Temperance
and The Art: Alchemy of the Soul
Most people see Alchemy as crazy men in Renaissance Europe
heating dangerous chemicals in the attempt to turn lead into gold. You would
not be far wrong with that image but it does not cover all of it.
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| Thoth Tarot |
Alchemy was a spiritual practice. Hidden symbols and goals to
find the elusive Philosopher’s Stone, the Universal Medicine, the substance of
dreams and immortality, are scattered throughout the art of the old alchemists.
Spiritually alchemy was also about turning the soul into its purest self for
only a pure soul could create the Philosopher’s Stone. My husband has said it was a concern of
turning the “lead of the soul into gold”.
I primarily work with the Thoth tarot, and rather than naming
the card Temperance, Crowley named it The Art. In a way this card represents
the ultimate completion of the Lovers from Atu VI.
Here the Black King and White Queen have performed the sacred
marriage and become an androgynous figure of both sexes and yet neither. The
figure holds fire and water and is able to mix them to create the substance it
seeks. Here is Universal balance, perfection, to create what has been sought
after for ages.
If you study most a Rider-Waite based deck then you are
familiar with this card as Temperance.
Generally there is an angelic figure, one foot on land and
another in water. There does not seem much here that gives a message.
I’ll admit, I never thought much of the Temperance card until
I started to study high magic(k), and took another look at it from the
perspective of the Thoth tarot.
Now, I’m not going to involve myself in the ‘War of the Decks’;
nor am I going to get into how much Crowley hated the Rider-Waite deck…because
my gods did he hate it. My opinion is this; I believe that the Thoth tarot is a
more complete deck than the Rider-Waite system. The imagery conveys deeper
meanings and has better symbolism. This is why it is my preferred deck over any
other.
Disclaimer done, there is actually a lot to learn from
Temperance.
This card conveys balance. Balance of the mundane and the
spiritual, balance of the
elements. It can teach us a lesson of balance. One thing
to look at is that nothing is static. The water ripples from the toes of the
angelic figure, the balls convey a twining motion to maintain the balance.
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| Steampunk Tarot |
Perfection is not set in stone. Even the Philosopher’s Stone
isn’t really a stone; it was also called the Red Elixir. This infers that it
was a liquid as well as a solid.
Perfection in motion and changing state.
The Art and Temperance are both associated with Sagittarius,
the Archer. The Archer was usually shown to be Chiron, the wise centaur who taught
many of the heroes of classical mythology. Sagittarius is associated with the 9th
House, the astrological house of Higher Learning and Philosophy.
Whichever of the two systems you prefer there is much to
learn from the 14th card in the Major Arcana.
Practical Study
Find an image of the 14th card you prefer and
either pull it from your deck or print it from the internet.
With the Sun in Sagittarius now, use that power to go into
deep meditation and trance over the imagery found. Do some studying on Alchemy
as both a physical science and spiritual practice.
These cards can help you find the balance you crave in your
life. They also teach that perfection is never static but a changing and
evolving state that flows from one crest of the wave to the trough and back
again.
Deck Credits
Card One:: Thoth Tarot by Crowley and Harris
Card Two:: Steampunk Tarot by Moore and Fel
