Misplaced Pages

Temperance (tarot card)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Libra&leo (talk | contribs) at 14:18, 23 January 2023 (adding description and referance). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 14:18, 23 January 2023 by Libra&leo (talk | contribs) (adding description and referance)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 14th Major Arcanum
Temperance (XIV) from the Rider–Waite tarot deck

Temperance (XIV) is the fourteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination. The card of temperance in the Tarot can be a bit difficult to interpret, in short, it's about blending and synthesizing opposites. Harmony, peace and patience are the three important concepts it symbolizes. One of the most beautiful cards in the Tarot series shows an angel standing on water. This angel, standing in balance, dips one foot in the river and positions the other on the shore.

Description

Temperance (Template:Lang-it) appears in the oldest Italian decks where it is numbered VI or VII. In the Tarot de Marseille and in most contemporary decks the card is numbered XIV. In the Thoth Tarot and decks influenced by it, this card is called Art rather than Temperance.

A woman mixing water into wine was a standard allegory of Temperance in European iconography. This statue is part of Peter of Verona's tomb.

Temperance is almost invariably depicted as a person pouring liquid from one receptacle into another. Historically, this was a standard symbol of the virtue temperance, one of the cardinal virtues, representing the dilution of wine with water. In many decks, the person is a winged angel, usually female or androgynous, and stands with one foot on water and one foot on land.

At the end of the path in the lower left part of the card, there is a crown to show the attainment of a goal, or mastery thereof.

In the Rider–Waite image by Pamela Coleman-Smith (shown on this page) the Hebrew Tetragrammaton is on the angel's chest above the square and triangle. In the derivative Tarot decks this is usually not included.

According to A.E. Waite's 1910 book The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Temperance card is associated with:

14.TEMPERANCE.--Economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation. Reversed: Things connected with churches, religions, sects, the priesthood, sometimes even the priest who will marry Querent; also disunion, unfortunate combinations, competing interests.

References

  1. coventum (2022-08-11). "The Temperance Tarot Card Meaning". COVENTUM. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  2. Scribes, Joanne Sacred. "TAROT - The Royal Road: 14 TEMPERANCE XIV". TAROT - The Royal Road. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  3. Gray, Eden. "Complete Guide to the Tarot." 1970. Crown Publishers, New York, NY.
  4. Waite, Arthur Edward, 1857-1942. (2005). The pictorial key to the tarot. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-44255-1. OCLC 57549699.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • A. E. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key to the Tarot
  • Hajo Banzhaf, Tarot and the Journey of the Hero (2000)
  • Most works by Joseph Campbell
  • G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., The Owl, The Raven, and The Dove: Religious Meaning of the Grimm's Magic Fairy Tales (2000)
  • Juliette Wood, Folklore 109 (1998):15-24, "The Celtic Tarot and the Secret Tradition: A Study in Modern Legend Making" (1998)

External links

Occult tarot
Occultists
Major Arcana
numbered cards
Minor Arcana
suit cards
Coins, disks, or pentacles
Wands, rods, staffs, or staves
Cups, goblets, or vessels
Swords or blades
Decks
Related
Category: