- The Universal Key of balance: Justice and Realignment. This card is Adjustment in the Thoth Deck, Strength or Justice in others, including the fanciful Running Press Tarot. The artist's interpretation of the Lady Justice is fun and also insightful. Here, her arms are the balances, where she weighs both apples and oranges. With her foot upon the serpentine branch, representing the "Serpent" of Life and Death. The Apple has always been the "sacred fruit" of the Western goddesses. But what few know, is that the Orange also was considered a sacred fruit as it represented both fertility and virginity, such as, virgin-motherhood, because flowers and fruit can appear simultaneously on the same tree. The ritual of the bride-to-be, carrying a bouquet of orange blossoms to the altar, was derived from Saracenic Wedding rituals.
The Justice card or Adjustment card represent the mediator, adjuster, and the arbitrator. What you put out, you get back! Every thought, every action is returned to you----this law is active for you as long as you exist. There can be no greater justice nor greater balance achieved in this world of action and reaction. This card points out that by thinking ill we become ill and by thinking well we become well. Thus it is smart “to do unto others what you would have done unto you”-----because it will be so done!
The Thoth card also uses the symbol of Libra; the scales and within the scales are the Greek letters, Alpha, representing beginnings, and Omega, representing endings or completions and/or Life and Death. This is also known as Karma in Eastern teachings. We as souls, must finish what we begin or we will be doomed to repeat it!
In the Thoth Adjustment Key 8 card, the diamond image around the being symbolizes the piercing of illusion and delusion and represents truth and negotiation.
The Egyptian figure represents Maat, the Goddess of Law, Truth, and Justice.
The circles represent formulated thoughts or ideas. This card also represents the integrating, balancing and synthesizing mind which is often expressed in writing, research, engineering and design.
The Ace of Swords is also depicted in the Thoth card, pointing downwards indicating the application of creative ideas in tangible ways.
When this card is drawn it often means we are experiencing karmic adjustments in life from past thoughts and actions which have led to the present circumstances of our life. We are reminded that we are not bodies. Rather we are a form of multiple conscious energy, Spirit-Psyche that uses bodies to work out thought equations to see if they expand and liberate life or if they stall and subvert life. We must know some form of measurement, in order to expand our self -awareness and that of the Universal Self, from which we all are formed! This is the Law of Action and Reaction that all mind and matter is subject to.
The Adjustment Card, is the Qabalistic inner psyche Path of Lamed. Hence, the Hebrew letter, Lamed, at the left of the Thoth Card title.
- Primary Path Color of Lamed: Emerald Green
- Related Sound: F#
- Astrological sign: Libra (Cardinal Air)
- Word Meaning: Ox Goad
- Hebrew Letter-Simple Letter: Work
Esoteric Title: The Daughter of the Lords of Truth; the Ruler of Balance.
Dr. Paul Foster Case wrote in the: Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom: The Twenty-second Path is the Faithful Intelligence, and is so called because by it spiritual virtues are increased, and all dwellers on earth are nearly under its shadow.
Between Tiphareth (6-Beauty) and Geburah (5-Severity) lies the Emerald Green Path of Lamed. Lamed-The Ox Goad- is the spear like prod which keeps the ox moving down the path which points to the letter's special relationship with Aleph (0x) on the Path of The Fool. Although complex, their relationship can be stated: Adjustment maintains the balance of the Tree of Life, so that the outpouring energy of The Fool (often called the Holy Ghost) will operate within the confines of a natural pattern. Adjustment is the administrator of the laws of Binah (Mother of Form), written by The Hierophant. Key -11 who is the "Ruler of Balance".
Adjustment-is the Intelligence Faithful to that symbolized by The Fool; the alignment of forces of the Twenty Second Path (The total number of all the Paths) is an amalgam of all the Paths and is described as being within the essential life force symbolized by The Fool. This can be a Severe Path, as it is continual activity "in the above and the below" and will do whatever is necessary to bring the physical, mental and Soul into equilibrium; a process represented by the Sword---which is not always pleasant. The Sword of Geburah, cuts away all that which is unnecessary.
Much like driving a car, Adjustment is constantly correcting direction through slight adjustments of the steering wheel, while traveling down the road of life (the "steering wheel" for driving an ox is an ox goad)---rather the vehicle likes the adjustment or not. This car simile continues, when one understands that the Sephira (God Forms) are aspects of the soul itself (the Driver of the body-vehicle) and not external agencies. Thus, this "driving" process is to be considered psychologically as a condition of self-assessment.
In this Card-key 11-Adjustment, many different decks show the soul weighing itself on the scales in the left hand and then makes necessary adjustments wielding the sword in the right hand. In the Thoth Deck, She balances the Scales on Her head, symbolizing a psychological balancing.
