Tarot · The Major Arcana
Temperance
- Moderation
- balance
- patience
The picture
A winged angel stands with one foot in the water and one on land, pouring water between two cups, while a path leads to distant mountains crowned with light.
The meaning
The angel pours water from one cup to the other, and nothing is lost. The tradition reads the card as moderation, patience and the right mixture. It stands for balance between opposites and for healing that works slowly. Its word is not denial but the middle way.
Reversed
Reversed, it is read as too much on one side, or impatience that upsets the balance.
In love
In love it is read as harmony, patience with each other and a good balance.
At work
At work it stands for a balanced pace, cooperation and patience with long undertakings.
As your card of the day
The middle way does you good today. Not too much, not too little, and everything in its own time.
Temperance mixes opposites. Perhaps today you can combine two things that have not fitted together so far.
The Major Arcana are the 22 trump cards, from the Fool at zero to the World at twenty-one. The tradition reads them as stations on a life's journey: large themes that touch everyone at some point.
Picture: Pamela Colman Smith, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, 1909, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).