Polarity (Temperance)

In a reading

• Relationships, love: a calm, harmonious union. Deep mutual understanding and trust. The partners know how to reach agreements, smooth over rough edges and make concessions. Often points to a time of getting used to each other that goes well.
• Career, money: stability, working at a comfortable pace. Smart handling of resources, income and spending. Success in jobs that call for diplomacy, bringing different pieces together — combining something into one whole: some kind of knowledge, a project or helping people, counseling or even healing work. No quick windfalls here — this is a card of long-term, gradual growth.

Shadow side

You can go to extremes, emotional ups and downs. A state with no limits — from workaholism to impulsive spending and addictions. Or the other side of it — a swamp, boredom, being stuck, things moving annoyingly slowly.

It’s worth avoiding sudden moves and drastic measures. It matters to look for a compromise and be patient.

From the wider tradition

Not Tahmina’s own words: meanings common among other tarot readers, which she has reviewed and approved.

• The angel pouring water between the cups — alchemy, mixing two forces, a continuous flow.
• One foot in the water, the other on land — balance between the material and the spiritual, feelings and reason.
• The path to the mountains and the shining crown in the distance — moving toward a higher goal, without rushing.
• Moderation in habits: a routine, health, recovery, “nothing in excess.”

Stage of the journey

Temperance is card XIV; it comes after Death, XIII, and before the Devil, XV. This is already the second half of the path. A person has been through a crisis and an ending, and is now learning to live in a new way without going to extremes.

What a person has already been through. By Temperance they’ve gone through: the Fool — started the path; the Magician — realized they can act; the High Priestess — learned to hear what’s inside; the Empress — created and made things real; the Emperor — built order and boundaries; the Hierophant — formed values and beliefs; the Lovers — learned to choose; the Chariot — went down the path they chose; Strength — learned to handle their impulses; the Hermit — went inward for answers; Wheel of Fortune — ran into change; Justice — saw the consequences of their decisions; the Hanged Man — stopped and changed how they see the situation; Death — let go of what can’t go on. And now they come to Temperance.

What happens in Temperance. After Death you can’t just build a new life in a day. You have to mix the old and the new, get your balance back, get used to the changes. So Temperance is about recovery; inner balance; patience; going step by step; bringing opposites together; not swinging from one extreme to the other. It’s the state of: “I’m not the person I used to be, but I’m still learning to be who I’m becoming.” And here a person isn’t at war with life anymore. They’re learning to work with it.

Where Temperance leads — to the Devil, card XV. And here a really interesting stage begins. Temperance taught a person to keep their balance. The next test — are you really free? The Devil shows attachments, desires, addictions, fears, the power of material things and whatever a person lets control them.

You get this sequence:

• The Hanged Man — I change how I see.
• Death — I let go of the old.
• Temperance — I get my balance back.
• The Devil — and now let’s see what’s still holding me.

Temperance is the stage when, after a big inner change, a person learns to live calmly in the new state, without extremes.

The section above is the shadow side of the upright card — every card has one. I don’t read cards upside down — here is why.