The image of the Temperance Tarot card is one of stillness. The simple explanation of Temperance is moderation, but there’s nothing simple about it. This quality is regarded as the finest of all in just about every philosophy and religion of the world, all through time. Living modestly, with patience and contemplation, brings life into balance. That is what perseveres. The oldest and most consistent philosophy of temperance is that of Taoism, as described by Lao Tzu around 2,500 years ago. He called it wu-wei, non-action, and insisted that the universe always returns to perfect balance if left alone. So, don’t rock the boat. But Lao Tzu was far from alone in praising moderation. Jesus was quite firm about it, stating that only those who are able to refrain from greed and excess can find the way to Heaven. Buddha was even more extreme about it, saying that one must resist every temptation, every engagement in the worldly, in order to escape the treadmill that is life. Actually, everywhere we go to find ancient wisdom about how to live our lives, the message is the same. Temperance. That’s what the Tarot card tells… Let’s look at the picture on the Temperance Tarot card. The splendid angel pours water between cups. That’s the ultimate image of balance. As Lao Tzu pointed out: Water always floats to the lowest place, thereby creating and keeping balance through modesty. To emphasize this fundamental lesson to be learned from water, the Tarot’s angel of Temperance stands with one foot in it, and the other on land. Also the triangle on the angel’s chest, each of its three sides the same size, speaks of balance on a divine level. Moderation leads to balance, but it’s a delicate thing to reach and to sustain. We can see this on the refined concentration of the Tarot Temperance angel and the risk of water spilling from the cups. Patience is needed. So is extreme sensitivity. You need to tread lightly, speak softly, and refrain from using any force — no matter how tempting it is to push forward when you approach the goal…
First Appearance Ducal courts of northern Italy (c. 1440)
First Publisher ○
Appearance List Sola Busca (1490s) — earliest surviving deck [Open Culture] [WaiteSmith.org]; Monde primitif… (Vol. 8: “Du Jeu des Tarots”) (1781) by Antoine Court de Gébelin; Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées Tarots (1783–1785) by Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette); Dogme et rituel de la haute magie (1856) by Éliphas Lévi; The Tarot: Its Occult Signification, Use in Fortune-Telling, and Method of Play (1888) by S. L. MacGregor Mathers; Le Tarot des Bohémiens (1889) by Papus (Gérard Encausse); Rider Waite Tarot (1909) by A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith [WaiteSmith.org]; The Tarot of the Bohemians (1910) by A. P Morton [Internet Archive]; The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911, 1959) by A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith; Le tarot des imagiers du moyen âge (1926) by Oswald Wirth; The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians (1944) by Aleister Crowley; Le Tarot de Marseille (1949) by Paul Marteau; The Tarot Revealed (1960) by Eden Gray; Tarot Cards for Fun and Fortune Telling (1970) by Stuart R. Kaplan; The Encyclopedia of Tarot (Vol. 1) (1978) by Stuart R. Kaplan.
Sample Read The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911, 1959) by A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith [Internet Archive]
Description The image of the Temperance Tarot card is one of stillness. The simple explanation of Temperance is moderation, but there’s nothing simple about it. This quality is regarded as the finest of all in just about every philosophy and religion of the world, all through time. Living modestly, with patience and contemplation, brings life into balance. That is what perseveres. The oldest and most consistent philosophy of temperance is that of Taoism, as described by Lao Tzu around 2,500 years ago. He called it wu-wei, non-action, and insisted that the universe always returns to perfect balance if left alone. So, don’t rock the boat. But Lao Tzu was far from alone in praising moderation. Jesus was quite firm about it, stating that only those who are able to refrain from greed and excess can find the way to Heaven. Buddha was even more extreme about it, saying that one must resist every temptation, every engagement in the worldly, in order to escape the treadmill that is life. Actually, everywhere we go to find ancient wisdom about how to live our lives, the message is the same. Temperance. That’s what the Tarot card tells… Let’s look at the picture on the Temperance Tarot card. The splendid angel pours water between cups. That’s the ultimate image of balance. As Lao Tzu pointed out: Water always floats to the lowest place, thereby creating and keeping balance through modesty. To emphasize this fundamental lesson to be learned from water, the Tarot’s angel of Temperance stands with one foot in it, and the other on land. Also the triangle on the angel’s chest, each of its three sides the same size, speaks of balance on a divine level. Moderation leads to balance, but it’s a delicate thing to reach and to sustain. We can see this on the refined concentration of the Tarot Temperance angel and the risk of water spilling from the cups. Patience is needed. So is extreme sensitivity. You need to tread lightly, speak softly, and refrain from using any force — no matter how tempting it is to push forward when you approach the goal…
