In Joanna Powell Colbert’s Gaian Tarot the scales of Justice transform from object and symbol into a living being. We can gaze upon this face of Justice and imagine he is holding in balance the passions of his heart with the elevated consciousness of his mind (as represented by the feather). Heart and mind working together allow him to see both the beauty and the destruction of the world in which we live. He feels a connection to, and joy in, the animals and land surrounding him. He also knows that their lives are in peril.  Joanna has selected for this image plants and animals that are endangered or threatened species:

Spotted Owl, American Ginseng, Canada Lynx, Echinacea, Vancouver Island Marmot, Fender’s Blue Butterfly, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Black Necked Stilt, Northern Sea Otter, Trillium, Red Wolf, Whooping Crane. We also see, in the distance, a forest of stumps left over from a clearcut. Each of these species has its own story of why it is threatened, and how it might survive. The beauty, mystery and diversity of our extraordinary planet is diminished every time another species becomes extinct.

And as our planet floods and storms and burns, we, too, are called to live in this mix of beauty and destruction. Through the Gaian Tarot we are called to make our own bodies the scales of Justice as we raise hands, hearts, and mind to contribute to the healing of the Whole.

If you would like to take the earth as your teacher, you are invited to join in the 2018 Walking the Ways of the Summer Light where we connect elemental wisdom with our divination tools to find and answer a question arising from our soul’s seeking. .