Timely Tarot: Healing and Expansion with the Temperance Card By Lisa De La O Wyman
Timely Tarot: Healing and Expansion with the Temperance Card
By Lisa De La O Wyman
After the darkness comes the dawn, and with it the optimistic, vitalizing fire of Sagittarius season! Vibrant and action-oriented, the energy of the archer encourages us all to heal, recalibrate, and find the potential in the days ahead. It’s been a painful, challenging year on many levels, and the imbalances in our world and personal lives have been glaringly exposed. The good news is that it’s a great starting point for transformation and healing. The Temperance card of the Tarot invites us to find our footing again - but in a new way. Steeped in alchemical symbolism, Temperance wants you to take your base metals and turn them to gold. Repurpose the wreckage of the past year and find what can be transmuted into something different, better, and more supportive of who you are becoming. We’ve all been changed by what we’ve been through. The question now is – what are you going to do about it? Sagittarius has enough good cheer, faith, and enthusiasm to fuel our efforts with the juice we need to really get somewhere. With Temperance along for the ride, we’re being helped by our guardian angels, tapping into a higher consciousness, and envisioning a more expansive, unified future for ourselves and the collective.
Ruled by the planet Jupiter, Sagittarius is a mutable Fire sign. Sagittarian energy is fiercely independent, active, and fun-loving. Philosophical and spiritual, Sagittarius pursues world travel, seeking expansion and deeper knowledge through experiencing different cultures. It’s about exploring many paths on the quest to find that they all lead back to one universal truth. Sagittarian energy thrives on adventure and spontaneity, seeking new goals and achievements, aiming high like the archer. Considered the luckiest sign of the zodiac, it’s associated with good fortune and unexpected opportunity. Its mutable nature encourages adaptability and a flow state where staying in the present moment supports positive development. In its most evolved form, Sagittarius is a visionary energy, embodying the archetype of the prophet, teacher, or mentor.
The constellation of Sagittarius takes the shape of an archer. Its basis is rooted in the half-human, half-horse creature, the centaur. Associated with the Greek mythological figure of Chiron, it connects to the Temperance theme of healing. Chiron is known as “the wounded healer” who treated others out of a desire to remedy his own pain. Our greatest traumas can become the source of compassion, empathy, and healing action. Numbered 14 in the Tarot deck, the Temperance card is linked with Sagittarius. Fourteen represents personal freedom, curiosity, and the desire for travel, knowledge, and accomplishing self-determined goals.
The Temperance card generally depicts an androgynous angel with a sun disc at its third eye or crown. On their chest is a triangle within a square, representing the human pursuit of higher consciousness within the grounded reality of earthly life. Above this symbol is the Tetragrammaton, or Hebrew name of God. Iris flowers grow nearby, and a winding road leading toward the horizon is behind them. They have one foot on land and one in a pond, and with the two chalices in their hands they mix water at a gravity-defying angle. The figure is often associated with the archangel Raphael, who in the Abrahamic religions is responsible for healing. It is also connected with the cardinal virtue of temperance, and can also represent one’s guardian angel or helper spirits. Most powerfully, the angel embodies the alchemical process, the harmonizing of disparate ingredients to create something new, the transformation of base metals to gold. The angel is a balance of male and female, is somehow both sexes and yet has transcended beyond them. They stand with one foot in water and one on land, symbolizing the internal and external, emotional and physical, mystical and material, and the experience of being both rooted and spiritually connected. They possess a firm foundation while maintaining access to the mystery of the cosmos. The blending water of the chalices suggests that they are tapping into transformative energy of an advanced level.
The angel’s golden halo also suggests Christ Consciousness, the attainment of spiritual enlightenment while remaining in human form. More Christian imagery is hinted at through the chalices, connecting them to the legend of the Holy Grail. The Grail represents the highest form of questing, the search for ultimate spiritual realization. Another perspective on the Grail is, according to mythologist Joseph Campbell, ”the authentic life, which carries between it the pairs of opposites, of good and evil, light and dark. The best we can do is lean toward the light, intend the light . . . the harmonious relationships that come from compassion.”
