78 Weeks: Temperance

[coyoteblack]

78 weeks Fferyllt Druidcraft

78 weeks Fferyllt Druidcraft

Physical description
We have a beautiful blond woman with a blue dress and red cape pouring red liquid from a beaker into a gold bowl. Glastonbury is in the background with the Tor dominating the landscape there is a rainbow going across the water( symbol of iris?).

Now for the symbols. we have a snake about to open his mouth and swallow and egg with a star of David(hexagram) with a circle in it( transformation meats creation ?)

They are masks of what appears of men carved in the wall and in the greenery by the roof. Witching stones hanging from the rafters as well as another star of David( or 2 triangles going in 2 separate directions I think this is the symbol of male /female and/or water/fire. and not to be forgotten is the broom in the corner I am not sure if this is just supposed to be a regular broom or the broom Wicca’s use to spiritually sweep away bad mojo before a circle is caste.

First Impressions
This card seems to be about creativity , moderation, balance , combining different elements. The combinations appear to be opposite’s parts of one entity.


Number, Element, Question asked

Question asked; this card asks if we are practicing moderation? Can we blend other elements into our life to make it whole?

Element: fire this card focus on the creativity of the element and the out put of some of those combinations is energy, also she is mixing fire and water , to make steam ( air)

Number 5
This was the hard part for this card. 5’s are about change and some times the trauma that causes them. This is really good for this card because it shows the “other side” of this card. once we mix fire and water , we have steam
steam is neither bad or good but it is changed.

Talking with the card:
I just asked for help because this card was getting really hard.
what I got back was this is a card of doing and making and that it is also about patience and waiting, sometimes the best things we can do it nothing.

Bringing it all together
Temperance can be about moderation at first this card showed pouring water into wine to allow a person to drink with out feeling the effect. With Fire being that will power, creative energy and 5’s being about change and many of the symbols showing combining opposite forces like man and woman ( 2 triangles) and the snake of transformation about to swallow the egg off creation this card seems to be more about combining apparent opposites to form something new. The 5’s and fire also give us a hind to what ca happens if this card goes “ bad” unwilling to combine other forced or see other ideas .look at the 5’s in the minor arcane and we can see what happens if we get single minded. This is one of those cards that are so good it is hard to find something bad about it even the 5 of wands( fire) is the least painful of the 5’s

Good bad and indifferent.

Good: learning moderation , willing to combine things to form some thing new overcoming a problem . being creativity,

Bad: alcoholism, going to extremes, having blinders on

Indifferent: using the entire self i.e.: not being just physical but also being emotional and/or spiritual

ps thisis oneof thosecard Iwill have to revisit because I do not feel like i " got this card" as of yet

 

[Tesseljoan]

78 Weeks – Temperance

I'm sorry, but in the deck that lies in front of me it's very prominent, so I'm going to talk about them: Temperance's prominent boobs.
Or are they even boobs? Because when I look at her dress, it seems that they're strap-on boobs. They look very odd indeed. So why does an angel, who is as far as I know sexless, pretend to be a woman? Why does an angel pretend to be a personification?

This personification/angel business is interesting, especially when you look at the other virtues in this deck. Whether Iustice is an angel is ambiguous, and the red dot over her head appears to be a precious stone on her (turban?) headdress. Force is definitely not an angel, and Temperance definitely is. The red dot on her head is not a precious stone, but something else entirely. It is my belief that this has to do with the crown chakra, or the opening towards the Divine. I believe the personification versus angel nature of the three virtues is important, but I have not yet formulated an answer for myself.

Temperance is about finding balance, not ascetism, but the middle path. It doesn't mean denying yourself everything. The stance of the figure in the card is dynamic and still at the same time: she has plenty of control to pour this substance over, but she has a very dynamic sway as well. Her mind has to be firm and at the same time fluid: in that way she can guide the water upwards. She can do this with a mind that can make reality fluid, and stay strong in concentration.

Flexibility is also needed to give something up, whether it is material things or the view that water has to flow downwards. Being fluid leads us to the golden middle.

 

[Jewel]

And here is more catching up on my posting ...

DECK: CELTIC DRAGON
TEMPERANCE:

DESCRIPTION OF THE IMAGE:
The card has a bright watery looking background of blue with 12 faint dark blue think spirals. There are three dragons all curved toward the center of the card. The top one is blue, the one to the right is red, the one to left green. A yellow cord like, yet light like, thing intertwines and connects the dragons, each of them are holding it in their paws. The center of the card is bright white.

DESCRIPTION OF EMOTION:
I get no sense of emotion from the card, but do sense a radiant energy.

NUMBER 14: 14 reduced equals 1+ 4 = 5. The 1 is reflected in the center of the card as a source, divine energy, a pure energy. From the 4’s I see the harmonization n the dragons and cord, sort of like a dance. I also see the control and power aspects of 4’s in the dragons. As reduced to 5, I see change occurring through the de-stabilitzation of the peaceful blue background. By the white explosion – creative destruction aspects of the #5.
NOTE: Please note that key words were selected from a list based on their relevance to the image on this particular Temperance card.

MODE/SUIT/ELEMENT:
MODE: Major Arcana – answers “why” the “who” is in the “what”. They are the lesson to be learned in the situation or the archetypal energy being expressed.

