Libra Tarot: Justice
I know we’re in the midst of some great postseason series, with only one of the League Championship series participants decided so far. But the march of the stars across the sky doesn’t stop for any reason, and I want to talk about Libra’s connection to the Tarot while there’s still some time left in Libra season. Plus, this one-week delay will give me some more time to finish my comprehensive MLB database before talking about the playoffs.
Libra is the seventh sign on the zodiac wheel, and it links up with Major Arcana #11: Justice. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll see that we skipped #10: The Wheel of Fortune, which is linked with the planet Jupiter, and I guess you can’t have both a planet and an astrological sign. The Libra/Justice connection is especially appropriate, since the symbol for Libra is the scales, a set of which is held by the seated figure depicted on the card. In their other hand, the figure holds a sword, which means all they’re missing is a blindfold to appear in front of a courthouse.
Arthur Edward Waite’s “Pictorial Key to the Tarot” doesn’t have much to say about this card, given its “traditional symbolism” and “obvious meanings.” But he does call attention to the two pillars on either side of the figure, similar to the #2: High Priestess and #5: The Hierophant. The latter of those two cards corresponds to Taurus, the sign that just defeated Libra in the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League finals. Coincidence? Quite frankly, I don’t see how that’s possible.
In a somewhat on-the-nose connection, the card that corresponds to Justice in the Baseball Tarot is The Umpire… although if you’ve seen some of the strike zones this postseason, you might think that umpires would be better represented by the Wheel of Fortune. In their book about the deck, Mark Lerner and Laura Philips focus on the umpire as “the minister and dispenser of absolute justice on the diamond… As the ultimate interpreter of the rules of the game, the Umpire is an emissary and archetype of reason, balance, equilibrium and wisdom.” But they also note that, on a more literal level, the umpires are responsible for keeping the game moving.
When this card appears in a reading, it shows that a hard decision is on the horizon. You should be prepared to appeal to your “inner umpire,” the part of your conscience that helps you determine between right and wrong. While we all have meaningful decisions to make every day, the most appropriate analogy I can think of during playoff time are the managers of the teams in contention. When should you pull your starting pitcher for a reliever? Who is most likely to come through as a pinch hitter in the late innings? Which good luck jock strap should I wear for the best possibility of success? While not every manager will approach these decisions with the impartiality of a good umpire, at least the Libra spirit of deliberation will be with them.
Next time, I’m wrapping up my trip through the new additions to my All-Time database for the 1990’s, and then… I honestly probably won’t return to my year-by-year trip through FABL history until I’ve exhausted the possibilities presented by my 2021 database.