11. Justice
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Welcome to Soulchology’s worksheets, your starter-kit into an intuitive self-enquiry using tarot and astrology. I write these in my usual dry humour, which reflects the tone of my sessions too, because learning is intense enough without stripping it of humanity. A little wit makes the wisdom easier to digest!
Anyway, while full sessions include numerology, Lenormand, and therapeutic layers, these worksheets are your solo starter kit designed to get you going without frying your nervous system.
Grab your deck, take a breath and don’t overthink it. No altar required. You can read these on your lap, mid-commute, or in bed with questionable lighting. If you know current transits, great, add them in. If not, the cards still work because they’re generous like that.
And, if you shuffle really fast, they love to fling out like you’re live in an episode of Ghosts and Trevor is standing next to you.
Each sheet prompts you to connect the cards with your real life, that is, not your aspirational, one-day-when-I-journal-daily life. Pay attention to the artwork, colours, symbols, and emotional tone because tarot is layered, not linear. Study only what leaps out, don’t go looking for clues.
This isn’t about mystical perfection, it’s about noticing yourself. Your thoughts, your choices, your patterns. If you’re new to tarot and feeling twitchy about it, you might want to read my piece on Substack that gently dismantles the pressure.
My advice is to pull (or fling) your card at the end of the day, not first thing. That way, you’re reflecting and not pre-loading your brain with vague forecasts. It’s a faster way to build intuitive confidence and a more honest way to learn what the cards actually mean to you.
i. The Nutshell
Upright
Justice is the part of you that faces the truth. It connects your actions to their results and keeps you responsible. This card requests all is fair and indicates when imbalance is being rectified. Your choices reflect your intentions and the consequences are the result of actions. Ruled by Libra, Justice sits at the intersection of clarity and courage, bringing equilibrium and decision. This is a sword, not a seesaw, and the scales are diagnostic. Justice shows up when you’re ready to examine where you’ve been complicit in your own imbalances and where integrity asks for an update. It's time to be honest.
Keywords: Cause and effect, truth, fairness, accountability, alignment, clarity.
Translation: Do what you know is right.
Reversed
When Justice unmistakably shifts, it’s a sign that what you put in doesn’t match what you get out. This card is precision applied to inertia and it’s asking you where you’re rationalising what you already know doesn’t sit well. Maybe you’re over-apologising for someone else’s fallout but either way, something’s off, and it starts with what you’ve been overlooking. Libra reversed may look like it’s overthinking but it’s not confused by anything. The scales tip because something is unexamined, and the longer recalibration is avoided, the louder the imbalance gets. Justice reversed taps you on the shoulder and says without attempting to shame, “Own it, course-correct and move with intention because accountability is lighter than the heaviness you’re carrying”.
Keywords: Misalignment, denial, avoidance, imbalance, distortion.
Translation: If the truth seems uncomfortable, it may indicate a lack of awareness.
ii. Illus-traits
A quick glance at Justice’s symbolic traits in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck - what's hidden in plain sight?
Sword Upright – Truth that cuts through ambiguity.
Scales Balanced – Equilibrium before decision. Judgement comes after weighing.
Square Crown – Rational rulership. Logic wears the crown.
Red Robe – Authority backed by conviction.
Pillars – A courtroom or a temple. Either way, this is sacred ground.
iii. Influences
Planetary:
Whilst Justice is ruled by Venus, it’s not the champagne-and-roses version. This is Venus in the courtroom and it’s not singing a sonnet. Here, Venus is about values, principles, and the real-world implications of your preferences. It governs what you’re drawn to and what you uphold. Venus filters decisions through a value system; one that you’re responsible for defining and defending. Saturn makes a quiet appearance too, bringing the reminder that freedom doesn’t exist without boundaries, and that structure is critical. Together, they ask: do your choices reflect what you claim to care about?
Natal House(s):
Justice aligns with the Seventh House, the domain of committed relationships, contracts, and mirrored reflection. This is where projection ends and responsibility begins. The First House contrasts with the rest of the chart, prompting you to question if what you see around you reflects something unrecognised within yourself.” These houses deal in reciprocity and self-perception, i.e. how you negotiate your wants with others’ realities, and what gets revealed in the act of relating. Justice wants to know what and who are being honest.
Astrological Sign(s):
Libra rules Justice, bringing balance, equilibrium, evaluation, and the capacity to choose with care. Justice asks if you understand your principles and if you stick to them. Aries stands opposite, pushing for action, clarity and unfiltered expression. Together, they form the bridge between self and other, reaction and response. They ask: are you acting from clarity, or (over-)reacting from habit?
Numerologically:
Justice is Eleven in many decks, and Eight in earlier ones, but both numbers influences are visible. Eleven brings insight that cuts through the noise. It’s the double One: focused, sharp and unwilling to blur the edges just to keep the peace. It encourages you to act with belief and integrity. Eight grounds that vision into form because it governs balance, strength, karma, and the energetic consequences of every choice made. It’s not interested in appearances because it goes after results. Together, they form a contract: align your actions or be prepared to revise them.