SUIT: N/A

ELEMENT: Fire – radiant, energetic, enthusiastic, willful. Some of thes can be implied into the CD Temperance card, however looking at the card I would assume the element was water with all the blue and spirals in the background.

MEANINGS:
The CD book not much is really said. The descriptive caption for the card reads “new perspectives.” The focus is on the creation – destruction aspects of temperance, through the melding of the elements. The balance aspect of the card is not a point of focus in this book. The focus is also towards spirit.

In relation to 78 DW, my primary source for this 78 week study, teaches me that the card is about reconnecting to the real world in a more meaningful way. “The ability to combine spontaneity with knowledge.” It also talks about the moderation aspects of the card and the meaning of the word “temperance” as “to mix” or “to combine properly”. The CD does focus on this aspect of the card, but not in context of blending elements of life and personality, but as combining elemental energies (water, fire, earth with a lacing of air).

According the 78 DW, this card is about returning to normal activities of life after the inner self having been withdrawn . “It is a card of behavior, not concepts.”

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
I had a really really hard time working with the CD Temperance card. In my opinion, this card lacks the true significance it should have based on its placement within the Major Arcana (not first time I say that about a CD Major Arcana card) and traditional meanings a la RWS. The CD illustration remains a card of concept not behavior. As the card is supposed (by traditional RWS meaning) to be about returning to daily activities it would have been better served using some combination of human and draconic figures to illustrate this card instead of an elemental tangle in the sky. The card really calls for a human figure, and a more mundane representation, not just a blending of elements. Overall I just don’t see the meaning of Temperance in the CD card.

 

[The Guided Hermit]

VIA Tarot

Card name—Art

First impressions—The VIA Art card is has a unique image and quite a departure from Thoth and Golden Dawn influenced decks. Rather than the pouring of beakers, in the VIA deck there is the removal of stone skin and transformation of antiquity to the now.

Following the VIA design standard of the image in the glass, this card is make a departure by shifting the art work off the center line, creating a card that holds its image in a slightly lop-sided manner that hints at tension.

The image employs the VIA’s traditional white curved bottom, however in this card, there is a definite line that curves above the heart of the woman in the picture. Off her left shoulder, the white shifts into pale pink and light purplish tones that merge into a rich blue sky dotted with stars.

The woman is comprised of two likenesses. To the left is the Ancient. Carved of stone, she appears to have been an Egyptian goddess. However, the stone is cracking and shattering, revealing, on the upper 2/3s right, the emergence of a young woman who stares at the viewer with an exceptionally large right eye of pale greenish-gray. Her hair is no longer stone, but instead flies in the wind, lifting above her left shoulder, away from the cracking stone portion of her face. Above the right side of the woman’s head appears an aura of yellow and pinkish light that fades into the space in the background.

The woman’s face holds a subtle smile.

What the CREATOR says —Blending opposites, creating something new; moderation


Traditional Keyword Meanings (Bunning)—Temperance, balance, health, combination

Images and Symbolism
• The woman’s gaze and the finely chiseled stone face refer to the Enochian being partly responsible for the guidance given to Susan Jameson who created this deck through scrying.
• The woman is in the process of breaking out from the constriction and is beginning to see and sense the world in a much fuller manner.
• The cracks in the stone mask represent the metamorphosis into a new and richer life.
• Like other VIA trumps, this card represents the completion or near completion of the pathway in life illustrated.
• In the Tree of Life, this card symbolizes the very point of intersection with Tiphareth, positioned in the navel of the Tree.

Spirit – How I relate spiritually to this card:
I have always been spiritually attracted to the Temperance card. This card leaves me (no pun) stone cold). However, I see it a tighter defined form of blending—this is transmutation, which involves the science of physics.

Emotional – How I relate emotionally to this card:
My gut reaction is one of movement from old to new.

Physical – My physical connection to this card:
None.

Beneficial – I feel the most beneficial aspect of this card is…
A request to seek the Middle Road; to find balance with ourselves. Temperance asks that we blend opposites; it asks that we apply a gentle hand, blend carefully, producing something new and wonderful. Avoid over indulgence and excess; avoid temper; avoid temptation. Instead, seek the middle road.

Problematic – I feel the most problematic aspect of this card is….
None.

What the card means to me—I fall back to my roots with this card (RWS) and look at the card as the blending of opposites, creating a third and distinctive entity. I see this card as being 100% beneficial as it is a card of well managed balance.

 

[Sinduction]

Vargo's Temperance

Man, this card is hot! The woman/sorceress is absolutely stunning! This card is all about alchemy and magical workings.

I want to know what spell she is casting, what she's got burning in that cauldron, what is going to happen when it's all finished.

The two dragons underneath the cauldron are supposed to be opposing factors working in unison. The magical writing is made up and is supposed to add to the mystery of what she's doing. I could do without these two things because, well, the opposing factors are things I associate with the chariot and I hate made up languages that mean nothing.

I always seem to trash this deck when it really does read well for me and I'm always defending it. It's not perfect, as no deck is, put I think this close look at each card is really making me not like the deck.

But this card is good, it gets the alchemy across, which is what I look for most in this card.

