Temperance Tarot Card Meaning

Temperance upright. The card of the day you get the measure right in something without going overboard.

Temperance reversed. The card of the day you overdo a task and push yourself too hard.

Temperance is card XIV of the Major Arcana and comes straight after Death. Once one period of your life closes, this card shows you building the new routine with patience. When it turns up in a reading, it tells you to find the right measure in the matter you asked about.

What do you see on the Temperance card?

A woman with purple wings stands at the edge of a stream. She pours water from a gold jug in her right hand into a gold cup in her left. The water falls between the two in a thin, steady line, and not a single drop reaches the ground.

She is barefoot. One foot rests in the stream and the other stands on the stones of the bank. A small star sits in her hair and a gold necklace hangs at her throat. Above her head a gold star shines in the sky, and purple irises bloom on either side of her.

Behind her a path winds off toward the mountains, and the sun rises where the path ends.

The water moving between two vessels stands for mixing two things with patience. She does not empty the jug in one go. She pours slowly and keeps her eyes on the water the whole time.

One foot in the water and one on dry land shows you holding two separate areas of life together. Work and home are one such pair. What you want and what you are responsible for are another. Your own wishes and the wishes of the person in front of you are a third.

The distant path and the rising sun say this balance does not come together in a single day. The road is long, but it is clear. So look at your own week: which two things are you trying to mix in one cup, and are you getting the measure right?

What does Temperance mean upright?

Upright, Temperance shows the day you get the measure right without going overboard. In a busy week you finish your work and still keep an hour free for an evening walk. You do not give up one for the other.

The card also points to a compromise. Say you are planning a trip with a friend, and one of you wants the beach while the other wants the mountains. You end up with a route that covers both, and nobody feels they lost out.

Temperance also describes getting back on your feet after a draining stretch. A long, busy period ends and you put order back into your days. Bedtime, mealtimes and rest each go back in their place. This happens day by day, not all at once.

The card shows measure in how you speak, too. In a meeting you say everything you came to say, without raising your voice or cutting anyone off. The people listening take in your point with ease.

When Temperance appears in a reading, you do not rush the matter you asked about. The best result comes from small, regular steps. You add a little each day and never overdo it on any single day.

What does Temperance reversed mean?

Reversed, Temperance shows the day you lose the measure and pile too much on yourself. You promise three different tasks in one week. By Friday none of them is finished, and you sit up working until midnight.

The second reversed meaning is impatience. You start something new and want results in the first week. When the results do not come, you drop it and move on to something else. All that switching back and forth wears you out.

The third meaning is disharmony. Two people or two plans simply do not fit. If you share a home, one of you lives by night and the other by morning, and small tensions keep coming up.

Reversed Temperance also points to skipping rest. You finish one task and jump straight into the next, without a single free day in between. After a while even the work you love most starts to tire you.

The reversed card tells you to set one cup down for a while. This week you postpone one of the tasks you took on, or you hand it to someone else. Then you give the remaining task your full attention.

What does Temperance mean in love?

If you are in a relationship, Temperance describes the days when two people patiently fit their lives together. Your partner wants to spend the weekend at home and you want to go out. You take turns, one weekend for their plan and the next for yours. These small compromises carry the relationship.

Temperance is a good card after an argument too. Both of you lower your voices and sit back down at the table. Instead of asking who was right, you talk about how to go on from here.

If you are single, the card describes a meeting that does not rush. You become friends with someone first and talk for weeks, and the closeness grows little by little. This slow pace gives the connection solid ground to stand on.

Reversed in love, Temperance shows a relationship where one side gives too much. Either you arrange everything yourself or you say yes to every request. This week you say a kind no to one request.

What does Temperance mean for work and career?

At work, Temperance shows you running different people or different tasks side by side. Where you work, you become the link between two teams. You draw up a plan that combines one team's speed with the other team's care for detail.

The card also covers the line between work and private life. You shut the laptop at seven in the evening and mute notifications until morning. The next day you start work fresher.

If you are learning a new skill, Temperance tells you to practice a little every day. Instead of sitting for eight hours on the weekend, you set aside half an hour each evening. A month later you see the difference.

Reversed, Temperance shows overload at work. You say yes to everything and your desk overflows. When that happens, you ask your manager or the person you work with which task needs to be finished first.

What does Temperance mean for money?

With money, Temperance shows you setting up a measured routine between what comes in and what goes out. At the start of the month you put part of your pay or income aside. You live on the rest and leave the set-aside money untouched.

When you want to buy something, Temperance stands between going without and spending without limits. You buy the thing you want, and you cut back on another purchase that month.

If you share a budget with someone, you bring both people's wishes into the same spreadsheet. One of you wants a holiday and the other wants something new for the home, so you set aside a small share for each.

Reversed, Temperance shows one of two extremes. One month you spend nothing, and the next month you suddenly spend a lot. The card tells you to even out these swings, so each week you write what you spent in a notebook.

Temperance does not promise you a gain and does not tell you where to put your money. Like the woman watching each pour between her two cups, the card only shows how measured you are with money.

Is Temperance a yes or no card?

Upright, Temperance says yes. It is a yes for steps you take without rushing. When you ask about setting up a routine, reaching a compromise or starting something slowly, the card backs the step.

Reversed, Temperance says not yet. First you lighten the extra load you are carrying. Once the load is lighter, you ask the question again.

When the outcome rests on another person's choice, Temperance keeps to your side of the cup and leaves their decision unread. If you are asking whether a deal goes through, Temperance shows you preparing an offer that works for both sides.

Temperance in a three-card spread

In a three-card spread, Temperance shows a different kind of measure in each position. The app lays the positions out as Now, What challenges you and Your next step.

Now. You are running two things side by side, and for the moment you have the measure right. You carry on without breaking this routine.

What challenges you. Impatience is the hard part. You want to see a result straight away, and that wish makes you lose the measure.

Your next step. You break one task into small pieces. Today you do only the first piece and leave the rest for tomorrow.

What does Temperance say as an advice card?

When Temperance is your card of the day, you put a limit on your day. In the morning you write down three tasks and do not add a fourth. After dinner you spend an hour away from screens. That one hour settles the rest of the day into place.

Temperance and Sagittarius: the card's astrology

The Golden Dawn links Temperance to Sagittarius. Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter. In a birth chart, Sagittarius shows distant goals, learning and the search for meaning. This sign picks a goal and sets off toward it.

The long path on the Temperance card is the road to that goal. The card adds one thing to Sagittarius: you reach the goal in measured steps.

Sagittarius is a fire sign, and on the card water is being poured. Fire and water meet in the same picture, and the woman blends the two. In the app you see which house Sagittarius falls in on your chart; that house shows the area of life where you look hardest for the right measure.

The number of the Temperance card: XIV

Temperance is card XIV. Death comes before it and the Devil comes after it. In Death you close an old period of your life; that card does not mean physical death. In Temperance you build the new routine with measure. In the Devil you face a habit that has a hold on you.

This order says something in a reading. After you let something go, you do not jump straight into another excess. First you fill the empty space with a calm routine. Temperance is that calm pause in between.

Temperance vs The Star: what is the difference?

On both cards a woman pours water, so people mix them up. The difference is where the water goes. On Temperance the water passes between two vessels. The woman blends two things and looks for the right measure.

On the Star the water pours onto the ground and into a pool. The woman lets the water go freely, because a hard stretch is over.

Think of a single week. If you are trying to fit work and rest into the same calendar during a busy week, you are in Temperance. If you wake up at the end of a hard week and notice you feel lighter, you are in the Star.

When the two cards land side by side, you first put order into your days. Once that order settles, hope returns.