in Tarot, is a movement from The Hermit to Justice. The Hermit asks us to turn away from the group and listen to our inner wisdom. We call on this inner wisdom as we move through Justice.

In the Rider-Waite deck we see that, though the figure of Justice is seated atop a stone throne, the tapestry behind the figure is flimsy and pulling away. Much like the Wizard of Oz, begging us not to look behind the curtain, there is more to Justice than we might initially assume.

When we consider the word justice, we almost instinctively react to the abundance of apparent injustices. This year of COVID, Black Lives Matter, and our upcoming national and local elections, have put a spotlight on the inadequacies of our healthcare, childcare, and criminal systems.

The reality is that all of our lives are most directly shaped by capitalism, whose gods are shareholders. Offerings must be made to them in the form of profits. Profits demand deficits. Even if a corporate entity includes the well-being of stakeholders (employees, communities, the environment), financial profits will always come first on the balance sheet. This is Justice for capitalism.

What would an S&P Forest 500 system look like? If 500 forests were able to make decisions that impacted the world for the primary benefit of forests, what would that mean? Perhaps since humans offer little profit the forest's interests, we would be downsized and off-shored. Perhaps the value of deserts and oceans would plummet.

That comparison may seem silly, but the point is that what is in balance from one perspective is unfair from another. Fairness is not what Justice is about.

Our opinions of good and bad, right and wrong, do not empower us to deal with what is. Though I myself may favor a Forest 500, we live in this world now. When we acknowledge what is present without judging it, then we can begin to make decisions that impact reality. That is the medicine of Justice.

We can see that without radical change in our actions, climate change will continue to cause radical extinctions. Without dramatic changes to our healthcare systems, we will continue to exhaust its capacities and our responses to this and future health crises will cripple us. Without radical changes to how we, as a society, manage capital, profit will only be measured in dollars. Such continued profits will continue to demand losses for the entire planet.

Justice is not blind. We see that in the card of Justice. It is the opposite of willful blindness.

When we take stock of our lives individually today on the equinox, we are not served by wishing things were as they are not. In the Northern Hemisphere, our nights will become longer and darker.

What can we draw from the dark areas of our consciousness? In the balance sheet of our own estimation, what is of greatest priority? What must we sacrifice in order to achieve our own profit margins? Have those choices aligned us with what is in our highest and best? If there is an imbalance, how are we reacting?