Man, so many folks get all bent out of shape when they pull the Justice card reversed in a spread. They immediately jump to conclusions, thinking it’s all doom and gloom, unfairness, betrayal, that kind of mess. And yeah, sometimes it can point to those things, but that’s like, just scratching the surface. My journey with this card, especially when it flipped itself over, it taught me way more than just “bad luck.”
I remember this one time, it was maybe a good ten, twelve years back now. I was in a real tight spot with a job. Had been working my butt off for this small company, put in extra hours, covered for folks, did all the grunt work nobody else wanted. We had this big project, make-or-break kind of thing, and I was basically running the whole damn show, burning the midnight oil for weeks. When it finally wrapped up and we hit all our targets, management was ecstatic. They promised bonuses, promotions, the works. Felt like I’d really earned my stripes, you know?
Then, when the dust settled, everything went quiet. No bonus, no promotion. In fact, they started hinting around that maybe my “performance wasn’t consistent enough,” which was a total load of crap. They even brought in some hotshot new guy, straight out of college, to take over some of the responsibilities I had just slaved over, and gave him the title I’d been gunning for. I felt like I’d been sucker-punched. It wasn’t just disappointing, it felt profoundly, deeply unfair. Like someone had just reached into my pocket and swiped my deserved reward, then lied to my face about it.
During that time, I was trying to figure things out, just pulling cards for myself, trying to see what the heck was going on. And wouldn’t you know it, Justice kept showing up reversed. Over and over again. At first, I was like, “Yep, totally. Unfair. This whole situation is screwed up.” But after the fifth, sixth time, it started bugging me. Tarot usually gives you something more to chew on than just stating the obvious. It pushes you to look deeper, right?
So, I started digging. Not just in books, but just sitting with the card, looking at it, trying to feel it out. What else could “reversed Justice” mean besides external injustice? What if it wasn’t just about what was happening to me, but what was happening within me? Or what I was overlooking? This was my breakthrough, truly. I realized it wasn’t just saying “things are unfair,” but asking, “Where is the imbalance you can influence?” or “What truth are you avoiding?” or even “Are you being fair to yourself?“
My “path” with reversed Justice really started there. When I pull it now, I don’t panic. Instead, I follow a kind of internal checklist, a flow if you will:
- First, I acknowledge the feeling of unfairness. Yeah, it hurts. It’s frustrating. Let it be there for a sec.
- Then, I shift the focus inward. I ask: “Am I judging myself too harshly? Am I being too hard on others, or too lenient?” “Have I actually done my part to ensure fairness, or did I just assume things would be fair?”
- I look for hidden truths or unacknowledged biases. Sometimes, when things feel unfair, it’s because I’m refusing to see a piece of the puzzle. Maybe I had unrealistic expectations, or I wasn’t clear enough in my own communication, or I was neglecting my own boundaries. It’s tough to admit that sometimes I contributed to the imbalance, even unknowingly.
- I consider the “legal” and “ethical” grey areas in my own actions. Not necessarily breaking the law, but maybe I bent a rule, or took a shortcut, or let someone else take the fall for something I was partially responsible for. It’s about personal accountability, not just who gets blamed.
- Finally, I ask what action I need to take to restore balance. Is it speaking up? Setting a boundary? Forgiving myself? Letting go of an expectation? Sometimes, the “justice” isn’t about someone else getting their comeuppance, but about me finding my own sense of balance and integrity again.
That job situation eventually blew up, as these things often do when built on shaky ground. I ended up leaving, not because I was forced out, but because I realized I wasn’t being fair to myself by staying there, by allowing that imbalance to continue defining my worth. It wasn’t about getting “justice” from them anymore; it was about seeking my own inner justice, finding a place where my effort and value were respected. And you know what? That’s what I found. It took time, but that flipped Justice card really pushed me to understand that sometimes, the scales need balancing from within, by my own hand, not just waiting for the world to right itself.
So yeah, don’t let a reversed Justice card scare you. It’s not always a bad omen. For me, it became this powerful reminder to look inside, examine my own actions, my own biases, and my own sense of self-worth. It’s a call to honest introspection, a chance to step up and be the architect of your own balance, even when the world outside feels totally out of whack.
