Temperance

Tarot: Sunday, September 20

A card drawn from one of three decks

This is an archived reading, kept as it was published.

Temperance

Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot
Temperance

The angel stands with one foot on land and one in the water, pouring between two cups in a stream that should not be possible at that angle. Temperance is the card of mixing: not compromise, which gives something up, but combination, which makes a third thing. Today, two things in your life that seem to need choosing between can be poured together. Find the proportion. It will not be half and half, and it will take a steadier hand than either extreme would. The angel is not in a hurry and neither is the day.

Read the full card

For your star sign

The same reading, taken through each sign of the zodiac.

Aries

Moderation is not your gift and today it is the whole card. Take the thing you are about to do at full strength and do it at seventy per cent. The result will last longer than the full version.

Taurus

You mix slowly and well, which the card rewards. The only push is to actually pour rather than keeping the two cups separate because separate feels safer. Combine them today.

Gemini

You have two cups and keep switching between them. Temperance pours between them without stopping. Find the one stream today that carries both and stop alternating.

Cancer

One foot on land and one in the water is exactly how you live, and today the card says it is a skill rather than a hesitation. Stand there deliberately. The proportion is right.

Leo

The angel has wings and does not use them. Today's power is in the pour, not the flight. Stay on the ground, mix the two things carefully, and let the result speak instead of you.

Virgo

You will want the proportion exact and the card gives no measurements. Pour by feel today. The stream between the cups is not a formula and you cannot get it from the label.

Libra

Your card, though yours is the scales and this is the stream. Balance today is motion, not stillness. Keep pouring and the two sides stay level; stop and they separate.

Scorpio

You do not mix. You choose, fully, and discard the other. Today mix. The third thing that comes from two you would have kept apart is stronger than either.

Sagittarius

Patience with a slow pour is a stretch for you. Give it the day. What is being combined cannot be hurried and the angel is not going to speed up because you are ready.

Capricorn

You have been treating the two demands as a schedule conflict. Temperance treats them as ingredients. Put them in the same cup today and see whether the conflict was real.

Aquarius

The stream between the cups defies physics and you will want to know how. Do not. Today the mixing works because it is done, not because it is understood.

Pisces

You are in the water up to the knee and the card asks you to keep the other foot on land. Do both today. Mixing needs a stable side, and it is your job to be it.

For your Chinese animal

The same reading, taken through each animal of the Chinese zodiac.

Rat

You would rather keep the two cups separate in case one turns out to be worth more. Pour anyway. What Temperance makes is not a compromise between them but something neither could be alone.

Ox

You mix slowly and thoroughly and this is your day. Take your time with the proportion. The only warning is not to stop halfway because the mixture looks unfinished. It is meant to.

Tiger

You take things at full strength and today asks for a blend. Dilute one thing on purpose, deliberately, and notice that it goes further and does more.

Rabbit

Temperance is your temperament made into a card. Today it wants you to do the mixing out loud, in front of people, rather than quietly arranging things behind them.

Dragon

You want the strong version of everything and the card offers the balanced one. Try it for a day. What is poured steadily reaches further than what is thrown.

Snake

Combining two things you had planned to keep separate is not a loss of control. It is a new instrument. Pour today and keep the recipe; you will want it again.

Horse

Standing still with one foot in the water is hard for you. Stand there for one hour. The mixing happens at the stream and nowhere else.

Goat

You are already good at combining what other people want. Today combine what you want with what is possible, which is a different pour and one you rarely make for yourself.

Monkey

You will experiment with the proportions to see what happens. Fine, but pick one mixture by evening and keep it. Temperance is a result, not an ongoing test.

Rooster

You will want the two cups measured to the millilitre. The angel pours by eye. Try it by eye today and check afterwards; you will be closer than you expected.

Dog

You keep the peace by giving one side everything. Temperance keeps it by giving both sides a share of the same stream. Pour evenly today, including toward yourself.

Pig

You mix generously and sometimes too much. Today the proportion matters more than the quantity. A smaller cup, blended properly, is what the card is holding out.

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