By placing the Sephiroth on the body, it can be seen that Geburah (Severity) is on the right and Chesed (Mercy) is on the left. This card is said to represent Karma; an often misunderstood Sanskrit word. Instead of meaning that a soul is reaping what is sown from past lives; Karma means to Dr.Paul Foster Case, and myself, an action of continual adjustment. It is related to education; Lamed means to teach (prodding one's mind), and as many of us lament, the maintenance of balance of a dynamic nature, is definitely a learning process. Slowly and painfully, we learn how to analyze and re-balance ourselves as necessary for different situations.
In the Qaballah, it is understood that the principles of the Path of Adjustment maintain Tiphareth (Beauty) On the Thoth Deck Card is the figure of Maat, who is The Egyptian Daughter of Ra; The Queen of Heaven. The Egyptian texts suggest that that it is through Maat the Sun subsists, for Ra is said to "rest upon Maat," and to "live by Maat"---in other words, She maintains Tiphareth (The Sun/Son of Goddess/God). This is the Path that regulates Divine Life Force (Sex force and/or fertility).
Aliester Crowley called Maat a Harlequin, “the partner and fulfillment of THE FOOL." (THE DIVINE LIFE-FORCE).She stands in the
Vesica Piscis (the diamond shape). Behind her is the throne of spheres and pyramids, in groups of four which means "Law and limitation”. This Law is interesting in that The Planet Venus, is the only planet whose symbol encompasses every single Sephira on the Tree of Life. This implies that Love is the ultimate power of the Universe and is the Law. As Maat, she wears ostrich feathers, with the serpent Uraeus, (Lord of Life and Death) on her forehead, she also holds the Sword (male phallic symbol in this context) which suggests a sexual union, and the "completion" of the female (Crowley). In 777, Crowley described this "completion" as "The Woman Justified. By equilibrium, and Self-sacrifice is the Gate." Her Scale, weighs the Alpha and Omega (The All) and as Crowley pointed out," She is the ultimate illusion which is manifestation; she is the dance, many-colored, man-wiled, of Life itself. Constantly whirling, all are possibilities are enjoyed, under the phantom show of Space and Time: all things are real. The soul is surface, precisely because they are instantly compensated by this Adjustment. All things harmony and beauty; all things are truth; because they cancel out." The readers of the Rider-Waite or Golden Dawn decks will know this card as JUSTICE; However, Crowley has shown an appropriate , if not deeper understanding of this card's Principle known as The Faithful intelligence.
The readers of the Rider-Waite or Golden Dawn decks will know this card as JUSTICE; However, Crowley has shown an appropriate , if not deeper understanding of this card's Principle known as The Faithful intelligence.; Faithful, because its ever faithful to that which is symbolized by the FOOL and/or Holy Spirit. By doing whatever is necessary to bring an organism into a state of equilibrium. The Path of Lamed (meaning Ox Goad) is not always a pleasant one. As the term OX GOAD, implies, we are often forced by our Higher Self to go in an emotional and physical direction that we do not wish to go. Though no punishment is implicit, the figure in this card holds the sword of Geburah that cuts away "the dead wood" or what is no longer needed, pruning our consciousness on its way to a better mental health.
This Sword of Geburah (Severity) has a double edge, one for enforcing peace and one for war. The errant dual thinking of "good or bad" or "right or wrong", are not the Principle here. Rather, all Forms are of the Soul (Psyche), and this is a physiological assessment of equilibrium necessary, as the Soul weighs itself on the left hand scales, and then making the necessary adjustments on the right. By placing the Sephiroth in the human body, the observer can see that the Sephira Geburah (Severity) is on the right hand and the Sephira Chesed (Mercy) is on the left. This placement not only reinforces the idea of cutting away the negative aspects of the soul and body as a return to purity but also note the attributes of Libra, the sign of the zodiac, which is attributed to this card and the Kidneys, which cleanse waste from the body. Hence, the kidney shaped headdress of the Thoth Card goddess.
As Stated: The ADJUSTMENT card is related to Karma, if one understands Karma to mean action, rather than the misunderstood term of punishment for not correcting error in past lives. The ADJUSTMENT card, represents a continuous action of adjustment, just as a modern person would do at the steering wheel while driving a motor vehicle.
Not to be overstated: The Path of Lamed is also a teaching process. Because the continuous process of maintenance is a learned process, just as one learns to adjust direction by observation and the hands-on movement of the steering wheel of a motor vehicle. Granted, this may be a painful and slow process (as many a parent of a teenager learning to drive a car will profess) but eventually one learns to analyze and re balance one’s self as necessary for different situations.
To those who study the Mysteries, and become more in -tuned to the Inner Self, the more subtle and difficult these adjustments become; Just as the more refined the consciousness gets, the less obvious are the unbalancing minutiae of slightly "off colored" thoughts. The Ancient Egyptians symbolized this subtlety as weighing the human soul against a feather. This concept of "right, truth, law and rectitude" was expressed in a single word, Maat which was symbolized as a feather by which the heart (considered the organ of the Soul) was weighed, upon death. In the above illustration, the symbol of the Dove represents the soul.
