In the Temperance card, we see an angel pouring something from one urn to another. As the urns are not placed vertically, one above the other, the transfer of liquid between the two seems somewhat magical – counter to the law of gravity. The angel is patiently mixing, or tempering, the two at just the right speed and in just the right proportions.
So this card is about the integration and mixture of opposites, reconciliation, and perhaps continuous improvement.
I like to think of its message as “find the sweet spot.”
For me, there is also something in this card about the flow of spirit and life. As spiritual beings having a human experience, our bodies are a manifestation of the universal life force. Life happens through us, not to us.
It is difficult, especially in our current times, to keep one’s balance. It’s easy to ossify in the face of extreme challenges, and we find ourselves getting knocked down and batted about because of our own stubbornness and resistance. When we learn to stay limber, we can temper the onslaught, deftly dancing past or incorporating and integrating whatever energy comes our way, so that we remain balanced, flexible, secure and strong.
Some days we may feel that we’re being presented with more than we can handle, and that we’re already dancing as fast as we can. It must be through the daily practice of temperance, of remaining in balance in the flow, that we prepare ourselves to weather the fiercest buffets of life.