Temperance & Love

Pao

Everytime this card comes up in a reading I have to try carefully to figure it out. But with love readings more so because I dont really get what the card can be saying. Corrine Kenner says in her book Tal Dark Stranger that this card is one of the most meaningful and romantic cards in tarot...uhm so I must be missing something here because I dont see it. So then I had some thoughts on what it could say about love:

- Interacial relationship, or two people of different cultures, religions, background

- Reconciliation, getting back together, reconciling differences and arguments

-If the angel is mixing two opposites to make a new a better...something than it could possibly be talking about twin flame relationships. Two whole people within themselves joining another whole person to make one soul.

This is only for the rws though because I did a reading with my VR and forget it I was more confused lol thats only an angel on a boat :bugeyed: I still dont see it as a very romantic card let alone one of "the most" romantic but I like the soulmate twin flame idea though I dont know if it goes with the card.

Thoughts? :confused:
 

starrystarrynight

I am a hopeless romantic, so I can see Temperance as a card of love--of two very different people blending together to form a whole new entity--the union of the two...accepting, with patience, the foibles of the other while bringing out the best each has to offer--stronger in union than each could hope to be separately.

But that would be only one way to see this card.
 

Thirteen

Pao said:
Corrine Kenner says in her book Tal Dark Stranger that this card is one of the most meaningful and romantic cards in tarot...uhm so I must be missing something here because I dont see it.
:D I don't either, but then each tarot reader, and most especially those who create decks or write books about tarot cards, brings their own personal preferences, favorites and biases to such things. Read a different book by someone else and they may well tell you that this is the least romantic card in the deck.

I think what those who find this a romantic card are the sort who view the angel as a cupid figure; they imbue him with angelic love and a desire to assist star-crossed lovers. There's certainly few ideas so romantic as two opposites attracting, more, two people from opposite sides of the fence who are trying to unite in spite of their differences or differences in cultures, families or philosopies. If this card means finding a way to overcome such things for love, then Temperance would, indeed, be a most romantic card.

But while I might use such an interpretation of Temperance in a relationship spread, I'd find it a little limiting to see it that way all the time, or even primarily. I tend to go with the association of Temperance with alchemical transformations, and that goes for all sorts and kinds of things...not just romance.
 

jumaja28

Pao said:
-If the angel is mixing two opposites to make a new a better...something than it could possibly be talking about twin flame relationships. Two whole people within themselves joining another whole person to make one soul.

I still dont see it as a very romantic card let alone one of "the most" romantic but I like the soulmate twin flame idea though I dont know if it goes with the card.

Thoughts? :confused:


I like your thoughts, except: The "twin flame"/"two become one" thing is not quite the same as tempering somthing to make it better. With regards to a relationship, tempering would be something along the lines of a complementary relationship. Each person brings different things to the relationship- strengthening each other's strengths and lessening the effect of weaknesses.

I guess starry said the same thing, but prettier. :)
 

Pao

Thank you all :)

the way SSN describes it is what I meant by twin flame, soulmate union of two very different people blending together to form a whole new entity sounds like twin flame relationship to me :D two who balance eachother.

Thirteen made a good point. I totally forgot about the angel possibly representing cupid. I always thought it was Archangel Michael and he's not the Archangel of love so I was confused there. I'll keep studying this one :)

thanx for your views all :love:
 

balenciaga

you might want to consider

I cannot help but think of Temperance as each side must make adjustments to meet in the middle, so that the temperature of the relationship is neither too hot nor too cold. I would pay close attention to this to see if one person is too enthusiastic and the other not enthusiastic enough. Temperance tries to even the extremes.
 

angelegg

Pao said:
the way SSN describes it is what I meant by twin flame, soulmate union of two very different people blending together to form a whole new entity sounds like twin flame relationship to me :D two who balance eachother.

well, if that's true, then my husband is *without a doubt* my twin flame. we are literally opposite in EVERY POSSIBLE WAY you could imagine... LOL! from how we look, to our backgrounds, to our education, to our interests, to just about everything!-- either we're twin flames, or cupid likes playing jokes on people!!! :D
 

star-lover

i like this card in relationship readings - it always fixes things
 

John Callaghan

I've always despised the reading of "Temperance" as "moderation." I think it's clear from both the card itself and its place in the major arcana, just after Death, that it's intended in the sense of evolving, blending, mixing, adding, subtracting, and doing what it necessary to produce a more perfect final product. I've always liked decks that changed it to Art or Alchemy for that reason. I feel "middle ground" is a lazy reading.

I think Death and Temperance are both misunderstood. Death isn't a transformation, but a transition -- a gateway to what lies beyond. And on a spiritual/worldly journey, what lies beyond IS transformation...IS temperance in the alchemical sense.

Temperance is a time of growth and transformation. When the essence of a thing must be dissected and made purer, stronger, or more diverse. When necessary steps must be taken in order for a thing to move to another, better level.

I find Temperance one of the most compelling, active, and exciting cards in the Tarot. And especially so in romantic situations. It's the annealing of a relationship -- or one's own role IN a relationship -- by putting it through the refiner's fire. It's looking deeper, deciding what love and relationship mean for one, and coming out of the process stronger in some way.

Beautiful card. Very liberating.
 

Mojo Twin 2

This is a card where I prefer the Thoth-esque interpretation of Art - mixing and blending alchemical elements to create a new element.

In the case of love, especially long-term love, if you think of the relationship, marriage, partnership, as an entity by itself, separate from the man and woman, you get that it takes the energy of two people to create the entity called a relationship. This card often indicates that disparate elements are blending together to create something new.

This card reminds me of the lovers but on a higher plane.

alec...