Justice XI in the Rider Waite Tarot

Justice (XI) Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Justice Rider Waite Smith : meaning and interpretation

Major Arcana
Arcana
Major
Element Air
Element
Air
Zodiac sign Libra
Sign
Libra

Justice, the eighth or eleventh major arcana depending on tradition, is the card of truth, fairness, moral and karmic law. It confronts you with the need to take responsibility for your choices and measure the impact of your actions. It’s a card of objectivity, which cuts through with lucidity and demands a deep commitment to fairness. When it appears in a draw, it indicates that you are at an important crossroads where clarity, sincerity and responsibility will be your best allies. It may herald an official decision, an expected response, or the need to set a clearer framework in your life. It reminds you that nothing goes unpunished or ignored in the universe: what you sow, you reap. It urges you to act with integrity, to realign yourself with your fundamental values and to trust the truth, however demanding it may be. Justice always liberates those who embody it.

RWS Tarot : Arcana Justice readings

Love / Sentimental reading
with the card Justice

In love, Justice symbolises balance, honesty and clarity in relationships. It invites you to take stock objectively of your feelings and those of your partner. It’s a card that speaks of transparency, truth, and relationships where everyone must assume their responsibilities. If you are in a relationship, it may indicate a period of readjustment or important decisions, sometimes linked to legal commitments (contract, marriage, separation). It can also signal a need to re-establish emotional balance, especially if tensions or imbalances are present. For singles, La Justice heralds a potential encounter with someone who is reliable, upright and driven by a serious vision of love. It’s also a card that reminds you that any healthy relationship is based on reciprocity and loyalty. It urges you to love without illusions, but with fairness and mutual respect.

Professional / Work reading
with the card Justice

At work, Justice represents rigour, responsibility, professional ethics and impartial decisions. It evokes a context in which rules must be respected and your choices will have lasting consequences. If you are in a position, this card may indicate a period of evaluation (interview, examination, hierarchical judgement), or important administrative and legal procedures. It invites you to show discernment, act with integrity and not get carried away by emotions or personal interests. It may also concern a legal or administrative field, or any function related to the law, management or equity. If you are looking for a job, it suggests that your efforts will be judged fairly, but that you will have to be precise, rigorous and honest. This card rewards merit and balance, but also punishes excess or unfair behaviour: be in line with your values.

Financial / Material / Money reading
with the card Justice

Financially, Justice indicates a need for regularisation, transparency and balance. This is the ideal time to put your accounts in order, clarify an administrative or legal situation, or make a carefully considered financial choice. It can also evoke a judgement, a contract, an inheritance or a legal decision with an impact on your finances. This card urges you to be prudent, to be consistent in your spending, and to seek fairness: are you fair to yourself and to others in your relationship with money? It advises you to avoid excess, unjustified debts, or commitments without a solid foundation. If you are in a waiting situation (repayment, lawsuit, division of property), this card announces that the decision will be made impartially. It asks you to have confidence in the regulatory process and to act with integrity in all your material transactions.

Family reading
with the card Justice

In the family sphere, Justice speaks of balancing roles, respecting rules and seeking harmony in responsibilities. It can evoke serious discussions in the home, particularly about homework, educational decisions, joint finances or sharing. It can also symbolise divorce, child custody or a legal situation affecting the family. More positively, it indicates that the family is a place where we learn loyalty, fairness and the importance of truth. If you are in a period of family conflict, La Justice encourages you to listen impartially to each point of view, to dialogue without bias, and to seek a solution that respects everyone. It reminds you that family love cannot exist without respect for limits and responsibilities. The aim is to create a fair framework in which everyone feels listened to, recognised and treated fairly.

Spiritual reading
with the card Justice

Spiritually, Justice embodies universal law, karma and the search for alignment between your actions, your thoughts and your deepest values. It invites you to make an honest inner examination: are you at peace with yourself? Are you acting according to your truths? This card encourages you to take spiritual responsibility, to understand that every action has a consequence, and that inner rightness is the key to outer balance. It may indicate a moment of karmic reckoning, purification, or an awakening to greater ethical awareness. It urges you to cultivate rectitude, not out of fear of judgement, but out of love for the truth. This card also speaks of discernment: sorting out what is illusory from what is true, what comes from the ego from what comes from the soul. Spiritual Justice does not punish, it re-establishes the sacred order.

5-Card spread
Justice and its positions in a 5-card draw.

Justice (XI) Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Want to better understand how to interpret the card Justice according to its position in a cross drawing? What does it symbolise as a situation, obstacle, resource, piece of advice or way out? Explore its many facets and find a detailed reading of the card Justice in every position of the 5-card cross spread Rider Waite.