Temperance

Temperance is card XIV of the 22 major arcana of the tarot; in the Golden Dawn tradition it corresponds to Sagittarius.

Temperance pours between two cups until the mixture is right. It is the art of finding the middle way, through patience and small adjustments.

Symbols on the card

Water poured between cups

Blending opposites into something new.

One foot on land, one in water

Balancing the practical and the emotional.

The path to a crown of light

A longer goal reached step by step.

The irises

Hope and a rainbow after the storm.

The card's history

Marseille's Tempérance is a winged woman pouring liquid between two vessels, the classical virtue of moderation. Waite added an angel's sun disc, one foot in water and one on land, and a path to a crown of light.

Upright meaning

Find the middle way. Patient, steady adjustment will bring things into harmony.

Love　Compromise, calm and a relationship that blends well.

Work　Collaboration, sustainable pace, combining different skills.

Inner life　Healing through moderation: neither all nor nothing.

Reversed meaning

Something is overdone or out of proportion. Step back and restore the balance.

Love　Extremes, impatience, or one side giving much more.

Work　Overwork, rushing, or clashing priorities.

Inner life　Notice where you swing between too much and too little.

In a three-card spread

Situation

A situation that needs blending and patience, not extremes.

Challenge

Excess, impatience or forcing two things together too fast.

Advice

Adjust gradually until the mixture is right.

Often read with

• The Star　Gentle healing through balance.
• Two of Pentacles　Juggling demands with a steady rhythm.
• The Devil　Moderation as the way out of a compulsion.

Tarot and astrology

Temperance is Sagittarius, the mutable fire sign ruled by Jupiter: the archer's long aim, meaning and the journey towards it. Sagittarius →

Questions to sit with

• What needs a little more, and what a little less?
• Where could patience do more than effort?

A small practice

Pick one thing you do in excess and one you neglect, and shift ten minutes from the first to the second.

In the Fool's journey

Tarot here is a mirror for reflection, not a prediction. The meanings follow the Waite-Smith tradition and the Golden Dawn attributions, in our own words.