- Red Cross on White Banner - this feature appears in earlier decks,
but Waite may also be hinting at a connection with Knights Templar who wore a white
mantle with a red cross on the chest.
- Angel with red wings and flame hair is repeated from the Lovers
card. According to the Practicus ritual of the Golden Dawn, it is “MICHAEL, the Great
Archangel, the Ruler of Solar Fire...” (Regardie, 172).
- In the Golden Dawn system, this card is assigned to the Hebrew
letter Shin. This is drawn as a base with three verticals, represented by the
three central figures. In the version of Judgment given in the Cipher Document, the
card is roughly sketched with the letter Shin and the three figures on the
three verticals. However, see The Fool,
footnote 6 for a caveat about assuming that the Hebrew letters can be found
in the Waite-Smith designs.
- Michael J. Hurst points out that the general configuration of the card
suggests the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, which
in turn, is based on the description of the Temple in Ezekial, chapters 47 and 48.
The three tombs in the foreground may represent the three gates on each side of the city
(Rev 21:13, Ezk 48:32-33). Revelation 22:1-2 says “Then the angel showed me the river
of life...flowing crystal-clear down the middle of the city street.
On either side of the
river were the trees of life.” Ezechial 47:1-12 says: “He brought me back to the entrance of
the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed
eastward...he then made me wade...(the water gets deeper as he wades further in)...the stream
had swollen and was now deep water, a river impossible to cross...Wherever the river
flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live...along the river, on either bank, will
grow evry kind of fruit tree.”
Based on original research by (in alphabetical order)
M. J. Hurst and R. V. O'Neill. To add to this collection of information, please email
Robert V. O'Neill.