 

[Llynn]

78 Weeks Temperance The Shining Woman Tarot

Floating in the ocean of existence is a five-pointed star. To the ancient Egyptians the five-pointed star represented a human being. Is this star a person trying to control their life as they move through the cosmic ocean? This ocean offers many opportunities to be good or to be bad because it contains all the dualities and polarities inherent in life. Perhaps this person is just enjoying the “ride” and sees no reason to restrain his appetites and desires no matter how extreme they may be.

An angel stands in this sea of being (he does not stand with one foot on land and the other in a pool as in other cards.) He is calmly and gracefully doing the impossible – pouring water horizontally from one container into another. The angel’s message is that balance is necessary; the middle way is the “right” way to take, neither one extreme nor the other. Maintaining the correct balance requires strength of will and the willingness to see a different perspective. It is not a passive activity (avoiding doing something because you do not like it is not the same as refusing to do something which you do like, especially if that something is detrimental to your physical, mental or spiritual wellbeing – that requires expenditure of energy.)

The Temperance angel brings a challenge: how can we find and maintain the middle way? Sometimes the outcome of the challenge is a victory it could just as easily be a defeat. Moderation in all things is the key.

 

[Wendywu]

Ironwing - Quench

The first time I saw this card I couldn’t for the life of me see how you get “temperance” from this! However, it slowly dawned on me that balance – and the equalization of two aspects of something can take many forms. In this card the thing being equalized and transferred is heat. The bowl (or whatever) is being quenched. This is the blacksmith’s term for the plunging of the item into cold water and is the stage of production where the blacksmith feels she cannot improve on her work any further. The immense heat held within the bowl is released into the water. Naturally the water warms up and the bowl cools down. The temperatures balance as the bowl is quenched. The act of quenching produces some fascinating effects! The red hot iron bowl causes the water to fizz and bubble and it releases a whoosh of heat. Steam rises in a cloud. Flames play around the edge of the bowl which changes once it has been quenched in cold water – prior to this the iron could still be worked but the cold water causes it to become brittle which surprised me but cast iron cookware does shatter when you drop it. Also it is this quenching that makes the bowl able to emit that beautiful ringing tone that you get with iron. What fascinates me about this are the analogies contained within iron’s story. I see the fire that heats it and the beating that shapes it as so very human and reminiscent of the trials revealed in Strength by which the transformation there was effected.

Once when I drew the card Apprentice of Coils I considered it from the point of view of the bowl and I think that fits in well here too, as one more area of the card to explore - surely that which is being made is of some interest. As the bowl being quenched I might wonder why I had not been created to be a beautiful statue – why just a plain old cooking pot? I remember that back then I thought that there are a great many circumstances in which a bowl is of so much more value than a statue! If I am hungry and want to cook, what use is a statue (however lovely). A plain old cooking pot in that situation is a welcome sight. Maybe the beautiful statue wishes she had a useful place in the world beyond being looked at …

This version of Temperance reveals a lot more about the card than I’d previously considered. It is full of life – the water bubbling and fizzing, the flames licking round the edge of the quenched bowl and all that steam rising upwards. I see there are stalactites coming down from the roof – I guess they come from the steam rising with each object that is quenched as it condenses on the stalactites it runs down and leaves a tiny deposit, increasing the length of the stalactites by tiny amounts. Sometimes it must be like a raging inferno in there and it could be hard to keep sight of the fact that what is happening is both natural and necessary. I see the lightning as streaking upwards out of the maelstrom created by the quenching and reaching upwards towards the heavens. And I also see it as the spark of creation leaping downwards because whatever you create, and however mundane it seems at the time, it is borne of that spark which is within all of us.

So having looked at the image in the card and noting what I see in it I wondered how these things apply to the world around me. The first thing I thought of was something I’ve noticed in my life lately. We just moved office premises. At the old premises I mixed a lot with the other tenants of the building, who were member of one large firm split into several departments. There’s been a lot of discontent there over the past couple of years. I found that I was being affected by the unhappiness of these people who don’t even work with me – we just shared premises and met in the corridors! Since moving out and getting away from that atmosphere I am so much happier. And this has spread throughout all areas of my life. All those unhappy people – spreading that unhappiness – and I did the same. Did my unhappiness reach out yet further? Of course it did.

Moods, temperaments – they spread and overflow, as if we cannot contain it all in one area of our lives. If I am crazy in love people pick up on my joy and feel better without knowing why. And the ripples spread outwards, whether they be ripples of misery or joy. Knowing that this happens, is it my responsibility to be aware of my moods and to deliberately calm myself if I am angry or cheer myself up if I am sad? Should I try and understand my sadness and work it through or is it OK just wallow in it? At what point does my responsibility to others cease, and my entitlement just to feel and experience the emotion of the moment kick in? Surely this awareness of the way in which emotions affect others (however subtly) means that I must consider whether my anger is righteous or is petty, unworthy of me and needs to be rejected.

Another aspect of Quench that I think about is how with this quenching the blacksmith declares her work is done – the bowl is as good as she can get it. How does this work in my life? Is it saying that I should give things my absolute best shot and then let go. Declare my task complete. No angst, no nitpicking, no fussing at it for hours. Also – if my efforts turn out to have been pretty shabby – I should feel no guilt at not doing better than my best. The blacksmith did her best, declared it so, and actually made it so that no further work could be done and this seems admirable to me.

Despite the outward appearance of the card Quench is actually all about balance and harmony. The heat dissipates into the water so that the iron and water draw closer together in temperature. The bubbles fizz and subside leaving the water calm and still. The flames flare up, burn briefly and die down – their heat warms the air slightly and that heated air warms the surrounding rocks. The stalactites grow so slowly as the salts are deposited on them, but although those salts are lost to the water they are not lost altogether – just changed and moved.

Every aspect of the process illustrated by this card discusses a drawing together of one thing with another. The act of creation by the blacksmith is her will combined with her effort. The iron is changed; together it and the blacksmith create a new thing. And so on throughout the whole card. It is full of linkages. Thinking about that – if one thing produces another, which causes something else – we see how that very first thing is actually the root cause of and inextricably linked to the final thing. That is a thought that takes a lot of consideration.

Quench begins when the blacksmith first thinks about the need for a bowl. Her will and intent combine with that spark of creation to effect change. I see that process applying repeatedly in various aspects of my life, and the changes themselves alter other things. Tiny decisions and actions I take no heed of at the time are ripples spreading throughout the pond of my life. As soon as I wrote that sentence I recalled how ripples spread so gently and yet reach to the absolute edge of the pond they are in. Thus I see that changes don’t have to be big and dramatic. But, thinking about the dramatic – if big changes bring little ones in their wake does the reverse apply? Could the little changes bring about something huge in me? Would that be seen as a negative effect of Quench – when the attempts to balance and harmonise get out of hand and things go too far? Possibly to the point where we are perpetually either up or down – caught on an internal rollercoaster that either we cannot get off, or do not really understand the need to do so. The alternative of course is damping down until I reach the point of stagnation where there is no movement, no change at all.

Without movement and change we make no progress in our journeys, and here I am not thinking of change and progress in the mundane sense where one invention succeeds another. I think of the changes brought by the seasons, or the passage of long years. Consider one aspect of every female journey – the maiden, mother, crone seasons. (And I do think that even the woman who remains physically childless has her mother stage – no matter what she mothers). With each stage something is gained and something is lost. It is up to the woman to achieve balance. Sometimes you see the sad crones who cannot accept the passing of the years, nor understand the gifts crone-hood brings and it is sad but true that for all of us life brings gifts that we perceive to be lemons. There are so many different cycles of change that affect us; this goes off in all sorts of directions – relationships, moon-cycles, the natural round and round of the Wheel, ups and downs of finances and enthusiasms. There are so many things to think about here.

Our spiritual journey demands an intimate understanding of Quench – the card requires many hours of reflection and meditation. Temperance was always a card I took somewhat for granted until I came across Quench and as a first formal study of the card I feel I have barely scratched the surface. I look forward to revisiting it next time round and seeing how my understanding has deepened and changed. I feel vaguely dissatisfied with this study, as if I have somehow missed the point and hope very much that continued meditation will bring further insights.

 

[jackdaw*]

XIV Temperance (Rider Waite Tarot)

First Impressions
Boring card. Boring, boring, boring. Temperance can be a pretty card (Hanson-Roberts, Sharman-Caselli), even a sexy one (any of Ciro's), in the right hands. But exciting, not really.

What does Temperance teach us, after all? Not too much. No, literally. Not too much. Don't eat too much, don't party too much, don't have too much fun. Don't have or do too much anything. Everything in moderation. No fun, right? The last of the dull old virtues. Important and serious and all that, but certainly not exciting or even interesting. It`s about finding a middle ground, about compromise, about bringing harmony, about keeping things in check.

So anyway. This card used to be shown as a prettily gowned young woman, winged like an angel, pouring water from one chalice into another. Some version, like the Tarot de Marseille, show her gown to be clearly blocked in contrasting colours such as red and blue to show the combination of opposites. This is a tradition that has been carried on in many modern decks, from the Thoth's card (titled Art) to the Nigel Jackson's red-and-white gown. But in the case of the Rider Waite Tarot, the angel wears all white.

His (unlike his predecessors, this angel is more masculine although still a little androgynous) robe is white and loose, hanging to his bare ankles, and draped so to make curious folds at the neckline that resemble lettering or arcane symbols. Over the breast is a white square that encloses a gold-orange triangle. His wings are a mix of black and red and purple and likely other shades that make a dark reddish overall shade, and wider and more impressive than was normal before now. His hair is blond and curly, almost bushy, and he has a yellow circle with a black dot at its centre over his forehead. His expression is calm but serious and his eyes are cast down at the two cups in his hands. Both are large fancy golden goblets, and blue water pours from one to the other in a narrow diagonal stream.

The angel has bare feet; one is dipped into a pool of water while the other rests lightly on a tussock at the water`s edge. The pool is fringed by grass and tall yellow irises; a narrow path runs from the water and over the green uneven landscape seemingly to the distant blue cliffs. A golden yellow crown shape glows in the sky over the mountain peaks where the path ends, shining like the sun.

