TEMPERANCE – Tarot Card Meaning

General Overview

The Temperance card is the fourteenth Major Arcana card in the tarot deck. It depicts an angel pouring water between two cups, often standing with one foot on land and one in water. This imagery symbolizes balance, harmony, moderation, and the blending of opposites. Temperance represents patience, cooperation, and the careful integration of different aspects of life, emphasizing that peace and success come through moderation and thoughtful action.

Temperance often appears when a situation requires patience, careful planning, and compromise. It encourages maintaining emotional equilibrium, blending diverse energies, and acting with calm wisdom.

Upright Meaning

When Temperance appears upright, it signifies:

1. Balance and Harmony

The card represents equilibrium in all aspects of life—emotional, mental, and physical. It encourages finding a middle path and integrating opposing forces with grace and patience.

2. Patience and Moderation

Temperance emphasizes restraint and careful planning. It reminds you to act with patience, avoid extremes, and maintain control over impulses to achieve long-term goals.

3. Cooperation and Diplomacy

The card often indicates collaboration, compromise, and working harmoniously with others. It encourages listening, understanding, and creating win-win solutions in conflicts or negotiations.

4. Spiritual Growth

Spiritually, Temperance represents the blending of inner and outer worlds, balancing material needs with spiritual aspirations. It encourages self-awareness and conscious integration of different aspects of life.

5. Healing and Renewal

Upright Temperance suggests a period of healing, restoration, and renewal. By practicing moderation, mindfulness, and patience, you can restore balance and inner peace.

Reversed Meaning

When Temperance is reversed, it signals imbalance, conflict, or excess:

1. Imbalance and Excess

The reversed card may indicate overindulgence, extreme behavior, or lack of self-control. It warns against acting impulsively or without considering consequences.

2. Conflicts and Disharmony

It can suggest disagreements, tension, or lack of cooperation in relationships or situations. Disharmony may arise from miscommunication or unwillingness to compromise.

3. Impatience and Frustration

Reversed Temperance may reflect difficulty in practicing patience, waiting, or pacing oneself. Frustration with slow progress can lead to rash decisions.

4. Spiritual Misalignment

The card may indicate neglect of spiritual or emotional needs, leading to imbalance between material and inner life.

5. Need for Reflection

It serves as a reminder to pause, reassess, and seek harmony before moving forward. Ignoring this guidance may prolong struggles and conflicts.

Key Symbols

• The Angel: Represents guidance, balance, and higher wisdom in integrating opposites.
• The Two Cups: Symbolize blending energies, emotions, or situations in harmony.
• Water Flow: Indicates the flow of life, emotions, and spiritual energy between different realms.
• One Foot on Land, One in Water: Represents balance between material and spiritual worlds.
• Triangle on Robe: Symbolizes creativity, harmony, and the integration of mind, body, and spirit.

Summary

The Temperance card encourages balance, moderation, and patience. Upright, it promotes harmony, cooperation, and thoughtful integration of diverse aspects of life. Reversed, it warns against excess, impatience, and discord, urging reflection and recalibration. Ultimately, Temperance teaches that peace, success, and spiritual growth come from measured actions, self-awareness, and careful blending of energies.