As a Goddess, Maat represented moral law and truth, a straight edge to measure the psyche by and is a personification of the concept of Adjustment. Thus the Crowley card has Maat as the central figure on the ADJUSTMENT card, crowned with her attribute, the ostrich feather. To keep our psyche on the "straight and narrow" path of purity, requires a sharp sword indeed, as I for one, need constant pruning! That is why I skry this card often!
As stated, Adjustment, is at work continuously in the above, The Greater Universe, and the below, our individual soul/personality. This powerful, natural, equilibrating function occurs in our bodies, as they balance nutrition continuously to maintain proper operation as power tools for Spirit. And Adjustment is also an equilibrating function that occurs in our personalities, making sure there are no constant extremes of behavior that keep us from operating effectively in our environments. In the Personality Adjustment is done by natural force and reason, while the Soul is measured when it "stands in” the Divine Light of the Solar Logos. The Solar Logos is, Tiphareth, the sixth Sephiroth on the Tree of Life, often called the "Christ Light". Only in this Light (bright and warm intelligence) does the dual- edged Sword of Geburah, do its work; pruning away the perspectives which are not worthy of Her Divine Child.
This image of Maat, as presented on the Thoth card, is a suggestion of the Maat legend as the "Daughter of Ra", relating her to the Sun God (Tiphareth-Solar Logos). Her Qabalistic name is "Daughter of the Lords of Truth" while the Egyptians also called her the "Queen of Heaven". All of these names pointing to the fact that this Severe Faithful Intelligence is the regulator of the Path of the Sun; as the Egyptian texts suggested. Through Maat the Sun subsists, for Ra is said to "rest upon Maat" and/or to “live by Maat". In Qabalistic terms, this means that the principles of the Path of Adjustment maintain Tiphareth---The Bright and Warm intelligence of the Solar Logos.
Since Ra is known to the Egyptians, as the source of all light, the Qabalists know Ra as the Fool or the Path of Aleph, who is the Source of All Light. This makes it possible to say, that Aleph rests upon Lamed and that Lamed is the regulator of the Path of the Divine Life Force. That is also why I teach that "The Solar Husband is invoked by the Great Womb'". This may startle some men who objectify women as an object of sexual desire, for it is well known to both Tantric and practicing Qabalists that the Life Force, and/or "Sex Energy" is invoked by the Great Female, to regulate and establish her Forms. The Form of Him came from the Womb of Her, i.e. "Ra is said to live by Maat." The Lord of Lightning servers the Great Magnetic-Ocean Mother. To put this simply, The Great One (Kether) became Two, by the process of Adjusting idea/Wisdom (Chokma) and Understanding (Binah the Will to Form), thereby, realizing He/She....and thereby established the equilibrium that produces and maintains all things. Hence the -0 became 8, one who is twisted upon itself so it is two. Those who Skry this card will not be unhappy that they did so, even if Geburah wields her sword in quick bright strokes. The discomfort of emotional burdens, the burdens of perspectives, just fall away and the skryer feels all "Warm and bright".
There are a large compliment of Planets involved in this card.
- First is Venus, which rules Libra.
- Mars is related because of the purging forces of Geburah.
- The Sun, as stated above, is involved not only because the Path of Lamed runs from the Sun to Mars, but also because Adjustment (Justice) must take place in the clear bright light of Truth.
- Saturn is exalted in Libra and finally;
- Jupiter which is the planet of Chesed (Mercy). By acknowledging that Libra is ruled by Venus, is also to acknowledge that behind Adjustment stands the Empress, the primary path of Venus, which is the perfect equilibrium between the forces of Chokma and Binah. It is interesting to note that the planet Venus refers to all of the Sephiroth and encompasses every single Sephira on the Tree of Life. The implications being that Love is the Ultimate Power of the Universal Power of Attraction.
The imagery on the Thoth card is all about “law and limitation",( which is also suggested in the Running Tarot Card) as symbolized by the throne of spheres and pyramids in groups of four, behind the Female figure. She is best described in Crowley's book: 777, as "The woman justified. By equilibrium and Self-Sacrifice is the Gate." He goes on to state; "She is the ultimate illusion which is manifestation: she is the dance, many-colored, many-willed, of Life Itself. Constantly whirling, all possibilities are enjoyed, under the phantom show of Space and Time; all things are real, and the soul is the surface, precisely because they are instantly compensated by this Adjustment. All things are harmony and beauty; all things are truth because they cancel out." Crowley understood, that the Soul, is the Mirror that our imagined personality is reflected in and it is by the Adjustment of perspectives that our healing comes from. This may be why the medical journals are said to state, "83% of all healing, is by placebo”... Something to ponder.
When the Adjustment or Justice card is thrown during a reading:
- The querent is experiencing or will experience, the making of a final decision.
- Judgment and sentencing by a determination of an issue without appeal on this plane.
- The querent is experiencing "What you put out, you get back".
- The Law of action- reaction, where the natural forces of nature reach a balance within the individual, setting things right.
- The balancing of opposites.
- One will be or is involved in Legal issues.
- Thank you for your interest, comments and supportive donation. May you live long and prosper.
