The Archetype and The Tarot: The Warrior and Justice
Through the Warrior and Justice, this week we’re being called to fight for balance. Can we do whatever it takes to reach this elusive goal?
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The Warrior Archetype
Truth be told, I have quite an ambivalent relationship with this archetype. On the one hand, it has “war” in its name, so part of that is a generally poor set of relational skills (at least to my way of thinking). On the other hand, there have been times when life—through illness or other circumstances—has knocked me to my knees and it’s the Warrior, unwilling to accept defeat, that gets me back to my feet again.
Caroline Myss (from whom I first learned about archetypes) has said that “as long as there is war within any one of us, there will be war in the world.” I am a believer that the changes we make within ourselves are reflected in the collective. Given that, I’m going to look at the Warrior through the lens of how it shows up in us as individuals versus at a societal level.
The Warrior is one who trains and masters the skills necessary for defense. They possess tremendous discipline and perseverance, and understand the value of life on a profound level. In fact, I recently learned the term “sacred rage” from my friend,
, and the way she defines it fits the Warrior energy perfectly:Anger in its most honest expression is grounded in devotion and reverence to the safety and sanctity of life. Standing up for what is right and true because that is what love does. Here the word love is not about romantic notions or a penchant for something. Instead, it is fierce. It is a passionate “NO”! “NO” to a trespassed boundary. “NO” to a violation of basic human rights.1
When the Warrior comes up for us, I believe we’re being asked to persevere, to not surrender. The Warrior asks: can you give a little bit more? (If you’re like me, you’re rolling your eyes at this point. But I do think it’s worthwhile to stick this one out.)
In the light, the Warrior epitomizes loyalty and devotion. They have a mastery of themselves and their skills to the degree that fighting is a last resort. When they do have to fight, the Warrior in the light fights FOR something rather than against. This one possesses tremendous courage and is the embodiment of this virtue.
Another bit of Substack synchronicity…when I began thinking about the Warrior archetype, the Bhagavad Gita came to mind, which is a story in Hindu mythology. In this story, Arjuna, a great warrior, stops his chariot just before rushing into battle. The army he’s supposed to engage is made up of his relatives and he doesn’t want to fight them. He then gets all kinds of advice from his charioteer (who turns out to be a god) about the importance of one’s dharma. As a very oversimplified definition, our dharma is the path we walk and it involves making decisions based on right living.
Just as I was pondering all this, another Substack friend,
sent out a post about this exact thing. This line in her post about the Bhagavad Gita really struck me as the core of the Warrior in the light:It takes tremendous courage to live one’s dharma.2
In the face of hardship, when all we want to do is say, “Fuck it (whether as a giving up or giving in),” it’s the Warrior in the light that gives us the courage to stay on our path.
The shadow Warrior, on the other hand, brings to us what one of my teachers would call “a power mix-up.” This one fights in order to get a sense of power, or domination, over something outside of them. Sometimes the Warrior in the shadow gets a sense of purpose, or identity, from the fight (much like the shadow Rescuer) and so they need the fight to continue in order to feel okay. Most commonly, however, the shadow Warrior simply doesn’t fight when it’s needed, such as when we don’t stand up for ourselves or continually allow our boundaries to be violated.
Some questions to consider this week:
What are you being called to fight for?
What skills has your inner Warrior helped you develop?
When have you felt unable to stay on your path?
How do feel about the idea of perseverance?
Justice
In this card, we see a crowned figure seated on a throne and wearing a rich, red robe. They are seated between two pillars, which tells us that this is a liminal figure, a third pillar, a between-the-poles-of-duality sort of situation. In their right hand is the sword of discernment and in their left is a set of scales.
To me, this card is all about returning to center. In fact, even as I look at it, my eye is drawn to the center. The upward-pointing sword and downward-pointing scales guide my gaze to the middle point between them.
Rather than carrying a message of right and wrong in any sort of concrete form, or having anything to do with punishment, I think Justice is the perpetual motion towards equilibrium. With every choice we make, there are consequences and impact, things that add weight to one side of the scale or the other. Justice asks us to come back to center and balance the scales. When life knocks us off our path, Justice asks us to respond by making the necessary adjustments to return to alignment.
How does this pair work together?
What I see here is the Warrior adding weight to one side of the scales of Justice, then to the other, and back again to the first. Tirelessly going back and forth, making all the adjustments, to bring the scales of Justice to balance.
This is our task this week: can we keep doing whatever is necessary to bring about balance this week? Maybe we’ll need to exercise a little more; eat a little healthier; take a nap instead of work; work instead of take a nap; do more or do less; but do whatever it takes to not simply succumb to imbalance.
I have to admit that I feel very personally called out by this week’s message. For a long time, I’ve had a bad attitude towards our culture’s tendency to soldier/warrior on, to push through the pain. So now it feels like the Universe is saying, “Here, try it out anyway.” But the fact that this Warrior mentality is paired with Justice, and so the fight is for balance, helps me appreciate it a little more. And knowing that I’m in this with all of you makes it feel bearable. (Does anyone else think this feels like a more forceful version of last week’s message with the Mediator?) I’d love to know what all of you think of the Warrior and Justice. Please reply to this email or comment below.
Jenna, first thanks for inclusion in your post! And wow, this is an incredibly powerful combo! For me after listening to The Emerald podcast on Justice, this speaks deeply to me. Joshua also brought the Bhagavad Gita into it, going into great depth. I too have spent quite a while studying this incredible excerpt from the Mahabharata, even later teaching it. It is an amazing study on dharma, balance and karma. Understanding that even though things might not look fair, it can still be just.
This combo here of the Warrior and Justice matches this epic tale beautifully. Arjuna is the perfect warrior for he did not want to fight, he was reluctant. But he did it for dharma and balance as you stated. Fighting at times is necessary when standing up for what you love, and there is the sacred rage! For me at times I need to put my warrior on. Especially when I find myself in challenging situations where all I want to do is collapse. The warrior teaches me to persevere, to have faith even though this might not resolve the way I want it to. Trusting that in the end it is exactly where I need to be.
"Caroline Myss (from whom I first learned about archetypes) has said that “as long as there is war within any one of us, there will be war in the world.”
No wonder there are endless wars over time.