14-Temperance – Upright Rider Waite Deck

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Your Chosen Card – Temperance Upright Rider Waite Deck

When upright, the Temperance trump suggests that you are dealing with a situation involving the reconciliation of opposites within yourself. Like the alchemists of old, you are trying to convert a base metal into gold. You are called upon to act with moderation and exercise the virtue of temperance. With persistent effort you will be able to blend competing forces harmoniously to create something of greater value. The Renaissance artists who created this image were no doubt inspired by the mixing of water and wine in the Catholic Mass during which the priest prays: ‘Through the mystery of this water and wine, may we partake in the divine nature of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.’

Keywords Upright: Temperance, moderation, consecration, self-control, right proportion, healing, ability to cope, reconciliation of competing impulses, balancing different needs, discretion, mutual respect, composure, tempering, proportionality, right mixture, proper measure, resolution, union of opposites, harmonizing conflicting viewpoints, balancing contrary forces, artful combination, the golden mean, the middle way, creative resolution, artful blending of contrarieties, ability to negotiate.

Key XIV: Temperance (Art)
Myths/Archetypes: The Centaur. The Alchemist. The Hermaphrodite. The Transsexual. The Creator. The Artist. The Healer. The Inventor. Hegel’s dialectic.
Dates of Sagittarius: 22 November–21 December (tropical); 16 December–14 January (sidereal).
Astrology: Sagittarius, the centaur archer (a Fire sign ruled by Jupiter)
Numerology: 5 (Hierophant) = 1 + 4 (Temperance)

Rider Waite: Economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation; (R) things connected with churches, religions, sects, the priesthood, sometimes even the priest who will marry the querent; also disunion, unfortunate combinations, competing interests.

When Temperance is upright you can pretty much take it that life is going well but that’s when life takes us by surprise.  If Temperance is unclear it may help to choose a card from the Major Arcana to provide more insight into what it is Temperance is trying to tell you.  If you had a particular issue in  mind, or want to seek clarification on something else, you can also choose again to get more guidance.

This chosen card is part of your upright card reading for Temperance using cards from the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. You will find many more tarot pages that will be of great help if you need tarot card meanings. Use the search at the bottom of the page. We have some amazing tarot books for you to browse. Please see below.

Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite books

Portable Magic
Book Details
Portable Magic: It will be found that with Tarot cards of the usual proportions for example, the standard Rider Waite deck the circle of the zodiac trumps is almost exactly the correct size to enclose the four Aces of the altar. The elegance of this relationship is at once apparent when the circle is laid out around the cross. No space is wasted within the circle, and the ritual layout of the cards is rendered as compact as it could possibly be made, so that it takes up the least area on the working surface for a given deck of Tarot cards. A deck of large cards will require a bigger working space than a deck of small cards, but the efficiency of the layout is preserved in either case.

Tarot Books

Complete Book of Tarot: Severity/Strength/Justice—Necessary purging. Geburah is related to the destructive forces that eliminate what is no longer useful. Geburah is associated with Mars, the planet of conflict and strife. The tarot cards related to the number five are the High Priest (V), Temperance (XIV, 1 + 4 = 5), and all the pip cards numbered five.

Tarot Triumphs: Who comes afterward? It is Temperance. There is some relief, as this winged angelic figure follows, a five-petaled flower bound to her forehead. She casts a steady glance to the side, as if concentrating on her task as she pours water, or perhaps wine, from one jug into another. Temperance, moderation: everyone knows the meaning of that. Or do they? There is something miraculous here, for the water or wine never ceases to flow, and it is a two-way flow between the jugs. How can that be? Temperance is about keeping away from excess, but here the resources seem to be infinite.

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Tarot Triumphs: Who comes afterward? It is Temperance. There is some relief, as this winged angelic figure follows, a five-petaled flower bound to her forehead. She casts a steady glance to the side, as if concentrating on her task as she pours water, or perhaps wine, from one jug into another. Temperance, moderation: everyone knows the meaning of that. Or do they? There is something miraculous here, for the water or wine never ceases to flow, and it is a two-way flow between the jugs. How can that be? Temperance is about keeping away from excess, but here the resources seem to be infinite.