XIV – Temperance Tarot Card

Number 14, the Temperance tarot card, is a balancing act where you learn to walk the middle path, balance opposites or find the proverbial middle bowl of porridge. It’s the goal when you need to restore your mental, spiritual and/or physical balance. It’s also associated with the zodiac sign of Sagittarius.

Sagittarius, or The Centaur, is half man and half beast, creating a whole new magical being. The top half of the centaurs — the cerebral part — was man, and the bottom half beast, for the more, shall we say, physical aspects of being.

In the classic Rider-Waite tarot, pictured center above, an angel stands with one foot in the stream and one on a rock, anchoring her to the earth, while balancing the liquid between two chalices. Water represents emotions and the earth more practical matters, so she’s striking a balance between the two.

Aleister Crowley called this card “Alchemy,” which is the blending of two opposites to create a new, third element. And many feel this is a better description, as one doesn’t usually need to give up the individual elements completely, but simply exercise some moderation.

It’s interesting to note that the cards around Temperance are Death and The Devil, as illustrated above with the Deviant Moon tarot deck. With Death, card 13, one could say it’s giving up everything physically, mentally and spiritually. The Devil, on the other hand, could be seen as an overindulgence in everything. It’s also worth noting that the Death character is black for emptiness and nothingness, the Devil is the red hot fire of indulgence and passion, and the Temperance tarot card character a calm blue.

As the zen master would have said in that old TV series Kung Fu, find the middle path, Grasshopper. 😉

Also note the surrounding cards are associated with painful experiences, and Temperance can represent finding the calm in the eye of the storm, and the patience to put the pieces of a shattered life back together.

“Our real blessings often appear to us in the shapes of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience, and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.”

Joseph Addison

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