The Master Number Eleven
As an additional note, Eleven is the first of the Master Numbers and often considered the most spiritually intense because it’s the root. Numerology is made up of layers of insight and if eleven appears anywhere in your life, it’s well worth doing the research as it’s not to be dismissed lightly. I’m a Master Number 11 and I can tell you, it’s a path by itself. Eleven is here to awaken and is not always polite about it. It teaches illumination through contrast: light through shadow, insight through discomfort. It wants truth with a capital T, clarity beyond logic, and an alignment that can’t be faked. If you do try to fake it, you will suffer. So if it’s chasing you around on clocks, sit up. Its life lessons centre on developing and trusting yourself whilst walking through doubt, and using intuition methodically and consistently. It’s not a trick and it will whoop your ass if you try and use it for trickery.
The strength of 11 lies in its visionary perception, extremely high sensitivity, and capacity to channel higher wisdom. Think psychics, healers, mentors, artists etc. Its weakness is overwhelm, emotional volatility, and a tendency to short-circuit under the pressure of its own potential. It’s a testing number because it demands spiritual maturity as loud as it demands learning from mistakes. If you keep making them, the lessons will get more severe. Check where you have Saturn in your chart as this points to an important life theme.
Time always feels like it’s running out with 11 energy, and like The High Priestess, 11 always sees what others miss. You can often get metaphorically shot as the messenger and it can be a lonely path. Like Judgement, it calls you to rise from smallness, mediocrity, hesitation and avoidance of purpose. It‘s deeply old soul energy. The best thing you can do if you find 11 anywhere in your birth date, is take notice, study it, take it seriously, and align with it because I promise, you came here with a mission to accomplish, a message to impart, and it’s pulling you back to target with every misstep.
Master number 11 children often carry an intensity they don’t yet know how to manage; deeply empathetic, unusually intuitive, and frequently misunderstood, they’re sometimes labelled with everything except the truth: they need guidance to channel their gifts, not correction to dim them. Many of the people I work with are master numbers or are navigating pinnacle moments shaped by master number energy.
One final note before I write a book on this number, Elevens are divinely protected. Ever feel like a cat that ran out of its nine lives about twenty lives ago? That doesn’t mean you’re invincible, but you do have the universe on your side because it wants you to ultimately succeed at whatever your spiritual mission is. You may notice that if anyone tries to hurt or block you, they’ll be removed from your path so sudden endings are part of this energy. That’s why your tests are so loud; because your life has likely been tough and you need to grow from that fast in order to teach others what you’ve learned. You’re a role model and someone from up there is always holding your hand and passing you the mouth-guard from boxing ring corner before pushing you back out there.
Element: Air represents thought and breath which of course are essential for that space between reaction and response. Air clears confusion allowing for objective thinking, even when it’s uncomfortable. It contrasts perception with detachment, as Justice evaluates rather than assumes. The essence of Air is calm, accuracy, and resilience against manipulation. Where in your life are you being urged to think clearly, filter out distractions, and take meaningful action?
iv. A Day in the Life of Justice
Well That Escalated Quickly
You treat objectivity like a weapon and call it "truth." You hand out judgments like party favours but duck accountability like it’s spam mail. You obsess over fairness, but only when you’re the one who’s been wronged. You’ve mental lists of who owes you what, but no column for your own impact. You say you're just being honest, but really you're outsourcing empathy to a rulebook you wrote under emotional duress.
Adjusting the Knobs
You’re weighing both sides but getting stuck in analysis paralysis. Every decision turns into a courtroom drama in your head, and you're both the prosecutor and the accused. You want to do the right thing, but you keep rewriting what “right” even means. You’re self-aware enough to know your bias, but not quite ready to adjust the lens. You're striving for balance but end up tiptoeing through every choice like it’s a minefield.
Unsubscribed from Self-Sabotage
You consider context as much as consequence. You listen closely and trust that fairness doesn’t require perfection. You take responsibility without theatrics, name your part in things, and let others do the same. You recognise that clarity isn’t squeaky clean, and that justice isn’t just about what’s right, but also about what’s real.
Writing the TED Talk
You hold truth like a compass (or North Node), not a sword. You honour accountability as an act of care, not control. You call things what they are without losing compassion. You seek alignment over applause, and your decisions reflect your heavily tested integrity. You understand that balance means showing up with both heart and backbone.
v. Working with these Energies
Living Justice with Discernment and Integrity
Justice invites you to participate in the truth and to be willing to see clearly and act accordingly. This archetype asks you to align your thoughts and choices with consequences. No hiding behind good intentions and no outsourcing blame. When life feels off-kilter, Justice prompts you to trace the imbalance back to its source. So this section is about owning your awareness to your judgments, to separate instinct from assumption, and to hold yourself to the standard you hold others to. It requires a blend of honesty and humility, and the strength to act in alignment even when you want to scream.
1. Spot your role in the outcome
– Are you facing the truth, or editing it for comfort?
– What parts of the story have you left out, and why?
– Are you choosing fairness, or simply favouring yourself?