Creator's Notes
Waite says:

The winged figure of a female--who, in opposition to all doctrine concerning the hierarchy of angels, is usually allocated to this order of ministering spirits--is pouring liquid from one pitcher to another. In his last work on the Tarot, Dr. Papus abandons the traditional form and depicts a woman wearing an Egyptian head-dress.

This isn't so strange, though. As that was so the trend at the time.

The first thing which seems clear on the surface is that the entire symbol has no especial connexion with Temperance, and the fact that this designation has always obtained for the card offers a very obvious instance of a meaning behind meaning, which is the title in chief to consideration in respect of the Tarot as a whole.

He goes on to say:
[/QUOTE=Waite]A winged angel, with the sign of the sun upon his forehead and on his breast the square and triangle of the septenary.[/QUOTE]
The septenary = three sides of the triangle + four sides of the square.

I speak of him in the masculine sense, but the figure is neither male nor female. It is held to be pouring the essences of life from chalice to chalice. It has one foot upon the earth and one upon waters, thus illustrating the nature of the essences.

I realize that androgyny is important to so many of these archetypes, but it is interesting that Waite refers to this angel as "he". The essences of life, and their connection to the angel's feet, bears looking into later.

A direct path goes up to certain heights on the verge of the horizon, and above there is a great light, through which a crown is seen vaguely. Hereof is some part of the Secret of Eternal Life, as it is possible to man in his incarnation. All the conventional emblems are renounced herein.

The crown doesn't look very vague to me. The renunciation of conventional symbols, as in of the traditional Marseille version of the card, is quite apparent here - it's got the winged figure and the two cups, and that's pretty much it. Waite has crammed this card with esoteric stuff.

So also are the conventional meanings, which refer to changes in the seasons, perpetual movement of life and even the combination of ideas.

I get the latter interpretation, but not so much the first two.

It is, moreover, untrue to say that the figure symbolizes the genius of the sun, though it is the analogy of solar light, realized in the third part of our human triplicity.

This is lost on me.

It is called Temperance fantastically, because, when the rule of it obtains in our consciousness, it tempers, combines and harmonises the psychic and material natures. Under that rule we know in our rational part something of whence we came and whither we are going.

Boy, Waite's writing gives me a headache! But combining and harmonizing are important aspects of this card. Here Waite refers to the psychic (spiritual) and the physical, but it can relate to many things.

Others' Interpretations
Waite says:

14. TEMPERANCE.--Economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation. Reversed: Things connected with churches, religions, sects, the priesthood, sometimes even the priest who will marry the Querent; also disunion, unfortunate combinations, competing interests.

"the priest who will marry the Querent"?

Joan Bunning says, in part:

... To be temperate is to show moderation and self-restraint. In a world full of enticing indulgences, it is often necessary to find the middle ground. Sensible, maybe, but also a bit boring? The energy of Temperance may seem unexciting on the surface, but it is the calm of a hurricane's eye. All around are swirling winds, but in the center is a still point that brings everything into balance.

She tries to make it seem more sexy here, as the calm at the eye of the maelstrom. This may be the case, but it`s still not a very exciting archetype.

Symbols and Attributes
Astrologically, Temperance is ruled by Sagittarius, the Archer. A fire sign ruled by the planet Jupiter, it can be subject to that Fiery energy and to the unpredictable fluctuations of its planetary influence. According to some, this makes Sagittarius somewhat prone to excess. This makes it interesting to consider its role in Temperance, as though the usual representation of Temperance is more the take-away lesson one should learn in dealing with this: disciplined, moderate, conservative. I see this as being reflected in its esoteric title: Daughter of the Reconcilers, The Bringer Forth of Life.

Key symbols include the angel, his gown and adornments, the cups and placement of his feet, the flowers at his side, the landscape behind him and the glowing crown in the sky.

The first and foremost concept one has to take away from this figure is that he is the archangel Michael. There is some debate on which angel is which in the Major Arcana, but most sources seem to conclude this one is Michael. He seems to be commonly depicted with red wings, and is renowned as a guardian of his people, from the early Hebrews of Biblical times to the early Roman Catholic Church. I see this as a common theme, with him standing beside the path as though guarding it; there is a reference in the Bible (Daniel, I think) to him guarding the rocky road, or guarding one on the rocky road of life.

Michael, or whoever he is, wears the alchemical symbol for gold (perfection, achievement of the ultimate goal) on his brow. Or it could represent the astrological glyph of the sun. Which is an interesting juxtaposition; the sun on his brow and a crown in the sky. His robe is white, representing purity and wisdom. Over the chest is a square and triangle. The four-sided square represents the material world, solid and stable and practical. The three-sided triangle is the triad of spirituality, such as the Holy Trinity; together the two shapes form what Waite referred to as the septenary that encompasses the mundane and the Divine. A more obscure symbol is seen on his robe, just above the square. The folds at the neckline form the Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton - Yod He Vav He, the name of God. It reinforces the connection to the divine.

The angel is barefoot and stands with one foot on land and one in the water. With one foot rooted on the stable and mundane Earth and the other in the changeable and intuitive Water, this emphasizes his balancing of the two. This is a reflection of a verse from the good old apocalyptic book of Revelation, describing an angel:

And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.

