Short meaning: You need to give and invest more of yourself, your feelings and emotions into the situation at hand. To improve circumstances, be ready and willing to affirm your commitment and love. Move on from the past where necessary and avoid actions that could be perceived as cold or manipulative.
In-depth meaning: In Justice the message is about retaining enough intellectual clarity to make clear and fair decisions. In contrast, Temperance focuses on the emotions and working hard to maintain balance in relationships. It is very easy to get out of touch with our own feelings, let alone staying in tune with the people around us.
The Subject is likely to be struggling with an important partnership. Relationships of any kind are difficult and it is not possible to be head over heels in love, to remain completely enthralled, with another person over long periods of time. However, withdrawing a loving attitude from a relationship will undoubtedly create more issues.
Dealing with this situation on an intellectual level is not what will help at this time. Subject should not be allowing the head to rule the heart. Sentiment, affection and kindness will count for a lot more and can manifest as reassurance for the other party, easing the problem at hand.
Notes on the image: Temperance is a winged, angel like, figure hovering over running water. She is pouring a rainbow-like liquid, back and forth between two chalices very carefully so as not to spill any. These are all symbols self-discipline, care and balance designed to illustrate the virtue of temperance.
The image, with the rainbow and the river, depicts the element of Water and draws 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 input into any current issues.
Asti says
Hello Patricia, I love your site! I am a student of the tarot and this site has been really helpful! But I’m still struggling with the right meanings of the cards sometimes. Today I asked the tarot if I should commit myself to a project, and the answer was Temperance. Is this a yes or a no? Or a maybe? I appreciate if you could help me to clarify. Thank you!
Patricia says
Awww thank you so much Asti!! I am so glad the site is helping. To be honest, I can’t really give outright answers with other people’s readings because I am not connected with the reading, the question etc etc. However, when I have been faced with cards that don’t seem particularly clear, I tend to go with the ‘feeling’ that the card is giving me. If you felt good when you saw Temperance then you could take it as a yes, if you felt unsure, it would be best to either pull a couple more cards and ask the question ‘is Temperance saying yes?’ or perhaps rephrase your question and try another reading. Do try and develop your gut feelings with your cards – you will find that they speak more and more clearly to you. I hope this helps. Best wishes, Patricia
Xenie says
Some one gave me a free tarot card reading the other day, it was quite inenrestitg and seemed to account for things that are happening in my life and things that i am trying to make happen in the future. Im quite a skeptical about such things but it did make me raise an eyebrow haha.Should I believe in this stuff?
Patricia says
I am sorry for the delay in replying. Yes that should be fine providing it is what we would consider appropriate 🙂