La Temperanza: Temperance
Verse
“Imagine,
fire and water meeting
without destroying each other,
but instead harmonizing
to become something powerful and new.
Imagine,
the same convergence happening
to reconcile the wild elements inside of you.
Imagine,
the serenity
of feeling everything in balance,
removing your shackles
to the material
and being the light
that exists peacefully within darkness.
Imagine,
that golden crown you’ve always reached for
being placed gently on your head
by your highest self.”
Keywords
Upright: Connection to your highest self. The middle path. Patience. Idealism. Being in alignment with your life’s purpose. Harmony. Balance. Positive energy. Moderation.
Reversed: Straying from your path. Living in excess. Imbalance. Negativity. Misaligned actions and values.
Correspondences
Sign: Sagittarius
Aroma: Nerolina, Blue Lotus, Cedar, and Allspice
Description
There are two paths to be taken after Death and rebirth. Temperance is the middle path of self-restraint, the one that leads to your highest self. Key 14 represents the foundation and stability of the fours of the minor arcana and The Emperor plus 10. It also represents the fulfillment of the themes of harmony and choice present in The Lovers. It is the ending of the second arc of the Fool’s journey and the second victory. Unfortunately, it’s a vision of enlightenment before all trials have been met and cannot be a true ending.
An angelic figure hovers above a dormant volcano, the same one that was in the background of The Lovers. The figure holds the symbol of water in one hand and the symbol of fire in the other. The light between them flows back and forth harmoniously and the two prisms create a rainbow.
In a reading, this card invites you to find your chill and take the high road. Act according to your highest ideals. There may be a necessity for a calm and neutral approach to a difficult situation. Be open to compromise and practice patience with the important people in your life. Avoid extremes. Take whatever life is throwing at you right now and make something better out of it. Remember that you have the power to shape your reality. It may also be a sign that you are in alignment with your life’s purpose, or that it may reveal itself to you soon. This is an energizing moment for you. The pieces are coming together and you feel like you’re on the right path to becoming your highest self.
The reversed may serve as a warning that you are straying from your path and you need to restore some balance to your life. You may be living in excess or giving into temptation or negative emotions too frequently. Your actions and values may be out of alignment. Take some time to focus on bettering yourself. Allow yourself to heal away from the influence of others.
Design
I really wanted to design temperance and the devil to feel like twins or at least two halves of the same coin. The figures are in the same setting and meditative pose, but the vibe is entirely different between the two. Again I used the orientation of their palms symbolically. Temperance has theirs upward to represent openness and divinity. The Devil’s are facing downward representing limited thinking and materialism. The volcano from the lover’s card appears again here, still dormant and waiting, but closer.
Key Symbols
Volcano - the mountain to be climbed to reach your highest self. Its dormant state represents restraint, calm, and clarity.
Crown - enlightenment, the achievement of reaching one’s highest self and life’s purpose.
Fire/Water: opposition working together
Rainbow: harmony of elements
Wings: divinity, higher self
Color Theory
Blue: Truth. Clarity. Communication.
Purple: Intuition. Spirituality. Psychic energy.
Red: Severity, Strength, Grounding, Focus, Support