2. Be accountable
– What shifts when you own your impact, not just your intentions?
– How do you repair instead of retreat?
– Where have you been waiting for justice from others while avoiding self-correction?
3. Use discernment as your compass
– What information are you overlooking because it doesn’t fit your narrative?
– When does silence uphold peace, and when does it enable harm?
– How do you know the difference between a boundary and a barrier?
4. Balance clarity with compassion
– What does it look like to be both honest and kind?
– How can you stand firm without becoming rigid?
– Where do you need to let go of being right in order to do what’s right?
5. See fairness as an active practice
– Who are you when no one’s keeping score?
– How do you uphold truth when it costs you comfort?
– What’s the next step that reflects both self-respect and respect for the whole?
vi. Building Skills
Observing Thoughts: A Justice Practice
Justice asks you to see clearly without distortion, denial, or emotional override. It’s discernment at its finest. To weigh truth, you first have to know what’s actually on the scale both internally and externally.
Notice what’s moving through your mind; thoughts, memories, or feelings. Don’t chase or argue with them. Simply say, “I’m noticing a thought…” and let it pass like evidence you’re reviewing, not reacting to. You are the witness, not the story.
This is the inner discipline of Justice: holding awareness steady enough to act from values, not reflex. Integrity is a choice, made clearer in stillness.
vii. Embodiment
Tarot isn’t just symbolic, it’s somatic. Embodiment is what turns Justice from a concept into calibration. This archetype lives in the body as inner equilibrium; the kind you return to. It’s the spine that lengthens when you know you’re telling the truth. The steadiness in your breath when you’re not trying to convince anyone of anything. The quiet but unwavering sense of “this is mine to carry versus and this is not.” Consider these to embody Justice today:
Smell:
If Justice had a scent, what would it be? Clean paper and ink in a sunlit room? The crispness of metal cooled by intention? Maybe it smells like restraint, not sterile, but clear, a reminder that precision has its own kind of beauty.
Body:
Where do you feel the weight of discernment? Is your chest tight from holding too much responsibility, or your jaw locked from biting your tongue? What shifts when you stand with both feet evenly planted and let truth settle where it belongs?
Soundtrack:
What song sounds like clarity? Not the anthem of vindication, but the one that holds tension and release in equal measure. A steady beat, clear lyrics, and a challenging chord progression, because true balance is never dull?
Action:
What can you do today that reflects internal alignment? Say the thing that’s true, even if it’s awkward? Make a decision that closes the loop. Can you pick fairness instead of comfort and do it without feeling like a victim?
Nature cue:
Step outside. What mirrors Justice’s quiet precision? A branch held in still symmetry? The hush before the wind shifts? The way the shadows fall in proportion to light, not randomly, but because of where the sun is placed?
Notice what steadies you:
Justice asks for conscious action. Let this card remind you that truth lives best when it’s embodied and integrated. Focus on your integrity that doesn't require others to notice.
viii. Your Impressions
Look at the Justice card in your own deck if possible. Take a moment to notice without overthinking.
Where does your attention land first - the scales, the sword, the figure’s expression, the symmetry, the starkness? Does it feel poised or immovable? Measured or unyielding? What draws your eye: the balance or the blade?
Now check your body. Do you feel centered? On edge? Called to attention? A quiet pull toward precision or a sense you’re about to be asked something you can’t answer with charm alone?
If this card could speak, it wouldn’t flatter or accuse. It would ask: What truth are you ready to meet, and what alignment is asking for your full participation?
ix. Intuitive Meaning
Use this space to explore what Justice means to you as a lived experience. Let it reflect where you've stood up, spoken out, stayed silent for the wrong reasons, or finally stopped negotiating with what you knew was never fair in the first place:
When have you had to choose between what’s easy and what’s true?
Where are you still trying to balance the scales by overcompensating, instead of putting the sword down?
What would it look like to honour your integrity without needing a verdict or validation?
Applied insight with a three-card reading using Justice as your anchor:
What truth have I been avoiding because it might change the terms of a relationship, commitment, or role?
Where do I need to take responsibility, not because it's my fault, but because I'm ready to stop waiting for others?
What decision or change would help me feel balanced inside, without needing others' approval?
Pull or shuffle-fling your cards. Feel into the difference between reaction and response, judgment and discernment. Let the spread reveal what’s off so you can see through the lens of awareness.
Write your own Keywords
Write three you words that echo your lived experience of Justice:
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x. Closing Reflection: Track Your Evolving Lens
Your relationship with each card will grow over time because it’s meant to shaped by your life. Consider the prompts below to revisit and reflect.
What I thought this card meant when I first pulled it: —————————————————
A recent experience that changed how I see it: —————————————————
How I feel about it now, in my body or life: —————————————————
What surprised me as this card kept showing up: —————————————————
One way this card is living in my life right now: —————————————————
If this card visited me today as a guide, what would it want me to remember? —————————————————
Revisit these after a week, a moon phase, or a meaningful moment. Let the card evolve as you do.
If you feel a quiet sense of recognition, curiosity and want to explore it, browse the sessions page for what feels right.