Temperance tiptoes into your life. It’s a card of extremes yet it whispers. There is another way. A middle path. One that exists without force and torment.
This guide will explain the temperance tarot card meaning, symbolism and lessons. Including upright and in reverse, in love, career, health and more.
Upright Card Keywords: Integration, Balance, Blending, Moderation, Alchemy
Reversed Card Keywords: Imbalance, Excess, Extremes, Realignment
Temperance Card Description : Symbolism and Artwork of the Temperance Card
In the center of the Temperance card is a winged angel that is meant to embody both masculine and feminine energies. The angel stands with one foot on the rocks, grounded in the material. While the other foot is in the water, representing the flow of life and emotions. It wears a light blue robe, featuring a triangle representing humans, and a square representing the earth. This symbolically means that humans are bound by the natural laws of the earth. The angel is pouring water between two cups, showing the process of alchemy. Some say the circle in the center of the angel’s forehead is like the light a doctor wears. This connects to the card’s healing and medicinal energy.
In the background to the left of the angel is a winding path up a mountain. A golden crown encased in light sits above it. This represents the journey to a higher path in life. Staying true to one’s purpose no matter what obstacles come your way.
On the right of the card are yellow Iris flowers. The three petals of the iris flower represent three core values of faith, valor and wisdom. Yellow irises are a sign of good news and positive energy to come.
The astrology sign of Temperance is Sagittarius and the number is 14.
Upright Meaning
Drawing the upright temperance shows you need to refine chaotic elements in your life, to bring them to a higher state of being. This is balance through blending, not through forced equilibrium. What can you add to the situation to improve it?
You’re currently in a state of integration. Accepting opposing parts of yourself, the light and the dark. Seeing how all these aspects are important to who you are as whole person.
This card indicates a period of peace and stability. You will be able to focus on inner growth and self healing. Take advantage of this time. If you feel called to do so, invite angels into your life to help.
Temperance is deeply connected to the concept of moderation. It’s okay to indulge yourself, as long as you have limits to keep you stable. Harsh restrictions create periods of bingeing. Instead of going cold turkey on a habit, or denying yourself something that you rely on. Look at what you can add to moderate it.
Reversed Meaning
When temperance is drawn upside down it shows that you are battling extremes. You may be experiencing mood swings. Having periods of intensity, with periods of incredible calm. Is there a chaos in your life you’re not noticing? Perhaps you’re managing someone else’s chaos without realizing its impact on you. If someone else is bringing the up and down, unpredictable energy, it’s important to create boundaries to protect yourself. Either way it’s taking a toll on you and you’re in desperate need of balance.
Temperance in the reversed position also indicates a period self healing and realignment. When you’re self healing it’s common to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. For example say you were a people pleaser, who constantly put your needs last. While healing you might swing to the extreme, where you become a bulldozer, over concerned with your self interests. Temperance asks you to stop the pendulum swing and find the middle. Ground yourself. You don’t need to go to the extreme opposite to heal. Give yourself time to strike the right balance.
You’re dealing with excess in your life. If you’re overindulging it’s causing an imbalance in your emotional state. Try to bring your vices, or habits back into control.
Yes or No Meaning of the Temperance Tarot Card
Temperance is a yes! This is especially true if balance is involved. In the case where a yes would cause an unbalanced situation then it becomes a no. Use your discernment when you see this card in a yes or no tarot reading.
Find a reference guide for yes or no tarot cards here.
Predicting Timing with the Temperance Card
As timing, Temperance is a card requiring patience. Divine timing is at play. The event in question will happen exactly when it’s supposed to and not a moment sooner. This can be a frustrating answer to receive! Resist the temptation to clarify, acceptance is an important part of the process.
Learn about predicting timelines in tarot on this page.
Friendship Meaning Of The Temperance Tarot Card
In a friendship reading the temperance shows you and your friend are a great balance. You both add a lot to each other’s lives. If you’re experiencing conflict or difficulties in this friendship, take a peacemaking approach. There’s a lot of value in this connection.
Meaning of the Temperance Tarot Card in Love and Relationships
Upright Position
For singles, if you’re looking to increase your romantic success you’ll benefit from integrating dating into your regular life. Look for opportunities to connect in places you frequent, hobbies you love and through people you see everyday. For what’s coming for you in love you’re achieving a new state of inner balance which will make you quite attractive to partners! You’ll start to feel peaceful about your love life, which is exactly the right energy for bringing someone in.
In a relationship the temperance shows your relationship has a peaceful, easy feeling. You’re able to withstand challenges and hardships together. When looking at temperance’s connection to moderation, it’s important to ask “how much energy are you giving your relationship?” Is it blending well with the rest of your life? It’s thought that your romantic relationship should be 25% of your focus, 25% for your work, 25% for other relationships, and 25% for yourself. This may not be your perfect mix. However Temperance reminds you to not ignore your life for your relationship. Which happens to the best of us. Think about how you can blend your relationship with everything else for a rich and fulfilling life.
