Thoughts on Temperance

Noblet Tarot, Flornoy 2009

'Her water resembles the rope that holds the Hanged Man's foot. Is she the one who releases him? Who washes his body? Temperance can anoint. She can make things smooth. She knows how far to stretch her elastic. She is the true gambler. The real thing.' -- Camelia Elias, Marseille Tarot: Towards the Art of Reading

'...the angle at which the angel or woman pours the water. Quite simply, you can't do that. Water won't pour at any angle but straight down. Thus, the card shows us a figure who calmly and gracefully does the impossible.' -- Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom

'In Justice, the cerebral order of the top part [of the card] wields a sword, and forcefully subdues the natural life flow of the bottom part. In the Force card, the higher element is still master over the lower one, but this is done in a soft way. In Temperance too we can see a high part and a low part, each with its own vessel. But in this card the two parts are united by the liquid flow.' -- Yoav Ben-Dov, The Open Reading

'An important aspect of this card's meaning of alchemical transformation can be summed up beautifully in the Nichiren Buddhist term hendoku-iyaku -- "changing poison into medicine". This is the process by which we transform our problems -- anything from our base desires to our troubles and afflictions --into strength, joy and enlightenment.' -- James Ricklef, The Soul's Journey: Finding Spiritual Messages in the Tarot

'Many of us think serenity means we have to close ourselves down, not let life get to us. We assume we must avoid passion in order to stay serene, untouched. But imagine a state in which you could allow the strongest emotions to move through you, take firm action whenever necessary, love, cry, dance and never lose your ground, your knowledge of who you are and what really matters. Imagine that you know, not as an idea but as knowledge in every part of your body, and every action and every emotion, that the divine moves through you like a river. Or like a bright stream of water that passes from one cup to another.' -- Rachel Pollack, The Forest of Souls: A Walk through the Tarot

Mantra for Majors, Rowan Tarot 
(Temperance by Emily Carding)