The Temperance card is the card of becoming the artist of your own life. It represents the point in your path when you are able to work energetically with all areas of your life, thoughts and emotions as well as physical matter. This is the secret wisdom of personal alchemy. Medeival alchemists aspired to transform lead into gold. But the language of metals was just a metaphor for the transformation that can take place within the human spirit, changing our inert patterns into vital joy and liberation. The word temperance refers to the dynamic balance that occurs between the elements, specifically fire and water. By balancing fire with water and water with fire, we are not limited by either. The fire of sunlight and the water of rain create the magnificent miracle of the rainbow. By blending the elemental constituents of our experience in conscious ways, we create the work of art that is our life.
In Vedic astrology, the Temperance card corresponds to the sign of Sagittarius. Sagittarius is a mutable fire sign ruled by Jupiter. It is a fire sign but it is mutable fire, which is a tempered fire. While Aries is physical fire of the earth plane, and Leo is the bright shining fire of the ego, Sagittarius is the celestial fire, which has elements of fire and water. The ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter is actually a watery planet in Vedic astrology. It corresponds to the wood element in Chinese mysticism, which is an element of growth. Sagittarius loves the freedom to grow and expand. Sagittarius is a creative sign, showing ambition and exploration.
In my schematic of the Tarot and Toltec shamanism, this card is the gateway of the south. It is the gateway between the masteries of transformation and intent. Temperance shows the completion of the mastery of transformation and contains all six cards preceding it, from Strength to Death. Remember Strength is Leo (fixed fire) while Death is Scorpio (fixed water). Temperance shows the completion of the path between fire and water. The mastery of awareness occurs between the gateways of east and west, showing the spinning of the earth and the path of the tonal. The mastery of transformation occurs between the gateways of west and south (water and fire), showing the axis between the tonal and unknown realm of the nagual, which is related to the poles of the earth (north and south). With this card, you have gained the ability to transform your perceptions and you can now use this ability to create your life anew, free from the limitations of old ways of dreaming.
The Temperance card in some ways is what the Tarot is all about. With this card you realize that everything you experience, all the raw ingredients of your life and even the painful ones, are just hues on your artist's pallet. Temperance is all about freedom and liberation. This is the place where you realize that enlightenment is all about lightening up.
Find the Temperance card from your favorite Tarot deck. Put it somewhere you will notice it. Invite the energy of the Temperance in your card. Imagine that you are this enigmatic angel, immersed in the energetic reality of life, free to move energy as you see fit. You are free to become the artist of your own life.
Next: The Devil
(c) 2004 by David Ray
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