Upside Down Meaning
If you draw the upside down Temperance for a relationship reading consider it a warning. You’re giving the relationship an excessive amount of your time, energy, and focus. You’re neglecting important aspects of your life. Your other relationships are suffering. In our society we’ve learned to pedastilze our romantic partners. However friends are the ones who will be around through the highs and lows of your relationship. Through breakups, and endings. In past times soulmate actually referred to friends you had a deep connection and compatibility with. Give your friends some love. Do something for yourself. Remember your goals outside the relationship. You’re in need of realignment.
For singles temperance drawn in the reverse position suggests that your love life is suffering from extreme thinking. You may be yo-yoing between desperately wanting a partner, to thinking you don’t want one at all. Are you saying things like “I’m not actually ready for a relationship?” While feeling bad that love isn’t knocking on your door? You’re in need of alignment. Find the middle ground within yourself. It’s okay to want a relationship. It’s the most normal human desire in the world.
Temperance As feelings
You give this person a sense of calm and serenity. They feel more balanced in your presence. If you’re wanting them to make a move towards you, divine timing is at play here. They could be waiting for the perfect moment.
The song “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by the Eagles was running through my head for this section and the upright love meaning. Check it out to feel the vibe you’re giving them.
Temperance Tarot Card as How Someone Sees You
If you drew this major arcana card for how someone sees you, then you have an angelic presence to them. They think incredibly highly of you. They may feel more balanced or calm in your presence.
Temperance As a Person
As a person, the temperance card shows someone who is calm and stable. They are internally balanced and make their personal wellbeing a priority, while also caring about others. They are in control of their desires and vices.
They may have light or soft features. Or have Sagittarius as a prominent sign in their astrology chart.
In A Career Tarot Reading
Upright
In the career context, the upright temperance shows coming into alignment with your sense of purpose. You’ll have opportunities to make your work feel more meaningful for you. Take them.
This card can also indicate getting more support at your work. Someone or something coming in to make your life easier. Overall things are going in a good direction. Your job will remain stable in times of change or chaos.
Business Meaning
For business, the upright temperance asks “how can you stabilize your business to handle extremes?” Temperance is needed more than ever with the current state of the world. Don’t let an uncertain economy scare you. Look for solutions that will ensure your business can thrive through changes. For example, consider a summer business. A summer business must have a stable enough budget that they survive the low season unscathed.
Risks are part of being a business owner, if you’re seeing this card make sure they are calculated.
Reversed Meaning
Purpose is lacking in your work. You’re finding that you’re giving more of yourself then you can sustain. While the work itself isn’t bringing you joy. If you keep going down this path, you won’t last in this job. In order to stabilize your energy you need to find your reason why. Is there a new perspective you can add, that will make your work more meaningful to you? Is there something you can do, that puts limits on how much of yourself you give to this job?
Business Meaning
In business, the reverse temperance shows extreme thinking. Excessive spending. Focusing on the the wrong things. In order to reach the success you desire you need to cut through the noise. What’s actually important in your business? You can’t worry about every little detail while ignoring the big picture of bringing in money.
In a time where every person with a phone can hop online and tell you what you should be doing. Where’s there’s so many things to take your focus, social media presence, website design, ai optimization etc. Bring your attention back to your customers. Providing the service or product that they want to buy. Anything else is secondary.
Financial Context
In finance, Temperance appears when it’s time to moderate your spending. Don’t take any big financial risks right now. Make sure your money input and output is in a state of balance. Take a little extra time to consider purchases rather than making emotional decisions with your money.
Temperance Tarot Card for Health
Upright Position
Temperance being about balance suggests you need to take a comprehensive approach to your health. Consider the wellness of your whole body, instead of specific parts. This can also mean using traditional medicine with a complementary holistic method alongside it, to treat any ailments.
Generally the upright temperance shows a state of health and balance within the body.
In Reverse
The reversed temperance shows you’re having a problem with moderation and your body is suffering from excess. Is it too much eating, smoking, or drinking? Are you pushing yourself too hard physically? Whatever it is, you need to bring it back into balance in order to be well.
If you’re unwell this card can suggest checking your hormone levels. They could be suffering from imbalance.
Drawing the Temperance Tarot Card in the Future Position
In the future position of a tarot reading, the temperance indicates that you are entering a period of peace and stability. Any challenges you have been dealing with will start to ease up. You’ll be enjoying a sense of inner calm and harmony. Due to the Temperance’s connection to angels, sometimes this can feel like recieving a magical solution to a problem. Or experiencing divine timing, where things align so well, you finally understand why you had to be patient.
