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VIII - Libra
Zodiac: Libra (ruled by Venus - III. the Empress) Tree of life: The connection between Geburah and Tiphareth Element: Air (Hot and Wet - Sanguine) Number: 8 as the number of justice and adjustment (2 x 4, 2 x 2 etc.) The Adjustment is a symbol for the balance of contrasts, complementing one another and also building up room and time. She combines the High Priestess and the Magician. Both are connected - true, conscious action results from realization, wisdom is based on action. The principle of activity completes itself with the passivity of inner reflection, the adjustment being the balance in between. Another common name of this trump is 'Justice' - the card tells one to be righteous in all aspects of our life, to ignore, suppress or prefer none if need be. Only when we have an objective view of all and accept them, can we can find inner balance and silence. Therefore, the Adjustment stands for uncompromising honesty and objectivity, the realization of cause and effect, background and consequence. Oh, by the way - it wasn't Crowley who reversed Trumps VIII and XI (Justice and Strength). If you look at old historical decks, the Justice has been the 8 ever since. Drive: Will for knowledge, harmony between reality and instinct, objectivity Light: Balance, justice, fairness, always looking at both sides Shadow: Self-righteousness ( source: www.corax.com/tarot/cards )
Justice. Balance. Adjustment. Suspension of action pending decision. May refer to lawsuits, trials, marriages, contracts, etc. or traditionally JUSTICE. This card represents the Woman satisfied. This condition is symbolized by the scales, in which she weighs the universe; Alpha, the first, exactly balances against Omega, the last. These scales represent the two "witnesses." Each "witness" is an authentic manifestation of Maya, the one fulfilling the other by a process of contradiction, for nature is not Justice — she is rather through her process of equilibrium "la Justesse." Finally, this Woman is the original Harlequin, for the wild blend of colour and of movement resolves itself into an equilibrium of all possibilities of sensation. Libra. Teth. Traditionally called Justice, the new name is a literal translation of the French "Justesse," that is Equilibrium. She is balancing from the headdress of Isis the scales in which are the bubbles of Maya, illusions typifying the transitory quality of human justice. The whole picture represents balance by opposites. The diamond patterning foreshadows the balancing Harlequin of the Commedia del l’Arte. ( source: Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot deck booklet )
Uncle Al's extended commentaries on the Major Arcana Coming Soon! --- ( source: Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth )
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