Major Arcana · Mirror of the Arcana
XIV · ArcanumTemperance
Temperance in tarot is a card of balance, moderation and patience.
Key meanings
- balance
- moderation
- patience
- harmony
- healing
Temperance upright
Balance, moderation, and patience. A calm blending gives rise to harmony.
The shadow side
Smooth balance on the surface, hiding what is boiling underneath.
Temperance reversed
Extremes, rushing, inner discord, a loss of measure.
Temperance as the card of the day
Today your gift is in moderation and gentle blending, so don't lunge into extremes. Drop by drop, calm and patient, is how anything lasting is made. Inner calm is your strength right now.
The question this card asks
Where are you missing measure right now, and what would bring your balance back?
Temperance: yes or no?
leaning yes
Temperance blends the cups and spills nothing. Yes, slowly and in measure.
The scale runs from yes to no through three middle steps, and arcanum XIV lands on leaning yes.
That is one card leaning, and what it leans on is balance. Pull your own card →
Every card is a mirror, not a verdict. Walk the other arcana and listen to what they say together.
✦ See all 22 Major ArcanaFAQ
Does Temperance (XIV) count as a good card or a bad one?
No card in tarot is simply bad. Themes of balance and moderation run through it, and your question plus the upright or reversed position decide the weight. Frightening you is not my work.
Which group holds Temperance, the majors or the minors?
Major, arcanum XIV of twenty-two. The twenty-two majors hold the turning points and the fifty-six minors the daily ones, and XIV belongs to the first group.
Which cards stand next to Temperance in the deck?
Its neighbours are Death before and The Devil after. Arcanum XIV borrows part of its tone from both of them.
How do you read Temperance (XIV) upside down?
Upright, the reading starts from balance and moderation and opens out from there. Upside down, arcanum XIV describes the shadow of the same movement: too much of it, too little, or too late.