Summary:
Guys - we've finally reached the end of the Major Arcana of the Fortunus Games tarot deck!
For "Judgment," I chose Ben and Doris Cox from my Tapas graphic novel series, Sam in New York, since Judgment features the Christian concept of Judgment Day. However, there's a little twist - Ben and Doris belong to a sect of Christianity (non-denominational Protestant that's influenced by Pentecostalism and Charismatic Christianity) that believes that there will be a Rapture before Christ's Second Coming (which will then lead to Judgment Day).
So here, Ben and Doris are actually waiting for the Rapture. The Rapture is a theological position held by some Protestant Christians about an end-time event where believers will be taken into Heaven. Meanwhile, the rest of the world will be plunged into a seven-year tribulation period, which is when the Antichrist comes to power.
After the seven years come to an end, Jesus will return again and throw the Antichrist/Devil into the lake of fire.
One of the reasons I know this so well is because I went to a Protestant Christian school in the 2000s and we watched the Left Behind series, which is a Christian movie based on a series of novels of the same name that explore the Rapture.
In the original Judgment card, the man and woman (and everyone else coming back from the dead) are naked. Obviously, because of their strict views on modesty, Ben and Doris can’t and won’t be shown naked. They’re also not rising out of coffins because the Rapture happens before Judgment Day according to their theology, and I’ve decided to make this card about the Rapture rather than Judgment Day itself. So the scene we see in traditional Judgment cards won’t happen until later, according to Rapture theology.
However, Ben and Doris already know they’re heaven-bound. The Angel is heralding Jesus, who will be whisking the true believers into Heaven before the seven-year-long Tribulation, which is the last chance for people to believe in God and Jesus before they’ll be hurled into the lake of fire along with the Devil.
So, what is the Judgment card about? In short, it’s about rebirth, judgment, and inner calling.
In the back are a series of mountains, symbolizing the fact that it’s impossible to avoid judgment.