In today's version of the Judgment card, it's the trumpeter himself who is judged. Let that be a lesson to any of us who feel we are beyond reproach!
That being said, the beautifully concise moral "Words may be deeds" sets us off down the slippery slope which holds us accountable for our own mistakes down to a practically cellular level, regardless of whether this is just.
The post-apocalyptic awakening of souls for judgment that the card usually portrays has fallen out of favor in many modern interpretations, most notably in the Thoth deck version which was renamed "The Aeon." The newer versions describe the great reckoning as a purely internal affair. We judge ourselves, we take "a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves," as they say in AA. Whereas that's only the fourth step in the recovery process, it's the penultimate step in the cycle of Tarot trumps -- once you have endured judgment by the higher power of your choosing, you are free to ascend to the promised land, graduating out of this world and setting out into a new one. (The Tarot's metaphor applies more to life as it's actively being lived than to what comes at the end of it.)
As much as we'd like to rely on ourselves to navigate these proceedings, it can be profoundly helpful to have some sort of person, belief or idea or idea to reach out to, someone who will advocate for us and ensure that the trial we're undergoing is a fair one. Our poor trumpeter certainly learned this the hard way...
Speaking of trumpeters, don't miss this video. Before 22-year-old assistant band director Brandon Franklin was shot dead this last May, he had casually mentioned to his boss that, were he to die, he'd want "all the bands" to play at his funeral. After his tragic shooting, nearly 300 band members assembled in tribute. The resulting cacophony is a wondrous and cleansing thing, perhaps it will move you to turn your gaze inward, to sort out what you can, while you can:
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