Behold GABRIEL... the Angel of God.  Behold His Mighty Authority to Awaken and Resurrect the dead!  Behold the Magical Power, Wonder and Radiance of His presence as He exercises His Divine Mandate to collapse our time/space continuum in order to quicken humankind's entry into a wondrous new dimension of perpetual spiritual existence.  This is truly one of the Tarot's most illuminating cards. It's the next to last stepping stone on our soul's evolutionary path to spiritual perfection. The card was designed to psychically open your heart and soul to the splendor that awaits your entry into the glory of human spiritual transformation... it is (Card XX) of The Major Arcana.

  What we are seeing enacted in this card is not the commonly conceived Biblical Last Judgment (when all will be judged either worthy or unacceptable to enter Heaven), but rather a sort of personal performance review, much like one would receive on the job.  It's a characterization or portrayal of that point in our future when we have successfully climbed the difficult ladder of personal physical and emotional transformation and are finally ready to "ascend" in consciousness to live and exist within the Divinity and flow of God's Universal Consciousness.   

  Most of us haven't reached that pinnacle because we are still practicing abusive physical habits and imaging negative thoughts as we continue to pile up undesirable Karma.  Some have, however, been able to surmount the pull of their appetites and desires and have moved higher in vibratory consciousness.  When we finally reach that point and are reborn and transformed (as the regenerated infant in the SUN card XIX), then our next step will be (Card XX), our resurrection and final review.

  Let's examine the card for a second... at first glance the message seems obvious.  It appears to be a rather straightforward depiction of a time when all are called to account.  A time when Heaven's representative has decided to end the nonsense and has returned to Earth to separate the worthy from the discredited.  As I mentioned earlier in the article, that is somewhat true in the macro sense, but the card was actually designed to apply in the micro sense, more as a Divine examination of your physical regenerative progress and degree of spiritual elevation achieved thus far.

  In the foreground we have (3) figures rising from their caskets.  According to Jung, the woman on the right is your transformed subconscious.  The man on the left is your transformed self-conscious.  The child in the center is your regenerated self... the perfected offspring of the blending of the man/woman, conscious/subconscious union.  Remember, in order for each of us to ascend in physical vibration (by increasing our individual cellular capacity to accept and process high intensity solar light currents), we must meditate and faithfully practice corrective habits so our former negative desire urges or old tapes no longer direct and dictate our conscious choices. 

  Through each of the cards we have seen how difficult that is... first we improve and reach a level of success (feeling good about ourselves) and then we slip and are pulled back down into the murky waters of negative self-esteem.  The (3) figures in the card that have finally made the "cut", so to speak, are all rising to the "sound" of Gabriel"s horn.  It's a Divine "sound current" that actually sympathetically fully activates each of the (7) Chakras within their bodies and enhances their spiritual capacities and cosmic awareness. 

  Note the (7) lines extending toward the woman (subconscious).  Gabriel directs his sound to her since she now plays an active/independent role and is no longer controlled or directed by the self-conscious.  Life as a fully conscious spiritual being is a different ball game altogether.  The demands of the self-conscious ego are diminished in favor of the Universal Good.  It is now what is good for the whole, not just the separate ego.

  In the beginning, when THE FOOL descended from his former state of Divine perfection and entered the 3rd dimensional world of polarity extremes, he had to move through each of the cards to learn to individuate... to forget the collective consciousness of universal existence.

  As THE MAGICIAN, he learned to individuate and deal with the physical world as a "me" and not an "us".  He had to learn to think and manifest materially and then structure and give form to his manifestations. The tough part was learning to manage his strange new subconscious urges.  Now, however, having reached this final stage where his efforts and level of achievement are to be evaluated and judged, he is resurrected from the encasement shell (the caskets) of his ego and will, we hope, be activated through Divine sound into a being of pure spiritual light. 

  Each of the (3) figures are actually the (3) aspects of his total being... conscious, sub-conscious and reborn self.  Because he was successful in THE MOON card at balancing, blending and merging the forces of his conscious (the domesticated dog) and subconscious minds (the wild wolf), he was transformed and reborn as the triumphant infant in THE SUN card.  Now that infant (as a young boy) gives himself totally to Gabriel's Divine call to live a life within the flow of Universal consciousness.  If he passes his review, he will no longer operate separately as a personal ego... he will think, feel and act as one with all within the Universal consciousness of the Divine or Universal Mind.  This resurrection or rebirth was brought about through hard work as a separate ego. With every triumph achieved over the drives and passion-driven urges of negative desire, the individual moved just a little higher in actual cellular vibration.  If one reaches this final JUDGEMENT card, it will have been the result of actual physiological changes derived from their determination to master this disciplined quest.  We can do it... can't we !!!

copyright 2006, Joe Ivory, all rights reserved