Busy, busy, but finding some time to add cards to my deck. Here’s a new one that I thought really illustrated the Judgment/Angel/Rebirth card. Here’s the info that’ll be in the companion book (all the Major Arcana cards will have a poem):

Keywords

rebirth, judgment, inner calling, absolution, forgiveness, second chances

The Physics

The Snowflake Cluster and the Cone Nebula

Strange shapes and textures can be found in the neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. These patterns result from the tumultuous unrest that accompanies the formation of the open cluster of stars known as the Snowflake Cluster (NGC 2264,). The Spitzer Space Telescope used two colors of infrared light to bring out the details in this image. Bright stars from the Snowflake Cluster seem to be strewn through the field of gas. These stars will heat up and destroy the gas and dust mountains in which they formed, so, like all formations in the universe, this one is a temporary piece of cosmic art. One such dust mountain is the famous Cone Nebula, visible in the lower left of the image, pointing toward a bright star near the center of the field. This region is located about 2,500 light years away toward the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).

Image credit: NASA

Metaphysics and Myth

Traditionally, this card is called Judgment (as a reference to the Last Judgment in Christian mythology) or the Angel (in many pre-Golden Dawn historical decks). The angel awaits the risen beings as they float up toward the center of light. Traditionally, this is the card of second chances, of forgiveness, and not just judgment, and that’s the way I’ve chosen to read it. All souls are welcomed by heaven, their inner selves shining like stars as they move into new lives beyond the clouds of their incubation as humans.

For the Reading

You are forgiven. Stop dwelling on past losses. Go forth, internalize that forgiveness, and begin your transformed life. Here’s your second, or third, or infinite chance to refocus on your calling, to awaken to your passion and try again. That’s great for the spiritual reading, but in a more practical spread, this card would also indicate more grounded second chances, like another opportunity to learn a new skill, take a new direction in your business, get a second opinion on a medical diagnosis, or a second chance at making a relationship work. Clean that slate and hear the call to start anew.

The Story

Forgiveness
The longer I live,
the more I give.
The more I forgive,
the happier I live.

A longevity of giving;
a giving for-ness of living.
A love remembered;
a mistake forgotten.

Why loss in life?
Why will to live?
Why, this means
life is to forgive.

Loss is the deal.
Meditate on memory.
Fill in with love.
Nowhere else to be
when life is a flood.

Thanks for checking this one out, and please let me know how the image strikes you as far as the card’s meaning and traditional symbolism.