The Temperance card represents healing through the combination of various elements to create something new. Like alchemy, we engage in the repurposing of used materials, old experiences, past pain and hard-earned lessons to rebirth ourselves. You can discover treasure in your trash!
Your experience is highly valuable and rich in wisdom. Restoration becomes an act of rebirth. The Temperance card follows The Death card, which involves letting go. It asks us to surrender to inevitable change and the cycles of life. But the energies of our life don’t die - they simply change form. Like dead leaves, they become mulch for new growth. Temperance has you working with that mulch - mixing it, applying it, envisioning the new life that will spring forth. You’ve faced symbolic death and are now able to heal and act with agency. Your “death” breaks you through to another level of consciousness. You are evolving and awakening to your connection to the energies of the universe. The angel of Temperance is a helping guide (much like Virgil in Dante's Inferno), supporting your continuing development through times of both struggle and joy, the glimmer of hope after a long underworld journey.
The word “temperance” can be misleading. Is this card really about moderation in a more conventional sense – as in “you don’t really need that third martini”? Not so much. While temperance can mean an adjustment, this card is more about making a shift into something new and more expansive. It invites you to create room for yourself to grow, to think and feel differently, and to cultivate self-knowledge. It’s choosing to travel a more enlightened path. This is often initiated through the act of healing.
The concept of healing can seem very vague. What matters is - what does healing mean for you? Temperance suggests that it's not just about recovering from heartbreak or a physical affliction. Healing means making changes, learning new information, utilizing resources, and accepting support and encouragement from others. It requires you to stretch beyond what you did before and to think creatively in service of change that will support a new mode of being. You’ll have to make different choices and commit to a new level of discipline. Healing requires change, taking risks, the establishment of new habits, and the long-term dedication to a new way of life. In some Tarot decks, the Temperance card is also called Art. Indeed, Temperance is Art, the art of your own life. Think about yourself as a constantly evolving work of art. What are your means of creative expression? How do you engage with different mediums and seek new inspiration? What do you restore and repurpose for future use? Isn’t some part of your life about connecting to something greater, whatever that may be for you? At every moment you are creating yourself anew, expanding outward and exploring new horizons.
When one of my clients pulls the Temperance card, it can suggest a “rainbow after the rain.” The person has usually been through a period of difficulty and change and is now being invited to heal through opening themselves to spiritual support and creative potential. They are being encouraged to transmute hardship into opportunity and refreshed optimism. The energies of the universe are conspiring in their favor and it’s a good time to learn something new, travel, and play a bit with artistic interests of all kinds. Their past experiences, however painful, can positively affect their choices moving forward.
For example, perhaps the person was laid off from a rewarding longtime job. After months of anger or depression, applying for other positions, and experiencing resulting conflicts at home, they begin to see themselves differently. They discover a resilience they didn’t know they had and form an identity apart from their work. They adopt healthier habits to accommodate financial impacts. The surplus of time encourages them to revisit an old and enjoyable hobby. They deepen bonds with their partner and children. They even research a surprising new interest that they now might want to parlay into a career path. Did they magically get rid of all their problems? No. But they did take the hand they were dealt and find the value and creative potential within it. This is the beauty and power of Temperance. You don’t need to be anyone other than who you are right now. You can work with your raw materials and create gold. You are the alchemical process. Your art is alive. You are constantly embarking on new adventures and experiencing greater levels of consciousness. Be bold, be brave in the face of fear, and believe in your own limitless possibility.
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Lisa De La O Wyman is a Tarot reader and writer based in Redondo Beach. At Tarot for Empowerment she works with individual clients, private parties, and special events. Through her work she seeks to connect people with their innate power as well as encounter the mystery in everyday life. She can be reached via Instagram and Facebook at @tarotforempowerment.