Among the major arcana there are three cards that anyone familiar with medieval and Renaissance art recognises at once: Justice with her sword and scales, Strength with the lion, Temperance pouring a liquid from one vessel to another. These figures decorated churches, town halls and tombs long before they appeared on cards. Understanding where they come from helps us read them with greater depth.
An ancient legacy
Philosophical and Christian tradition knew four cardinal virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. The word "cardinal" comes from the Latin cardo, the hinge on which a door turns: these were considered the virtues on which the whole of moral life rests. In fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italian iconography these female figures were everywhere, recognisable by their attributes.
The tarot includes three of them. The fourth, Prudence, is missing. Many hypotheses have been put forward about its absence: some have looked for it hidden in other cards, for instance in the Hermit with his lantern, while others have thought that the series of trumps followed the logic of a game rather than of a catechism. No explanation is definitive, and it is more honest to leave it as an open question. Still, it is suggestive that the virtue of discernment is the one the deck entrusts, so to speak, to the person using it.
The different order in decks
One detail often confuses those moving from one deck to another. In the Marseille tradition Justice is arcanum VIII and Strength arcanum XI. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck the order is reversed: Strength becomes VIII and Justice XI. The swap was introduced in Golden Dawn circles to make the cards fit an astrological and kabbalistic scheme in which Strength was associated with Leo and Justice with Libra. Temperance, on the other hand, remains arcanum XIV in both traditions.
For symbolic reading this difference is not a problem, but it is worth knowing: anyone studying the numerology of the cards needs to know which order they are working with.
Justice: measuring and deciding
Justice sits facing forward, sword raised in one hand and scales in the other. The two attributes say different things:
- the scales weigh, compare and seek balance between the parties;
- the sword cuts, separates and puts an end to uncertainty.
Weighing is not enough: at some point one must choose. In spreads Justice speaks of fairness, of responsibility for the consequences of one's actions, of decisions to be made with clarity. Its shadow side is rigidity of judgement, the tendency to measure others with a yardstick one does not apply to oneself.
Strength: taming without destroying
Strength is a woman opening or closing the jaws of a lion. What strikes us is the calm of the gesture: there is no struggle, no violence. The strength depicted is not muscular but the ability to guide instinct without repressing it.
The lion can be read as passion, anger, desire, everything in us that is powerful and wild. The woman does not kill it: she accompanies it. In spreads the card indicates courage, patience and self-mastery. Its shadow side is strength turning into domination, or repression that hides emotions instead of integrating them.
Temperance: the passage between two vessels
Temperance is a figure, often winged, pouring a liquid from one container into another. In medieval art the gesture indicated diluting wine with water, that is, moderation. In esoteric reading it has become much more: an image of inner alchemy, of circulation between two states, of the patient measuring that transforms.
In spreads Temperance indicates balance, the healing of conflicts in relationships, the ability to mediate, long and gradual timescales. Its shadow side is indecision disguised as prudence, the compromise that displeases no one and resolves nothing.
The three virtues compared
| Card | Gesture | Question it asks |
|---|---|---|
| Justice | Weighing and cutting | Am I assessing honestly? |
| Strength | Guiding the lion | How do I treat what is wild in me? |
| Temperance | Pouring between two vessels | Am I finding the right measure? |
An example reading
Someone asks how to handle a tension with a colleague. Strength and Justice come up. The first suggests governing one's own emotional reaction; the second invites a fair assessment of the facts and, if necessary, taking a clear position. Together they indicate a two-stage path: first calm, then decision.
In short
- Justice, Strength and Temperance derive from the cardinal virtues of medieval iconography.
- Prudence, the fourth virtue, is absent from the deck and its absence remains an open question.
- In Marseille decks Justice is VIII and Strength XI; in the Rider-Waite-Smith the order is reversed.
- Each virtue has a precise gesture: weighing and cutting, guiding instinct, measuring with patience.
- Each has a shadow: rigidity, domination or repression, indecision.
