20.Arcana XX — Judgment

Arcana XX – Judgment, from the Rider–Waite–Smith deck (1909),
Original illustration by Pamela Colman Smith.
Interpretive infographic by unknown author (contemporary reworking)

The call to be reborn: between tradition, conscience, and choice

There is a time of year that, more than any other, invites silence and truth.
For me, this time is the period between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Today is Christmas Eve.
In my Christian tradition, tonight is the night that baby Jesus is born (as my daughter tenderly reminds me).
Beyond personal faith, this event carries with it a universal and powerful symbol: the possibility of rebirth.

A rebirth that comes throughlistening, reviewing, and making conscious choices.

That is why today I have chosen to dedicate this spaceto Arcana XX of the Tarot: Judgment.

Judgment does not condemn. It calls.

In the tradition of the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith and conceived by Arthur Edward Waite, Arcana XX shows figures emerging from their graves, summoned by the sound of a trumpet.
They are responding.

The Judgment is not about guilt, but about awareness.
It is the moment when we stop identifying with what we have been and begin to recognize what we have become.

As a coach, I often see this moment happen:
not when a person "decides to change,"
but when they can no longer ignore an inner calling.

Christmas as a symbol of rebirth choice

Every birth requires space.
Every rebirth requires responsibility.

Judgment always comes after a cycle.
It comes when something has already matured within us and demands to be recognized.

That's why, every year, between Christmas and New Year's Eve, I allow myself — and recommend — a period of deep analysis.

To listen to me.

Analysis as an act of honesty (not control)

Analyzing the year means looking at it with truth and respect.

I do this by going through some fundamental areas of life, which I consider to be interconnected:

Health

What worked well in my body?
What gave me energy?
What required my attention and care?

Relationships

Who have I become in relationships?

Work

Where have I truly expressed myself?
Where have I learned new skills?
What do I no longer want to put off?

Materiality

What relationship have I had with money, security, and practicality?
Where have I built? Where have I scattered?

Spirituality

Where did I feel meaning?
Where did I lose touch?
What practices, studies, or silences brought me back home?

Judgment, or if we prefer...evaluation, observation calls for integration, is a truly valuable tool.

Bringing what is alive with you

One of the most common mistakes in "new beginnings" is wanting to throw everything away.
Arcanum XX teaches us thatwe rise again by taking with us what we have learned.

This is the principle that psychiatrist and philosopher Viktor Frankl describes in
Man’s Search for Meaning: we are not defined by events, but by the meaning we choose to attribute to them.

And it is the same movement that we find in James Hillman's thinking, when he talks about the vocation of the soul in
The Soul's Code: life should not be forced, it should be listened to.

Towards December 31: from Judgment to the project

If Judgment is the call, then the transition to New Year's Eve becomes the first conscious act.

Not a list of good intentions, but a plan consistent with who I have become.

What do I want to take with me?
What is ready to be born?
What do I finally choose to respond to?

A question to take with you

On this eve, I leave you with just one question—simple and radical, like Arcanum XX:

If this really is a rebirth, what do I feel called to do now?

The rest will follow.
Calmly.
Truthfully.

Sources of inspiration

Books

James Hillman The Soul’s Code

Viktor Frankl Man's Search for Meaning