Please note that this series of interpretations is intended to assist specifically in personal healing and shadow work. There are many incredible websites that offer traditional meanings and correspondences. I am not a mental health professional; these are my personal reflections and experiences that I hope you will find helpful.
The Temperance card appears when it is time to be patient, use moderation, and find balance. Although we rarely seek out chaos, daily life has a tendency to divert our best-laid plans to be the zen adult we aspire to. Temperance is known in other decks as The Art (Thoth), and Fferyllt (The Druidcraft Tarot) and in addition to the above properties, this card represents alchemy–the bringing together of two opposites to transmute them into something new and beneficial!
Ironically, while Temperance represents bringing unlike things together, it also asks us to remain on middle-ground in our life. While we may have strong and possibly controversial opinions, now is the time to set those aside and try to lean into a range of perspectives. We all have blind spots and it is when we allow ourselves to consider something discordant with our own view that we can gain valuable knowledge and higher learning. Adaptability, flexibility, and compromise are key here.
What might occur when we execute patience and explore the union of two opposing elements? How can we apply this to our daily life? What does the word alchemy mean to you? What images come to mind? Which two elements of your personality are the farthest apart and do they serve you best this way?
This may be a good time to evaluate the areas in your life that could use moderation. Are your “occasional drinks” becoming less occasional? Do you have a stack of books that are being ignored while your video game stats are shining? Perhaps your finances could use a remix. Reigning in areas of your life that have been drifting towards excess, opening yourself to different views and willingness to blend two seemingly opposing things offers an opportunity for healing and rejuvenation.
“In each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice. We’re each of us our own chiaroscuro, our own bit of illusion fighting to emerge into something solid, something real. We’ve got to forgive ourselves that. I must remember to forgive myself. Because there is a lot of grey to work with. No one can live in the light all the time.”
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“This is why alchemy exists,” the boy said. “So that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life. Lead will play its role until the world has no further need for lead; and then lead will have to turn itself into gold.
That’s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
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Until our paths cross again…
ApotheCarrie Tarot 