By Lorraine Kemble
Image from the RWS Tarot
14. Temperance
Through all her recent traumas, Rachel excesses her alcohol intake; to alleviate numbing the agonizing feelings that she is experiencing. She is still grieving her friend's death and is continually mulling over the events surrounding it and leading up to it.
The Temperance card is full of alchemy, depicting an angel who is a Hermaphrodite, the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, showing a balance between the genders. Temperance encompasses the world of balance.
Rachel feels comforted by the world of alchemy and manages to moderate her drinking. She achieves this by carefully going over the twelve steps of the Alcoholics Anonymous program with her insightful therapist - who seeks advice on how best to go about helping her complex, client Rachel. She begins this process, slowly and surely. Then it takes hold and Rachel is determined, avidly learning the art of moderation. Her therapist is proud of how Rachel is dealing with tempering all her horrific recent events. Rachel has found the qualities of grace and humility again that she developed a few years ago. She is in touch with the parents of the young woman who died and a worthy inspiration. The truth is, that she is helping them through their own grieving processes and they are grateful; continually wanting to stay in touch with her. In turn, they have become a part of the support network that Rachel sadly never experienced.
On the Temperance card stands a winged angel, who has one foot on dry land; representative of the material world, and one foot in the water; indicative of the subconscious, representing the need to ‘test the waters’ before jumping headfirst into unknown circumstances; unlike the whimsical flight of The Fool who jumps without giving a second thought. The triangle, inside the square on her robe, represents the female being protected by natural law. In her hands, she holds two cups which she uses to mix water. The cups represent both subconscious and conscious minds. One cup is holding hot water and the other, cold water. The water flowing between them is going from the lower cup to the higher, signifying rising from a lower plane to a higher one.
Another angle to Temperance, that of "tempering" or transforming; we continue on from Death, which prepared us for transformation. With tempering, iron is transformed into steel with heating and cooling, fire and water.
Rachel has decided, partly through this tragic chain of events, to write her thesis on the processes of alchemy, cleverly linking them to those of grief.
The zodiac sign is Sagittarius, the teacher of truth, enthusiasm, and beauty. There is a potent energy force that strives for something higher.
Astrologically, Temperance is ruled by the planet, Jupiter.
The previous installment can be found in the February 2020 issue of Tarot Reflections. Watch for the next installment in the April issue.