Justice tarot card meaning: upright, reversed and symbols

Justice is card XI of the Major Arcana in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. A crowned figure sits between two pillars with scales in one hand and a sword in the other. She looks straight at you. The card asks for honest accounting: what is true, what is fair and what you owe. Here is what Justice means upright and reversed, the symbols in the 1909 card and why your deck may number it VIII.

At a glance

• Upright keywords: fairness, truth, accountability, cause and effect
• Reversed keywords: unfairness, dishonesty, avoiding responsibility
• Number: XI (11) in the Major Arcana
• Element: Air Later tradition
• Astrology: Libra Later tradition
• Yes or no: Maybe Modern

The element and astrology come from the Golden Dawn system of the 1880s and 1890s, not from the first tarot decks, and the yes or no lean is a modern reading habit. Use them if they help you remember the card, and skip them if they get in the way.

The card: what Pamela Colman Smith drew

Waite said very little about this card, because it “follows the traditional symbolism and carries above all its obvious meanings”. Smith drew a frontal, steady figure in red, with a purple veil behind her.

The scales

The scales weigh both sides. Justice asks for balance and proportion, not revenge. What you put into a situation comes back to you.

The sword

The double-edged sword points straight up. It cuts through spin and excuses, and it cuts both ways: the truth applies to you as well as to others.

The pillars and the veil

Like the High Priestess, Justice sits between two pillars. Waite noted that “the pillars of Justice open into one world and the pillars of the High Priestess into another”: one is the law of the world, the other the hidden law of the spirit.

No blindfold

Modern statues of justice often wear a blindfold. This figure does not. She sees clearly, which is a good picture of a reading that looks at facts directly.

Upright meaning

Upright, Justice weighs what is true and what is fair. It asks for accountability, honest reckonings and consequences that fit the action. The sword cuts through spin, and the scales ask for balance.

In a reading, look at cause and effect in your situation. Repair what you owe and claim what you are owed by fair means. Justice may point to legal papers, contracts or formal decisions, or simply to living in a way you could defend in daylight. Truth first, then remedy.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, Justice can mean unfairness, dishonesty or a refusal to take responsibility. You may be tipping the scales yourself, or living under a verdict that was never fair.

Correct your side of the ledger first. If the injustice comes from outside, write things down, look for advice or an advocate, and refuse to talk yourself out of what you know happened. Delayed truth still matters, and so does refusing false guilt.

Reversals are optional. Many readers never use them and read every card upright, and that is a complete way to read. If you do use them, decide before you shuffle what a reversed card will mean for you, and keep to that choice for the whole reading.

In love, work and spirituality

Love

Upright, owning your part in a conflict, a fair and equal relationship. Reversed, rewriting history to avoid blame, or an unbalanced give and take.

Work and money

Contracts, fair decisions, transparent credit, a legal matter that goes the right way. Reversed, office politics that punish honesty, or a deal that is not fair.

Spirituality

Living by what you believe, with your actions and words matching. Reversed, spiritual language used to dodge responsibility.

As feelings

As feelings, Justice shows clear, careful thinking. The person wants fairness and honesty and is weighing the situation before they commit.

Justice as past, present, future and advice

• Past: A decision or a consequence that still affects you.
• Present: Look at the facts honestly and take responsibility.
• Future: A fair outcome, a decision or a contract.
• Advice: Act in a way you could defend in daylight.

A Major Arcana card names a theme, not a sentence passed on your life. When Justice shows up among mostly Minor cards, give it extra weight: the theme of fairness runs under the whole question. If it keeps coming back over several days, write down what was happening each time. Patterns like that teach you more about the card than any list of keywords.

Is Justice a yes or a no?

In modern yes or no readings, Justice is a maybe. It depends on whether the outcome you hope for is fair. If you have acted honestly, it leans yes. Tarot is better at showing the shape of a situation than at handing down verdicts, so if the question really matters, turn it into an open question such as “What do I need to know about this?” and draw again.

Affirmation and journal prompts

Affirmation: I act with fairness and accept the consequences of my choices.

Reversed affirmation: I face dishonesty and restore accountability where I can.

Journal prompts:

• What is the honest truth here, without excuses?
• What do I owe, and what am I owed?
• Would I be comfortable if everyone knew how I handled this?

The history and art behind the card

In the Tarot de Marseille pattern the card is called La Justice, Justice. The Marseille pattern numbers Strength XI and Justice VIII. Waite swapped them for the 1909 deck to fit the Golden Dawn’s astrological order, so if your deck differs, read by the card’s title. Justice is one of the four cardinal virtues of ancient and medieval thought, with Fortitude, Temperance and Prudence. Early tarot decks included three of them as trumps. Her image with sword and scales goes back to Roman and medieval art and still stands outside courthouses today.

Many people have wondered where the fourth virtue, Prudence, went. Some writers suggest the Hermit or the Star took its place, but there is no evidence for any of these theories. It is a good example of an open question in tarot history.

When A. E. Waite published The Pictorial Key to the Tarot in 1910, he listed these divinatory meanings for the card: “Equity, rightness, probity, executive; triumph of the deserving side in law.” Reversed, he gave: “Law in all its departments, legal complications, bigotry, bias, excessive severity.” Waite himself called the fortune-telling meanings of the trumps “artificial and arbitrary”, and on this site I read the picture first and treat lists like this as history.

In the modern teaching map called the Fool’s Journey, this card belongs to the second stage, meeting the world’s tests (roughly Strength to Temperance): courage, solitude, change, fairness, surrender, endings and balance. This map is a teaching aid made popular by twentieth-century guidebooks such as Eden Gray’s, not a medieval doctrine. Use it when it helps.

A spread for Justice

Use this spread when you need a fair view of a conflict or a decision.

1. What are the facts? What actually happened, without spin.
2. What is my part? What I am responsible for.
3. What would be fair? A balanced next step.

Lay the three cards in a row, read each one on its own first, then read them together as a short story. Write one sentence for each position and one small action you will take.

Common questions

Is Justice card 8 or 11?

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck it is XI. In the Tarot de Marseille and the Thoth deck it is VIII. Read by the title.

Does Justice mean a court case?

It can mean legal or formal matters, but most often it means fairness, honesty and consequences in everyday life.

Is Justice a yes or no?

It depends on fairness. If you have acted honestly, it leans yes. If not, it asks you to set things right first.

Related cards

• Strength: the card it swapped numbers with
• Judgement: a deeper reckoning and a call to renewal
• The Emperor: rules and structure in the world

Keep learning

Justice is part of the lesson Strength to Temperance in my free Tarot for Beginners course. To keep walking the Major Arcana, read the card before it, Wheel of Fortune or the card after it, The Hanged Man, or go back to all the card meanings. For every card with keywords, affirmations and examples, see my book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot. If you would like a printable cheat sheet for all 78 cards, my 45-page Tarot Workbook is on Etsy.

Sources

• A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910), Part II and Part III, section 3.
• Pamela Colman Smith and A. E. Waite, the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot (London: Rider, 1909).
• Nicolas Conver, Tarot de Marseille (Marseille, 1760).
• Eden Gray, A Complete Guide to the Tarot (New York: Crown, 1970), epilogue “The Fool’s Journey”.
• Lauri Mukkala, The Novice’s Guide to Tarot, entry for Justice.