With the cups, one is higher and one is lower. This can be another interpretation of the Magician's "as above, so below" - notice how all of the liquid goes from one to the other, none is spilled or wasted. This is a clear depiction of temperance as conservative and moderate. Alternately, the spiritual and intuitive element represented by the water runs from the conscious to the subconscious. The flowing of the water represents blending.

The pool of water represents the subconscious, that which is submerged. At the angel's side, along the pool's edge are yellow irises. I didn't even know they came in yellow before I got into Tarot. This is kind of a sideways reference. It does refer to the Greek goddess Iris - goddess of the rainbow, messenger of Jupiter and the other gods of Olympus. She travelled the "rainbow bridge" to deliver her messages; the rainbow is apparently also a common symbol for Sagittarius. It represents the archer's bow. To quote the book of Revelation again:

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head [...]

It is no surprise, then, that in the Albano Waite recolouring of this card, there is a rainbow in the sky behind the angel's head.

In the background, a path snakes from the water's edge to presumably go between two of the blue distant mountain peaks; the golden crown shines like the sun above where the path might end. The pool is the unconscious, the path represents a quest or a mystical journey, the mountains the obstacles to cross in the meantime. Although the duality of these mountain peaks might also be similar to the towers of Death and the Moon, the pillars of the High Priestess, Hierophant and Justice, and so symbolize harmony or balance of opposites.

And the crown? It is the reward at the end of the path, the gold at the end of the rainbow, the prize at the bottom of the cereal box ... whatever metaphor you like, it's the goal to be attained. It's the reason you leave this pretty little iris-fringed oasis and trudge all the way to the mountains. It represents the ultimate unity, apparently. And those more in the know about Qabalah have said that Kether on the Tree of Life means Crown; it is the crowning sephira of the central pillar. Temperance is on a central path, although not originating from Kether. But it represents completeness and spiritual perfection, and so is an excellent goal to which to aspire.

Funny, how the crown is in the sky where the sun should be, while the angel wears the Sun glyph on his head where a crown might otherwise be worn. Perhaps this is seen as a juxtaposition or combination (Temperance strikes again!) of the mundane world of the material crown with the divine world of the spiritual sun.

My Interpretation
Temperance is still to me a card of moderation, restraint, discipline and conservation. It carries a warning not to go overboard. Tread softly, don't go nuts on things. It carries a strong note of caution.

But this study has really driven home the aspect of combination and balance I had not really thought of before. One needs to strike the right balance of the spiritual and the physical, the inner and the outer worlds. It reminds us not to neglect the one at the cost of the other. It is a card of harmony, of peacemaking.

And what about combination? This is better depicted by Lady Frieda Harris in the Art card of the Thoth deck, but can be depicted by the cups of this card as well. Blending of two tot make one, again to strike the balance.

Recolouring
Still so behind. But looking at more rainbowy. And purple irises.

 

[gregory]

Thoth

Card name: Art

First impressions
I do realise I am completely unreasonable – but I HATE the name of this card.
Now that that’s out of the way… We’ve a sort of split person, pouring fluid from a cup over a – I cheated; it seems to be a lance (I’d thought a branch, so… Her dress is green and has bees and serpents all over it. She has some kind of medallion at her chest, with alternating blue and silvery discs which look rather like metallic nipples. In front of her cauldron, a white lion and a red eagle. There’s fire under the cauldron (well, there WOULD be ) Around her a rainbow with Latin words on; over each side of her double face she has a crescent moon, points upwards. Behind, in the sky sort of complex spirals. I have to say that both lion and eagle look angry.

From the Book of Thoth

XIV. ART

i. The Arrow
This card is the complement and the fulfillment of Atu VI, Gemini. It pertains to Sagittarius, the opposite to Gemini in the Zodiac, and therefore, “after another manner,” one with it. Sagittarius means the Archer; and the card is (in its simplest and most primitive form) a picture of Diana the Huntress. Diana is primarily one of the lunar goddesses, though the Romans rather degraded her from the Greek “virgin Artemis”, who is also the Great Mother of Fertility, Diana of the Ephesians, Many-Breasted. (A form of Isis-see Atu II and III.)

The connection between the Moon and the Huntress is shewn by the shape of the bow, and the occult significance of Sagittarius is the arrow piercing the rainbow; the last three paths of the Tree of Life make the word Qesheth, a rainbow, and Sagittarius bears the arrow which pierces the rainbow, for his path leads from the Moon of Yesod to the Sun of Tiphareth. (This explanation is highly technical; but this is necessary because the card represents an important scientific formula, which cannot be expressed in language suited to common comprehension.)

This card represents the Consummation of the Royal Marriage which took place in Atu VI. The black and white personages are now united in a single androgyne figure. Even the Bees and the Serpents on their robes have made an alliance. The Red Lion has become white, and increased in size and importance, while the White Eagle, similarly expanded, has become red. He has exchanged his red blood for her white gluten. (It is impossible to explain these terms to any but advanced students of alchemy.)

