The image on the V of Cups cards shows Cups with cracks and leaking water, with a few seeming to be already empty due to a massive crack. The image itself is pure black and white and seems depressing, desolate and "blah." The keywords for this card are loss, defeat, sorrow, and difficulty.
The figure on the Justice card stands tall and faces the observer, but her eyes and face are hidden behind a white veil held in place by a golden crown (representing the authority of impartial truth). In her right hand (the traditional hand of power) she holds the sword that executes justice and equalizes wrongdoing; in her left hand (traditionally the receptive hand) she holds the scales that measure the weight of one's heart. Behind her is a holograph of the constellation Libra, one of the four cardinal virtues of Rome (Prudence, Courage and Temperance are the other three). The keywords of this card are fairness, impartiality, karma, and clarity.
The V of Cups is a card of painful emotions that might include despair, failure, arguments or discord, or the end of a relationship. There certainly is no reason to see the V of Cups as unrelenting loss. Yes it tells of some pain or difficulty, but the ending of an important emotional relationship could end up being a release from bondage, if the relationship was a toxic one. The failure of one effort could offer possibilities to be obtained in a new direction.
The True Black version of the Justice card is about blind justice (rather than the Divine justice that is present when the figure looks into the viewer's eyes), although there are some interpretations regarding a blindfolded figure as representing ignorance of some necessary facts. Arthur sees her as a sentinel who answers to no man or no power, but only to the searing light of truth (represented by the glowing orb behind her head). Justice weighs both the cause of the issue in play and the effects of the manifestation of that issue. The figure representing Justice must understand those concepts and then present a conscious and deliberate response to what has occurred thus far in a completely impartial manner, without allowing emotions or prejudices or expectations or favoritism to affect any outcome. Not an easy task, by any means. Her sword tells us that action must be taken based upon the facts of the matter, for choosing to not judge is not an option.
As far as Dignities, we are dealing with the suit of Cups and element of Water, a passive element which represents cold that binds and wet that adapts, and the number 5, which can be seen here as something that stirs and roils still waters. Justice corresponds with the element of Air, an active element which represents heat that separates and wet that adapts. Both elements have the ability to adapt in common. Perhaps the discomfort of the V of Cups can be eased by knowing that the right action has been taken, no matter how personally painful.
The next step in the Great Work is Separation, which is about sorting, filtering and separating the remains of Calcination and Dissolution in order to isolate what is programmed and to select what is real. Here we begin to explore our beliefs and experiences in a non-judgmental way through our intuition rather than through our judgmental ego. Separation encourages us to strengthen our ability to be mindful and to be aware of opposites; it is about the purification of courage, power, and the Will. Separation corresponds with the substance of Air, the planet Mars, the metal Iron, and the color orange-red. It corresponds with Manipura, the solar plexus chakra, and with the yogic path of the control of the mind and the senses. To me, Separation corresponds with The Magician, the card of power, skill, and attainment in the physical world that corresponds with Air.
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