Spiritual Meaning
Spiritually, the temperance card is deeply connected to the guidance of angels. The angel on the temperance card is archangel Michael. He represents the merging of the material and spiritual planes of existence. You can call on archangel Michael for assistance in your life. Angels are available and wanting to help. However they can’t act against your free will. So if you want their support, you have to ask and invite them into your life.
Temperance is also a card of shadow work. Integrating the light and dark aspects of yourself, the good and the bad to create wholeness. The Shadow is often feared because it contains everything you have denied, disowned or rejected in yourself. Often the shadow is also hiding your greatest gifts. If you powerfully own the parts of yourself that you have previously denied, you unlock a whole wealth of benefits. You also get to stop fighting so hard against who you are.
The idea of Temperance comes from alchemy. Where alchemists would carefully mix substances in the attempt to turn lead into gold. The parts you reject within yourself are the lead. When accepted and used in the right proportion, mixed with the right elements of discernment. That lead becomes gold.
Here is a simple exercise to open the door for shadow work. Take a trait you dislike in yourself. It can be one you’re aware of, or one other people have claimed you have, that you vehemently deny. Now write it at the top of a page. Underneath you are going to write how the trait can be good, for you, or for other people.
For example, if you are lazy you might say, you’re good at relaxing. You’re able to just be with people without the pressure of having to do something. Make the list as long as possible. You will start to lessen the resistance you have to these traits in yourself. You will begin to see the gold within your lead.
Advice of the Temperance Card
To understand the guidance of the Temperance card you need to understand the word. In cooking tempering is when you carefully add something to make your ingredients stable when exposed to heat. Temperance asks, “what can you add, to make the situation (or yourself) more stable when exposed to extremes?”
Let me give you an example from a client in the Ascension Pathway, a program where we increase your intuition to unlock your spiritual gifts. (more on that here). We found that strengthening her body is incredibly important for sharpening her intuition. She has to temper her body with weight training to stabilize her spiritual insights.
Temperance tells you to find balance. Though not the balance of the Justice card where the scales find their perfect equilibrium. With temperance you might require far more of a certain element than another. The position of Temperance between the Death and Devil is not an accident. In order to survive the extremes of transformation, sudden change, and attachments you need to cultivate a level of inner stability that can withstand chaos.
In the situation at hand what can you add more of to create balance?
Explore Card Combinations Involving the Temperance
Temperance and The 9 of cups
Temperance and the 9 of cups show you will be reaching a state of contentment. Your inner and outer world are in balance, giving you satisfaction and emotional fulfilment. This is a wonderful and positive tarot combination to receive. Life is good.
Temperance and The Tower
The tower suggests a time of great change and the temperance assists you to maintain peace and equanimity through what comes. What would ground you in this situation? What can you add to your life right now that makes it easy to ride the waves, rather than drown in them? Any changes you’re facing are taking you to something better.
Read the tower tarot guide here.
Temperance and The Judgement
Don’t make any quick decisions when you see the temperance and judgement together in a reading. These cards suggest that you should carefully examine your choices. Be patient until you have all the information. A thoughtful approach to the situation will serve you best.
Learn about the Judgement tarot card on this page.
Temperance and The Magician
This is a tarot combination of manifestation. You have the power to create what you want in your reality. You have all the tools and the will to do so. With the Temperance influence you need to moderate your emotions and desires to not fall into extremes. Find a way to cultivate patience or a feeling of “it doesn’t really matter if, or when” your manifestation shows up. You’re good now. This will add ease to the process. If you have a bad day or low moment don’t add fuel to the fire by beating yourself up. Or thinking you’ve stalled your manifestation. Gently do something to balance your emotions and continue forward. What you want is already yours.
Dive into the meaning of the Magician card in this tarot guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the astrology sign of the Temperance card?
Sagittarius. Here’s a complete guide to the astrology in tarot.
What’s the element?
The element is fire as it’s connected to the fire sign sagittarius.
What deity is associated with the temperance tarot card?
Here are some key deities associated with temperance;
Iris Greek goddess tied to the iris imagery in the card
Isis Egyptian goddess of healing and magic connected to themes of integration and well being
Diana Archeress linked to the card through Sagittarius the archer
Archangel Michael the angel depicted on the card
What tarot card comes after temperance?
The card after Temperance (number 14) is the Devil (number 15). Find the Devil tarot guide here.
What does it mean to have the temperance tarot birth card?
If temperance is your birth card then you are a harmonizing force. You are a natural peacemaker, calm and emotionally stable. Your other birth card is the hierophant, which is all about spiritual guidance and traditions. You’re deeply interested in spirituality and benefit from mentorship on this path. Eventually you will have the means to turn around and share what you know with others. Becoming a mentor yourself. Naturally people come to you for spiritual and emotional guidance.
Your challenge is balancing opposites. You’ll be tasked to moderate extremes in yourself. To navigate freedom vs tradition. Finding a path that honours what you’ve inherited while being authentic to who you are.
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