The equilibrium and counter-change are carried out completely in the figure itself; the white woman has now a black bead; the black king, a white one. She wears the golden crown with a silver band, he, the silver crown with a golden fillet; but the white head on the right is extended in action by a white arm on the left which holds the cup of the white gluten, while the black head on the left has the black arm on the right, holding the lance which has become a torch and pours forth its burning blood. The fire burns up the water; the water extinguishes the fire.

The robe of the figure is green, which symbolizes vegetable growth: this is an alchemical allegory. In the symbolism of the fathers of science, all “actual” objects were regarded as dead; the difficulty of transmuting metals was that the metals, as they occur in nature, were in the nature of excrements, because they did not grow. The first problem of alchemy was to raise mineral to vegetable life; the adepts thought that the proper way to do this was to imitate the processes of nature. Distillation, for instance, was not an operation to be performed by heating something in a retort over a flame; it had to take place naturally, even if months were required to consummate the Work. (Months, at that period of civilization, were at the disposal of enquiring minds.)

A great deal of what people now consider ignorance, being themselves ignorant of what the men of old time thought, comes from this misapprehension. At the bottom of this card, for example, are seen Fire and Water harmoniously mingled. But this is only a crude symbol of the spiritual idea, which is the satisfaction of the desire of the incomplete element of one kind to satisfy its formula by assimilation of its equal and opposite.

This state of the great Work therefore consisted in the mingling of the contradictory elements in a cauldron. This is here represented as golden or solar, because the Sun is the Father of all Life, and (in particular) presides over distillation. The fertility of the Earth is maintained by rain and sun; the rain is formed by a slow and gentle process, and is rendered effective by the co-operation of air, which is itself alchemically the result of the Marriage of Fire and Water. So also the formula of continued life is death, or putrefaction. Here it is symbolized by the caput mortuum on the cauldron, a raven perched upon a skull. In agricultural terms, this is the fallow earth.

There is a particular interpretation of this card which is only to be understood by Initiates of the Ninth Degree of the O.T.O; for it contains a practical magical formula of such importance as to make it impossible to communicate it openly.
Rising from the cauldron, as the result of the operation per- formed ~ is a stream of light which becomes two rainbows; they form the cape of the androgyne figure. In the centre, an arrow shoots upwards. This is connected with the general symbolism previously explained, the spiritualization of the result of the Great Work.

The rainbow is moreover symbolical of another stage in the alchemical process. At a certain period, as a result of putrefaction, there is observed a phenomenon of many-coloured lights (The “coat of many colours” said to have been worn by Joseph and Jesus, in the ancient legends, refers to this. See also Atu 0, the Motley of the Green Man, Dreamer-Redeemer).
To sum up, the whole of this card represents the hidden content of the Egg described in Atu VI. It is the same formula, but in a more advanced stage. The original duality has been completely compensated; but after birth comes growth; after growth, puberty; and after puberty, purification.

In this card, therefore, is foreshadowed the final stage of the Great Work. Behind the figure, its edges tinged with the rainbow, which has now arisen from the twin rainbows forming the cape of the figure, is a glory bearing an inscription,
VISITA INTERIORA TERRAE RECTIFICANDO INVENIES OCCULTUM LAPIDEM.

“Visit the interior parts of the earth: by rectification thou shalt find the hidden stone”
Its initials make the word V.I.T.R.I.O.L., the Universal Solvent, to be discussed later. (Its value is 726=6 X 112=33 x 22.)

This “hidden stone” is also called the Universal Medicine. It is sometimes described as a stone, sometimes as a powder, sometimes as a tincture. It divides again into two forms, the gold and the silver, the red and the white; but its essence is always the same, and its nature is not to be understood except by experience. It is because the alchemists were dealing with substances on the borderland of “matter” that they are so difficult to understand. The subject-matter of chemistry and physics in modern times is what they would have called the study of dead things; for the real difference between living things and dead is, in the first instance, their behaviour.

The initials of the alchemical motto given above form the word Vitriol. This has nothing to do with the sulphates of either hydrogen, iron or copper, as might be supposed from modern usage. It represents a balanced combination of the three alchemical principles, Sulphur, Mercury and Salt. These names have no connection with substances so named by the vulgar; they have already been described in Atu 1.111 and IV

The counsel to “visit the interior of the earth” is a recapitulation (on a higher plane) of the first formula of the Work which has been the so constant theme of these essays. The important word in the injunction is the central word RECTIFICANDO; it implies the right leading of the new living substance in the path of the True Will. The stone of the Philosophers, the Universal Medicine, is to be a talisman of use in any event, a completely elastic and completely rigid vehicle of the True Will of the alchemists. It is to fertilize and bring to manifested Life the Orphic Egg.

The Arrow, both in this card and in Atu VI, is of supreme importance. The Arrow is, in fact, the simplest and purest glyph of Mercury, being the symbol of directed Will.

Images and Symbolism
Frieda Harris says in her essays:

XIV. Art, formerly called Temperance. The highest achievement of alchemy was the affecting of change, the transmuting of objects, qualities, colours and so on, into their opposites. Thus in this card the red lion has become white, the white eagle has become red. In the main figure, the black and white personages which were the Lovers in Card VI. are now interchanged and fused into an androgyne figure. This is the consummation of the Royal Marriage.
The rainbow symbolises another stage in the alchemical process by the aura of many-coloured lights rising out of putrefaction. Putrefaction itself is shown by the raven perched on a skull on the cauldron. The consummation of the whole art of Alchemy is proclaimed in the glory with its inscription “VISITA INTERIORA TERRAE RECTIFICANDO INVENIES OCCULTEM LAPIDEM.”
The counsel to visit the interior of the earth is a recapitulation (on a higher plane) of the first formula of the Work. The important word is RECTIFICANDO, it implies the right leading of the new living substance in the path of the True Will.

