Here we witness Arcana 14, Temperance—an angel exchanging fluids—perhaps a metaphor for erotic exchange? Alejandro Jodorowsky interprets Temperance as the card of healing; Aleister Crowley renamed it ‘Art’—Valentine Tomberg dubbed it the arcana of ‘inspiration’. For our purposes, let us refer to it as representing 'flow states.’
Flow states arise from the right amount of force and letting go—a balance of pushing boundaries and allowing things to be. When musicians enter a flow state, they disappear into the muse and lose self-identity. When we master an art, we become animated by a supernatural spirit of grace—everything in flow moves precisely as it should towards its source and destination.
Interestingly, the jugs of water are held at arm's length. Why? Lovers need space—the sparks of polarity—a certain distance creates power. In love, we meet the alien distance and experience closeness simultaneously. A joining spirit animates us—the angel of Temperance.
Temperance expresses unity in difference. In mysticism, this is referred to as non-duality, which doesn’t mean that there is no difference between left and right, woman and man—or that everything is one featureless blob. The river is never the same, as Heraclitus pointed out, but all rivers are made of water. You can’t say there is ‘one’ river in the sense of it having any fixed form, nor can you say it has no essence. A river is a moving, dynamic form that is ‘not one’ and ‘not two’, as they say in Zen. There is no unity without duality, no multiplicity without a coherent factor. There is one ocean but many waves. The ocean is not one fixed thing, and the waves and the sea are not two separate things. The pyramid is also present in temperance, symbolising a dynamic unity. The base supports the pyramid's peak; two horizontal points support the one.
The guardian angel of Temperance is the mysterious unifying factor between the two opposites—a third balancing and vivifying force. Tomberg tells us that the liquid of Temperance seems to flow upwards—the impossible magic and inversion of transcendental insight. The angel’s activity is like adding water to clay, shaping mud into form. She raises being from water and earth. Of course, she also needs fire and air—symbolised by her wings. The angelic force is the force of sentience, intelligence, and animation—the spirit that brings the dead, inanimate clay to life.
Alchemy tells us that everything is poisonous without the correct dosage. Too much exercise and sunshine or too much alcohol or sugar have the same negative effect in this sense. A good cook or bartender is the master of temperance—he knows how to put the right amount of whatever substance is needed. We must put the right ingredients in the pudding, or our pudding will be messy. That is the simple principle of Temperance. Temperance gives us a sense of measurement.
Tomberg has an interesting discussion on liquids in the body. Fluid is the realm of emotional economy and intelligence—blood, sweat and tears. And for our action to be graceful and natural, it has to have a fluid quality rather than a mechanical or forced one. That is how the angel acts on us—by tempering our gross material and transforming it into a fluid, adaptable, and moving substance.
Why does Temperance have golden eyes, blue wings, and a red gown? Of course, all the Tarot cards have precise colour symbolism—blue being a spiritual colour, red being the colour of blood passion, and gold being the ground of being. Temperance is the alchemical act of turning chaos into order, lead into gold, and dust into life. Therefore Temperance has golden eyes and flowing golden hair. She is Rainer Maria Rilke’s ‘terrifying angel’ that ‘serenely disdains to annihilate us’. Or rather, our moral chains.
This article is part of a consideration of our study group on symbolism and Psychomagic. If you want to become a member and join one of our study groups, please write to me at andrewpgsweeny@gmail.com or check out the events calendar below for more details.
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