V

Sins and Virtues: Justice

In the essay Sins and Virtues, I organize a collection of sins and virtues upon a numerological grid with a spine of contrast between the extreme of Sins and the between moderation of Virtues:

This essay will focus on the Virtue of Justice, which, through a process of elimination, made it onto the aforementioned chart. Keep in mind though, that these essays are not meant to be the last word on virtues, I leave that up to the philosophers among us who have already written volumes and volumes of wisdom concerning these ideas. Instead, these essays are only meant to show how these concepts fit, within the parameters of the theoretical model of existence being put forth everywhere on this site. If the other ideas put forth elsewhere on this site have not already been read and understood, they probably should be, before reading any of these Virtue essays.

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Justice

Instead of placing the virtue of Prudence with a 2, where it might very well belong, I decided to include various concepts concerning the idea of balance - ideas that I see as unequivocally 2. Equidistantly, I placed the concept of Justice with the number 8. What is the difference? Why is balance a 2 and Justice an 8? In decks of olde, the virtue of Justice often found its way into position 8 of various trump sequences. It was only later that Justice traded places with the virtue of Strength at position 11. But why is Justice an 8. Or, how does 8 lead to Justice? The binary aspects of 2 might make the idea of balance obvious, but why is Justice an 8? This is a concept that is very hard to explain...

For the most part, in many decks, especially those that copy the Rider/Waite/Smith deck, one can usually see a sense of balance in every card. Likewise in most decks, the balance of a 2 is usually obvious - like the scales of Justice, which, although I see as misplaced on the negative side of a controlling spine of symmetry, is at least appropriately placed with the number 11 (11=1+1+2). The balance of a 2 is easy to visualize, but the balance of a 8 is harder to see, because it can only be described three dimensionally. Three dimensionally the balance of an 8 can be seen in The Geometric Progression, where the number 8 describes the concept of an inflated ball, before considering "the stuff in the middle" that would become the 9. As an inflated ball, an 8 represents the idea of even distribution of pressure upon all sides of a sphere. Thus, it represents the concept of fairness all around, more than the concept of linear, side-by-side, teeter-totter balance seen in a 2. In many of the number line progressions seen elsewhere on this site, the 8 is explosive, it represents an explosion, both literal and figurative. In its ideal form, it represents a uniform explosion of content built up through the preceding progression of numbers. So again, ideally, it represents a uniform, even distribution of matter throughout a given area of three dimensional spacetime. The 8 is a pluralistic form of balance between many, as opposed to the singular form of balance between two. It's a three dimensional balance, as opposed to a one dimensional balance.

In all the progressive number lines mentioned on this site, the 8 carries us from the 7 to the 9, in the same way a 2 carries us from the unity of a 1 to the formation of a 3. In The Geometric Progression, the three dimensions of reality occur between the numbers 3 and 7. Thus, something is formed by divine sources (3) and, after the complete realization of the form (7) it is expressed back to the source. In this way, 7 is the epiphany of "knowing", while 8 is like the cosmic copper wire that transmits that "knowing" backwards through the number line, and connects you with what you "know" at the 9. The 7 is all about sensitivity and touching or connecting. So the 7 is where you "touch" that "live wire" of the 8, causing "electrons" to flow back and forth in an electrifying (three dimensional) way (thus it is that 8 becomes the number of orgasm) between 7 and 9. So, in that sense, there is another sense of balance, as the "current" of "knowing" passes back and forth across the 8, just as the "current" of formation passes back and forth across the 2.

There is another aspect of an 8 that is at least somewhat related to the idea of justice and fairness. It has to do with the idea of perspective and focus. Again, this is another concept that can only be explained three dimensionally. Going back to the Ball of The Geometric Progression, the inflating of a ball represents the three dimensional displacement of an entity within the continuum of infinity, carving out an area of spacetime, or warping its own area of spacetime, creating a theoretical atmosphere of space around what has become a built up mass of existence (4/6). In beautifully symmetrical fashion, the breaking of inertia (1) by time and motion (2), leads to energy and space (8) - hence space(8) and time(2) become spacetime, when we view the 2 and the 8 as equidistant partners describing a single sphere of concentric containment within our theoretical model of existence. On the positive side, this space is commodious and expansive, providing a broad, panoramic perspective. On the negative side this space is limited and constrictive, leading to a narrow - or FOCUSED - perspective. So, at its worst a negative 8 represents a narrow and limited space with narrow and limited perspective - i.e. a narrow minded person. At best it represents a voluntary limitation of space and perspective, for the purpose of closing out distractions - like a student studying all night by the glow of a desk lamp, or a surgeon focusing on the specific parts of the body that require attention - i.e. a focused person. Likewise, on the positive side it represents a broad perspective that seeks out broad expression. And at its worst it represents a dissipated perspective with no focus whatsoever, or... a diluted, distracted focus.

In the world of Name Numerology, described elsewhere, the 2/8 personality is described as Perceptual. Thus, an 8 is both broad and narrow, leading to broad and narrow minded people. Normally, we fluctuate back and forth between a broad and narrow focus without even realizing it... unless we are extremely narrow minded people with prejudice and bias - which is where the relation to the subject of justice and fairness come in. A healthy person will fluctuate between opening up to a broad perspective to find new things, and then narrowing that perspective to study what they find. Back and forth we go, just like the pupils of our eyes adjusting to varying levels of light, the adjustment of our perspectives are automatic and unrealized.

In illustrating my tarot decks, I have usually chosen to focus more on the energy of an 8, more than the justice of an 8, because, to me, the concept of energy, enthusiasm and the idea of an orgasmic 8 fit better with the popular, traditional notion of Strength as an 8. To me, the card entitled Strength should be renamed Adrenaline, or Orgasm! But, even still, the idea of focus is not lost within the popular notions of Strength, as the spirit of the woman opening the mouth of a lion is commonly viewed as symbolic of a focused spirit concentrating. So even though I eliminate the image of Justice from my pantheon of characters, linear, teeter-totter type justice is still a 2 in my analysis of vices and virtues, and pluralistic fairness and justice is an 8. The swapping of Strength and Justice is often debated. But within this particular system of tarot analysis, the position of Strength (as is pertains to energy and focus) and Justice (as it pertains to either, balance or fairness) are interchangeable. If someone wants to get picky, and point out that justice is not always about side-by-side balance, but is also about fairness among many, then I am prepared to discuss that as an 8. So, put Justice as an 8, or as a 2, it doesn't make any difference to me.