| offering the twelfth: Temperance |
[26 Nov 2003|08:45pm] |
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"Turn, Turn, Turn", The Byrds |
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Temperance, at its core, is all about balance. The necessity of balance is a wide ribbon that runs through the entire Tarot, both major and minor arcana, reinforcing our very human need for it as a principle. Temperance is the face of balance: balance between earth and spirit, between intuition and reality, between dream and being. Temperance stands there, eternally pouring water from the pitcher, equalizing the balance between what was taken and what is given.
The Queen of Pentacles site tells us, "Temperance teaches us that balance is not a matter of 'self-control' but of true freedom to be ourselves and react to the world in a healthy, spontaneous manner." Balance is not about repression, or not simply about repression, but expression, in ways that feel true to ourselves and to the world. In this view there is room for joy and grief, light and darkness, truth and misdirection.
This is also a card of mediation, of bringing two sides together in a disagreement, of bringing opposing forces together to seek a resolution. This card indicates consolidation, synthesis, centering and moderation. Temperance is the centerpoint, the stillness in the eye of the hurricane, the middle ground between two extremes.
With temperance, there is balance, health, stability and integrity. Without it, there is discord, strife, excess and over-indulgence. Find the middle ground. Find the balance. Find temperance.
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