Major Arcana
Temperance
The art of mixing unlike forces until they become medicine rather than argument.
- balance
- healing
- integration
- patience
- alchemy
Upright meaning
Blend instead of forcing. Healing comes through patience, proportion, and careful exchange.
Reversed meaning
The mixture is off. Too much of one thing has drowned the balance.
Symbolism
- vessel — Containment and exchange.
- water — Cooling, feeling, flow.
- fire — Heat, will, transformation.
- threshold — One state becoming another.
Lore
Temperance, Justice and Strength are three of the four cardinal virtues, and all three appear among the trumps. This card stands for finding the right mix: adjusting by degrees until two things that clashed can work together.
In daily life, this can calm a divided group, reconcile people, or combine different strengths.