Judgement (tarot card)

The Judgment (XX). Rider-Waite deck.

Judgement (XX), or in some decks spelled Judgment, is a Tarot card, part of the Major Arcana suit usually comprising 22 cards.

Description

The scene is modeled after the Christian Resurrection before the Last Judgment. An angel, possibly Gabriel, is depicted blowing a great trumpet, from which hangs a white flag bearing a red cross. A group of humans (man, woman, and child) of grayish complexion stand, arms spread, looking up at the angel in awe. The people are apparently emerging from crypts or graves. There are huge mountains or tidal waves in the background. These may be a reference to the sea giving up its dead on the day of judgment, as described in the Book of Revelation.

Alternative decks

• In the Mythic Tarot deck, Judgment is depicted by Hermes.
• In the Thoth Tarot deck, Judgement is referred to as The Aeon and includes pictorial representations of Nuit, Hadit and Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Harpocrates.
• In the Darkana tarot deck, Judgement is referred to as Prudence to better reflect the symbolism of the four Cardinal Virtues (fortitude, justice, temperance, prudence).

Popular culture

• The first boss of The House of the Dead 2, a light gun game by Sega, takes its name from the Judgment card, and is depicted as an imp (Zeal) and a giant headless armored zombie wielding a battle axe as its puppet (Kuarl). It should also be noted that all of the bosses in the House of the Dead series derive their names from the Major Arcana. Kuarl was said to have been based on Curien's "The Chariot", and Zeal "The Hanged Man".
• In the SNES video game Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, the Judgement Tarot card depicts a female angel pointing her trumpet down south and ready to blow her trumpet while hovering from a cloudy sky. On drawing the card after liberation of one of the towns, it increases the characters' HP by 2 points, and uses a pulsating blast of holy energy that also instantly pulverizes undead enemy units and damages said enemy units that have low alignment when used in battle.
• In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the wish-granting Stand Judgement, seen in the third arc, belongs to minor antagonist Cameo.
• Along with other Major Arcana, Judgement is a playable character in Data East's puzzle video game series, Magical Drop.

See also

• Angels in art

External links

• The Judgment from Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners - Joan Bunning