March seems to be a strange month for me. My younger brother Randy has his birthday in March; And my older brother Mike, died in March five years ago…
This year too, a friend from back when I worked at the phone company also passed away about a week ago; A beautiful lady, fun, bubbly, always smiling! Her name was Kat, and, she was only 58!
I was lucky enough to have gotten a visit from her and her husband last year, when they were passing through my area while traveling. After so many years of not seeing each other, it was such a treat to sit down and chat with her for a while, share some memories, some gossip, and a couple of beers.
So, I started thinking, as I do A LOT!
I remember one day, back many years ago when my older brother and I were talking. There was something he told me that I’ve never forgotten. He told me that everyone at a certain point in their life, always goes through the same exact thing. He said EVERYONE DOES, it is a natural human behavior, and one day I would go through it too, guaranteed. But, he never would tell me what it was! I think he enjoyed holding some sort of philosophical hidden knowledge over my head; That's just how Mike was! I felt it had something to do with realizing our own mortality perhaps, or some other type of epiphany or personal awakening… I always think of that when I think of my brother Mike.
Anyway, with the month holding memories of my brother, and after going through all of the various changes that I’ve actually gone through the last couple of years, especially this last year in particular, I felt it was time to talk about it a little and to share some TAROT insight.
Part of my need to share, is that this will be my last month here in Oregon, and while I enjoyed seeing the beautiful and scenic splendor of the state, I had nobody to share things with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a total loner most of the time and I am perfectly comfortable being by myself; But, with all of the other realizations that were born in me during these last couple of years, I’ve been able to see many things more clearly. Certain things revealed themselves to me, and that "secret message" my brother Mike had mentioned to me, I believe was one of them.
Now, more than ever, I am realizing my own mortality. None of us live forever. One thing I realized was that being alone creates in imbalance in my life. I’m not talking about having that romantic riding off on a white horse into the sunset type of thing, I’m just talking about being around the people that matter to me. There is nobody I’m close to here, and nobody that I really matter to here. I shutter to think if something had happened to me, there would only be strangers around to help me. I realized I needed to be with people I love, and that love me. Keeping that balance in our lives, in my life, was something I never felt was important before; But now, I truly believe it is one of the most important things we as human beings could have. Companionship, and family…
It’s like what Christopher McCandless wrote (remember the movie/book “Into the Wild?"), He wrote in his journal:
“Happiness is only real when shared.”
So, Today, I decided to talk about TEMPERANCE.
(courtesy Radiant Rider Waite)
Temperance is number 14 (XIV) in the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck.
If you look up the standard definition of the word temperance in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary it says:
Moderation in action, thought, or feeling; Or, having restraint…
Similarly, the key words for the definition of the Temperance card in Tarot, are: Balance, moderation, patience, purpose, and meaning.
Now, as we look at the card, as with all Tarot cards, there is so much symbolism to take note of. In general, we see an Angel figure, which I am told is representative of both masculine and feminine aspects, as was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, named Hermaphroditus…
Okay, so wrap your head around that with your open minds… just keep in mind we all have both feminine and masculine aspects, it just depends on which one is dominant within us...
This angel has one foot in the water, and one foot on the dry land, which indicates a balance between the material world, and the subconscious mind.
On her robe you can see a triangle within a square; the triangle represents “manifestation” or power of three: Thoughts, Emotions and Actions… The square that protects it represents the ALL of nature, EARTH, AIR, FIRE, WATER…
(courtesy Lightning Warriors)
(courtesy Unurthed)
There are two cups held by this angel, with water being poured from one to the other; Some say the water is flowing upward… Either way, this represents the act of tempering, mixing hot with cold, in order to balance the two… these various symbols are brought about through the laws of alchemy; which is the practice of transforming, combining or creating… Manifesting...
(courtesy World Mysteries-Blog)
Once we understand the imagery and the symbolism in the card, it is much easier then to understand and interpret it when it appears in a reading.
...You are able to avoid extremes, bringing balance and moderation into your life… You are able to be calm, and take time to perform your tasks or activities without rushing, because you are able to move gently and thoughtfully… You are adaptable, having the ability to cooperate, and coordinate with others… You have sought and learned how to bring balance into your life, by learning how to bring your old thoughts and beliefs forward, and tempering them into your new beliefs, blending what you’ve learned with what you had known before… You are able to use seclusion as a way to expand your subconscious to learn about yourself, and also have the ability then, to reintegrate into the world, once you have learned your higher purpose...
In a reading, the Temperance card can be advising us that we need to slow down and reevaluate which direction we are intending to go in. Perhaps we need to go off into seclusion to close ourselves off from the world so we can reconnect with ourselves without all of the distractions. It also reminds us how important bringing and maintaining BALANCE into our lives really is…
Remember the KEY WORDS: Balance, moderation, patience, purpose, and meaning...
If you don’t seek balance in your life, you will never be complete…
Now, there are a lot of different principles behind these concepts, however I will not be going into them today.
Just remember TEMPERANCE when you are dealing with the chaos of the world around you, maybe it can help…
Until next-time peeps, thanks for reading!!
PEACE!!
Lovely reading - it's a good message for me today. Symbols are such a powerful language. I love the 'mixing' image. I practice energy meditation and there is a 'mixing heaven and earth energy' that just looks like this card. I will practice that today.
best wishes on your journey,
Margot
I am so glad you enjoyed it and found some meaning in it. Thank you for reading @artofchi!