XIV - Temperance

Description:

An androgynous person wears a long gray mottled robe, with a blue shawl over the right shoulder.  The right arm is extended in front of as if holding something, but the arm and hand are missing or invisible.  Behind the head or perhaps as part of the hair is a circle with 4 black and 4 white alternating swirls.  The feet are bare, with the right foot submerged in blue and the left foot standing on yellow and green.

The figure appears to be holding a stylized bow and arrow.  The bow has ten red Hebrew letter Yods on the shaft.  At the bottom of the bow is a black triangle surrounded by a circle, which points to a violet moon.  Emanating around the moon are rainbow-colored circles.  At the top of the bow is a white triangle, which points to a yellow seven-rayed sun surrounded by a red circle.  Emanating around the sun are white, yellow and orange circles.  The arrow has the alchemical symbol for salt at the shaft, and the symbol for sulphur at the point.

At the bottom left of the card is the Hebrew letter Samekh, and the astrological symbol for Sagittarius.  A swirl of tan, orange and yellow sweeps from the top of the card towards the bottom right of the card.  The bottom left of the card is black, and the bottom right is green.

Symbology:

The gray mottled robe is similar in texture to the scroll of the divine law as seen in the High Priestess, the cube upon which the Magician works and the Emperor sits and the Charioteer rides, and the robe of the Hierophant and the Hermit. 

The armless figure is a representation of the archangel Michael.  Michael is armless because the art of Temperance is one of balance and spiritual work, requiring no arms.  Michael is balanced between the Sun (higher consciousness), and the Moon (the subconscious).  The work of Temperance is to aim for balance in all things.  The symbol for salt at the shaft of the arrow represents the purification of the physical body, while the symbol for sulphur at the point represents the ignition of the cosmic force within.  The one foot in blue and one foot in green/yellow are also symbolic of balance, between sky/water and earth/fire.  Even the androgynous aspect of the figure suggests balance.

 The symbol for Sagittarius stands for the archer or hunter, aiming at the target on high.  Man can be seen as a link between heaven and earth, and the arrow and bow of the archer represents this state of dynamic tension.  The bow can also be represented as a rainbow, which is depicted in the card surrounding the Moon and Sun.  The Hebrew letter Samekh means prop or crutch, which can symbolize the balancing tool that rights oneself, and the need to abandon material props to reach the divine.

The swirl of circles and colors on this card are representative of the motion of a gyroscope, which only remains upright and in balance when in motion.

Divinatory Meaning:
(from "Tarot of the Spirit" companion book, by Pamela Eakins)

•  The trials and temptations you currently experience will lead you towards integration, the “middle way,” the path of moderation

•  Through acting in moderation, your fears are conquered and your purity shines forth

• You are in a period of growth, of “stretching” yourself spiritually.   

• Through allowing inner growth, you will arrive at a period of profound realization.

Personal Reflections:

Temperance represents the art and science of blending and alignment.  To temper means “to blend in due proportions”, “to work into proper consistency”, “to impart strength or toughness by heating or cooling”, or “to tune”.  The alignment of the personal will with the cosmic will results in a straight shot at the center of the target.  This alignment and attunement of Will provides the thrust and aim so that the arrow of the One intersects with the center circle of the target, the One returning to the None.