TAROT CARD GUIDE

Temperance Tarot Card Meaning & Interpretations

← Major Arcana

Temperance Card from the Rider Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Introduction

Temperance is the 14th card of the Major Arcana which gives it a numerological value of 5 (1+4). This links it to the 5th card of the Major Arcana, The Hierophant, as well as the 5 Of Wands, the 5 Of Pentacles, the 5 Of Swords, and the 5 Of Cups of the Minor Arcana, all problematic cards, representing strife, hardship, conflict and grief respectively.

Where The Hierophant offers an authoritarian solution to these problematic minors, using structures of rules, doctrine and dogma for control and containment, Temperance takes a more holistic approach by finding the right solution, mixture and balance for each individual case. The Hierophant represents external help, discipline and control; Temperance represents self help and self control.

Temperance is the card of moderation, patience, self control, frugality and economy. The appearance of this card could offer a path to peace and harmony. Depending on cards surrounding Temperance, difficult situations or testing times can be managed through better self control.

The imagery is commonly that of an angel pouring water from one vessel to another. The water flowing between the 2 cups represents getting the mixture right through the balance and diplomacy of the 2. With water being the ingredient being mixed and balanced, this is specifically about finding emotional balance and harmony.

The angel in the Rider Waite Smith deck card has one foot on land (earth) and the other in a lake or sea (water). This detail indicates that this card doesn't refer entirely to emotional temperance but also to material temperance. Or the intersection of these elements where emotional decisions, or reactions, to material issues come into play.

Numerology of Temperance

Temperance is the 14th card in the Major Arcana. Numerology reduces 14 to 5 (1+4). The number 5 has the positive characteristics of freedom, versatility, flexibility, adaptability. The negative and destructive influences of this number are instability, chaos, irresponsibility, carelessness and over indulgence in food, drink, drugs and sensuality (sex).

Even though Temperance has the same basic numerology as The Hierophant, the number 14 also symbolises self control (number 1) creating stability (number 4).

Temperance in a Tarot Reading

Temperance is a card of moderation, balance, patience and self-control. It suggests that the best way through a situation may not be found at either extreme, but by adjusting different elements until the right balance is achieved.

When Temperance appears in a reading, it can be a sign to slow down, avoid impulsive reactions and consider what needs to be increased, reduced or combined differently. Rather than imposing a rigid solution, Temperance encourages you to get the mixture right for the particular circumstances you face.

Upright Meaning

Upright, Temperance suggests moderation, patience and the ability to maintain control when circumstances could otherwise become difficult or chaotic. Problems may be manageable if approached calmly and without allowing emotions or immediate desires to dictate your actions.

The card can also indicate compromise and adjustment. Two opposing needs, opinions or influences may not be completely incompatible. By taking something from each, it may be possible to find a solution that creates greater harmony and stability.

Temperance can therefore be particularly encouraging when a situation requires time. Progress may be gradual rather than dramatic, but careful adjustments can eventually produce the desired result.

Upright keywords: moderation, balance, patience, self-control, harmony, compromise, adjustment, stability, economy, restraint.

Reversed Meaning

Reversed, Temperance can indicate excess, imbalance or a lack of self-control. Something may have moved too far towards one extreme, or different parts of your life may no longer be working comfortably together.

It can warn against overindulgence, impatience or reacting emotionally instead of considering the consequences. Resources such as money, time or energy may also be used without sufficient restraint.

In other situations, reversed Temperance can suggest that attempts at compromise are failing. The ingredients simply may not be combining successfully, requiring you to reconsider what needs to change rather than continuing to make minor adjustments.

Reversed keywords: excess, imbalance, impatience, overindulgence, instability, poor judgement, waste, conflict, lack of restraint.

Love and Relationships

In a relationship reading, Temperance encourages patience, compromise and emotional balance. Differences between two people may be manageable when both are prepared to adjust and meet somewhere between their respective positions.

For an established relationship, the card can indicate a period of greater harmony or the gradual resolution of difficulties. It favours calm communication over confrontation and suggests that neither person necessarily needs to get everything their own way.

Reversed, Temperance can indicate that the balance within a relationship has been lost. One person's needs may dominate, emotions may be running too high, or repeated attempts at compromise may not be producing a workable solution.

Work and Career

In work and career readings, Temperance suggests a measured approach. Different demands may need to be balanced, and progress can depend upon patience, cooperation and making careful adjustments rather than forcing rapid change.

The card can also represent successfully combining different skills, people or ideas. A solution may emerge from taking the useful parts of several approaches rather than choosing one and rejecting the others.

Reversed, it can suggest poor work-life balance, conflicting priorities, impatience with progress or difficulty getting different people and responsibilities to work together.

Money and Finances

Temperance is particularly relevant to financial questions because of its association with frugality, economy and restraint. It favours controlled spending and making sensible adjustments rather than either excessive spending or unnecessarily severe restriction.

The card can suggest bringing income and expenditure into better balance, conserving resources or gradually improving a financial situation through consistent decisions.

Reversed, Temperance can warn of overspending, waste or difficulty controlling financial impulses. It may indicate that a financial imbalance needs correcting before it becomes harder to manage.

Advice from Temperance

When Temperance appears as advice, avoid extremes. Consider what is out of balance and what small changes could bring the situation back towards stability.

Ask yourself: What do I need more of, what do I need less of, and what combination would create the right balance?

Temperance encourages self-control rather than control imposed by others. The right solution is not necessarily a rigid rule that applies to everyone, but the balance that works for the circumstances you are actually facing.

Temperance According to A. E. Waite

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot
Arthur Edward Waite (1911)

A winged angel, with the sign of the sun upon his forehead and on his breast the square and triangle of the septenary. 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. 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.

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