Temperance
Key terms: harmony, serenity, health, union, rush, imbalance
The Temperance is a guardian angel. She is holding two containers and mixes thoroughly both contents. It is a reminder of the historical method of mixing water with wine. But it is good to perceive this act in a broader sense. The containers symbolize that the world and our actions are tightly connected. Just like water mixed into wine cannot be recovered, our actions as well are irreversible in the current of events.
The Temperance is trying to achieve a harmonious life. This card will therefore be a good guide for thinking about the balance of your actions.
Many people do not recognize the imbalance in their lives and try to replace it with increased effort. If someone likes sports, but does not have enough time to practice right now, he can easily register into a big cross-country run. Although he will probably finish between the last ones, he might get at least the impression that he is catching up with his lost time by attending something great. And this only because many others, who run regularly without ambitions and only for pleasure, have not signed up for the competition.
Someone else leads an exhausting life and thinks that the a week's rest during Christmas will make it up for all the sleepless nights and weekends at work during the whole year. At the end he discovers that he lost the habit of relaxing and to catch up he attends pubs and parties with friends. Dark circles under your eyes could eventually be improved by facelift, but the total exhaustion and damaged health are difficult to replace.
Other people travel the world and have no time for their family. When they finally return and want to shower their beloved with favors, gifts and stories, they might find out that the time is gone. Neither good photographs nor video recordings can replace the moments you have missed.
The Temperance is an ability of uniting the opposites. It is difficult to spend 16 hours a day at work and to have a happy wife and children at the same time. It can also be difficult to maintain several love relationships simultaneously. Or to take care of a house, a garden and a cottage together. The balance of your acts is simply important. Everything you do has an impact not only on you, but also on your neighborhood. Therefore, to estimate properly your own capabilities and in particular to set the priorities, this is for everyone without exception a question essential to life.
This card is therefore a warning for all who do not live in balance. Whether you put an immense emphasis on work, eating, drinking, money spending or anything else, think how much it can be damaging you and everybody else. The Temperance is a guardian angel, who may help you heal the body and correct the rhythm of life. To achieve harmony is perhaps harder than to achieve most of your defined goals. In order to be proud of yourself, you do not necessarily have to set difficult goals, such as climbing Mount Everest or traveling around the world. The effort of a harmonious life is a very respectable and challenging goal itself.