Barbara Walker Tarot - 8: Justice

Under the All-Seeing Eye, a throned woman wearing feathers of Maat holds a balance and retributive sword. Maat was Egypt’s Mother of Truth, who weighed each deceased soul against her feather in the balance. If the soul was heavy with sins, it couldn’t enter paradise. Like Maat, the Goddess Libra or Justice demands payment of the proud charioteer’s karmic debt. Accounts can be balanced by voluntary renunciation of worldly glory, shown by the next card, the Hermit. Justice’s numeral 8 is the lemniscate symbol of perfect equilibrium. She stands for compensation, fairness, rationality, clear vision, payment of debts, punishment of the guilty.