Also:

XIV.Art. Temperance. Sagittarius, Samech.
This is the second alchemical card, in which the Lovers are united in an androgyne figure, the Prince becoming white and the Princess black, the red lion white, the white eagle red and the cup is lighting the torch. There is a crucible engraved with a raven standing on a skull which holds the seething elements whose iridescent bubbles are reflected by the rainbow overhead. All these typify the destruction of two elements at the birth of a third. The inscription on the rainbow is the alchemical mandate “Visita interiora terrae rectificando invenies occultem lapidem.”

The inscription translates as “Visit the inner parts of the earth; thou shalt find the hidden stone by rectification.” The word Vitriol refers to the chemical that will dissolve old life to make way for the new, rather than the common meaning now of ill tempered bile ! Vitriol is the universal solvent, a compound of sulphur, salt and mercury in perfect balance. The Philosopher’s Stone (what Crowley refers to in BoT as the Hidden Stone) – the true self and the culmination of the Great Work - can only be found within the inner parts of the earth after they are purified by the application of vitriol.
The traditional image was to be Diana the huntress. The two crescent moons are a reminder of this, as they look rather like bows. DuQuette says that what I see as a medallion is deep cleavage, with three stacked pairs of breasts. Diana was portrayed as “many-breasted” so that makes sense, but I can’t say I am entirely convinced – then again they did look like nipples to me, at first… However, Snuffin sees this as a lamen bearing 6 visible spheres, symbolic of the six planetary Sephiroth below the Abyss on the Tree of Life. They are also breasts, he says, but not actual fleshly ones. The fact that it is both a lamen and multiple breasts is another union of opposites between Sun and Moon.
The figure’s green robe covered with bees and serpents is an indication of fertility, renewing life.
The cauldron is gold, for Tiphareth and the Sun; the moons above the figure are the balance to this. It bears a skull on which perches a raven - a “dead head” signifying the dross of the alchemical operation, por putrefaction, from which comes new life. In the cauldron we have the mixture of blood and semen, and the cauldron itself stands for the newly made Adept, born of this alchemical union.
Light rises from the cauldron, leading to a cape of gold over the figure’s shoulders.
Rectification is the key to this card – purification through distillation, and this is shown quite graphically in the image.

DuQuette also refers to the rainbowed disc as being in fact the Orphic Egg. This I simply cannot see – anyone else ? Banzhaf seems to suggest it represents the sun, but this isn’t entirely clear.
It seems to me that this card is almost as far from Temperance as it is possible to be. It is more violent, more changeable – it is all about change, and this seems to me a marked change (!) from where I have seen Temperance befreo now…

The marriage that has taken place in this card has transformed the king and queen into one person with two heads. Their hair colour and crowns have been transposed from their original appearance in the lovers card. There are many other transpositions and mergings - the bees and serpents on her dress, the lion and the eagle changing colours. At the bottom of the card fire and water appear together. It shows the completion of the Hermetic Marriage; the complete integration of opposites.
I do wonder where two-headed Janus might be seen in terms of this card.
The original title of this card was “The Daughter of the Reconcilers, the Bringer forth of Life.” This can oily be understood in terms of alchemy, which I am sorry to say is probably why I don’t get that bit ! The ART title itself refers to the fact that the card is an illustration of the art of alchemy- this I can see from the pouring of mysterious substances into a cauldron, but even so.


Traditional meanings –
Cribbed shamelessly from Wasserman
XIV ART Combination of forces. Realization. Action based on accurate calculation. Economy. Management. Success after elaborate maneuvers. The way of escape.
From the Book of Thoth:

Pour thine all freely from the Vase in thy right hand,
and lose no drop. Hath not thy left hand
a vase?

Transmute all wholly into the Image of thy Will,
bringing each to its true token of Perfection.
Dissolve the Pearl in the Wine-cup; drink, and
make manifest the Virtue of that Pearl.
Combination of forces, realization, action based on accurate calculation; the way of escape, success after elaborate manoeuvres.

My impressions
As I said - I HATE the name of this card. Now that that’s out of the way – I also do NOT like the Janus two-faced appearance of the woman. It almost seems contrary to all that I know of Temperance… But here we have ART anyway, so… It is one of the more dualistic cards I have seen, which it shouldn’t be, given that it is all about total union.

My take (what I make of it/what I might see in a reading where I drew it)
Balance and synthesis – which could mean working together to achieve something. It can also mean using both conscious and unconscious parts of the mind to reach a conclusion. It also suggests to me avoiding excess – it can be an advice card when drawn for an alcoholic, for instance. Moderation in all things.


But I suddenly note with interest JD's tale on this - a card of combining and harmony. And that from the Waite deck. Interesting... More thought is needed here !