LS Secret Tarot - Temperance

Myrrha said:

I love this card. The brown miasma in the card could symbolize the muck and pollution of the world. Her dress is pollution-brown and even her wings are a pigeon gray color because she has to live in this world. The only pure thing is what she pours from cup to cup. There is something incorruptible.

Click to expand...

I really like that Myrrah. It would make sense in the context of this card. I really do think that the Temperance is one of the most elegant looking women in this deck. What do you think?

Thanks for the links, Myrrha. I knew of the association of chasity with the Unicorn, but not with the stoat.
I agree that she has an elegance that is only hightened by her drab surroundings, and that the cups contents seem a hopeful, bright offering. Like the unicorns and the maidens of old, I think the stoat was drawn to the spot by sensing her angelic persona.

Centaur said:

[BI really do think that the Temperance is one of the most elegant looking women in this deck. What do you think? [/B]

Click to expand...

Hi Centaur... I spread out a bunch of cards after reading your post and really looked at the clothes... imagined what it would feel like to wear them. Yes, you're right she is very elegant. Is it the same woman in the five of coins? Her face seems paler and more unpleasant in the five of coins but there are some similarities. It would fit with the idea that the man in the five of coins can never aspire to the company of the lady (because she is pure, she is the temperance angel) and so he substitutes taking pictures of her.

--Myrrha

Myrrha said:

It would fit with the idea that the man in the five of coins can never aspire to the company of the lady (because she is pure, she is the temperance angel) and so he substitutes taking pictures of her.

Click to expand...

Myrrah, I think that is a great observation! The woman depicted in the 5 of Pentacles does look a little like Temperance. Also, is she not wearing the same brownish colours? Perhaps she is wearing that large overcoat in order to hide her wings?

You mentioned that she is paler and more unpleasant in the 5 of Pentacles. Again, this could tie in with Temperance, in that it could be argued that true and complete balanced purity could never be represented in any one specific human being... one could never come close to 100% balance... therefore the most one can hope to achieve is to gain at least 'some' amount of that balance, but never the full amount.

Am I blabbering?!! Hehehe.

I can't reconcile the figure of Temperance to be the same character as the lady on the five of pentacles. They don't really look at all the same to me. Further, I don't think elegance is the best word to describe this Temperance. There is something elegant about her simplicity, but when I think of an elegant person, I think of a stylish, done-up person (like the Empress). This Temperance is rather plain and simple. She could be a character out of The Crucible (except for the wings, of course). Everything is understated; there is no feature of her that stands out. Her attire is relatively modest for this deck; her dress has a very high neckline and a hemline that touches the ground.

The choice of darkish browns suggests a muted quality to her character and to the virtue she embodies. Not sure what to make of the animal. I immediately thought otter, and I really like the idea that the animal is able to live on land (practical matters) and sea (emotion). Temperance is a quality with a strong emotional connection. It is our empathy for another that tempers what would otherwise be a harder, more calculated approach to them. Then again, I like the craft connection to ferrets as mediators. What is Temperance about, if not mediation? The wings and their color suggest the ability to transcend or fly above a conflict or confusing situation to attain the proper perspective for achieving compromise or balance.

I like the idea mentioned early on about the pouring of liquid being a rebalancing of emtion. This is what's required for temperance or overcoming addiction. And the wings? Temperance is an angel, if and when she comes.

Sanctum_Priest said:

This is what's required for temperance or overcoming addiction.

Click to expand...

Very interesting idea to see this through overcoming an addiction. Makes me wonder about seeing other cards in the deck through the same lens. That might really be a nice new thread of meaning through the all the imagery in the Secret Tarot.

Sanctum_Priest said:

Temperance is an angel, if and when she comes.

Click to expand...

Nicely said.