Temperance tarot card from the Simply Tarot deck

Temperance Tarot Card Meaning

The Cupbearer
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Harmony • Healing • Moderation

Look for where things have fallen out of balance and consider what needs adjusting. Temperance asks you to avoid extremes and bring different needs, feelings or priorities together more thoughtfully. Patience, compromise and small changes are likely to achieve more than forcing a solution. Give situations time to settle, and aim for a balance that can be sustained rather than a temporary fix.

In Justice, balance comes through clear thinking, fairness and an honest assessment of the facts. Temperance approaches balance differently. It asks us to notice where things have moved too far in one direction and consider what needs adjusting to bring them back into proportion. Rather than allowing either the head or the heart to dominate, Temperance encourages us to find a way for both to have their proper place.

The Subject may be dealing with competing needs, feelings or priorities that have become difficult to balance. This can often appear within an important relationship, where differences need to be accommodated and both people may need to adjust what they give, expect or ask of one another. However, the same principle can apply much more widely. Work and rest, responsibility and enjoyment, giving and receiving, emotion and reason can all become unbalanced when too much attention is given to one at the expense of another.

Temperance advises against reacting by moving from one extreme to another. Instead, patience, compromise and small, thoughtful adjustments can gradually improve the situation. There may not be an immediate or perfect solution, and trying to force one could create further difficulties. Take time to understand what needs more attention, what needs less, and what can be brought together more successfully. The aim is not simply to restore balance for the moment, but to create one that can be maintained.
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Love & Relationships

Peace begins returning where emotional extremes have made a relationship difficult. There is healing in slower affection, softer reactions and a willingness to find a more balanced way of relating to one another. Love steadies itself through consistency rather than intensity alone.
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Material Life

Balance restores itself gradually through moderation, patience and a more sustainable rhythm. Look at how your time, money, energy and responsibilities are being managed and where too much may be going in one direction. Small, practical adjustments are likely to achieve more than dramatic changes. Greater stability comes from creating habits and arrangements that can be maintained over time.
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Notes from the Artist

Temperance is a winged, angel-like, figure hovering at the edge of running water. She is pouring a liquid, back and forth between two chalices very carefully so as not to spill any. Sometimes the liquid shines rainbow colours, sometimes it looks like water. These are symbols self-discipline, the need for nurturing/reflection and balance - all virtues of Temperance.

The image contains the element of Water specifically to draw us into the emotional world of the 'Cups' suit. This card should prompt the subject that they may need to check how they are balancing their logical and emotional approach to any current issues, perhaps there is too much of one and not the other.

From the archive

The Original Artwork, Reimagined

Before Temperance became part of the Simply Tarot collection you see today, it was drawn and painted by hand for the original 2011 Tarot House Deck. The style has evolved, but the meaning and character of the card remain at its heart.

Original hand-painted Temperance tarot card by Patricia House from the 2011 Tarot House Deck
2011 Original 2011 artwork Temperance Hand-painted by Patricia House
An angelic figure balances at the edge of a river. She represents Temperance by pouring water from one golden cup to another - carefully using her skills to not lose a drop.
Today Temperance reimagined The current Simply Tarot artwork

The original first edition

Buy the Original 2011 Deck

The card shown above is part of the original 78-card Tarot House Deck. Every image was drawn and painted by Patricia House before the deck was professionally printed by Cartamundi in the UK. A limited number from the original print run are still available.

  • 78-card first-edition deck
  • Two tarot-spread cards
  • Short meanings leaflet
  • Brocade drawstring bag

£25.99

Shop Now Read how the deck was created

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