TEMPERANCE

This Key represents the archangel Michael, who is related to fire and the sun. He pours the essence of life from the silver cup of the subconscious into the golden cup of the conscious, from the unseen into the seen and then back again.

This depicts the entry of Spirit into matter and the influence of matter upon Spirit, as well as the flowing of the past through the present and into the future.

The square on the breast of the angel indicates the four-square reality of physical manifestation, and within it the triangle of Spirit points upward. (This symbol is also the sign of the sacred book of the Tarot.) Four plus 3 equals 7, indicating the aspects of Divine Life and the seven chakras or centers of the body used in yoga meditation.

Note that one foot rests on earth and the other in the water, to symbolize that the archangel is equally at home in the conscious or the subconscious. The water in the pool indicates the subconscious mind of man and the universe. On the bank of the pool are irises, a reminder that Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow.

At the end of the path there is the crown of mastery and attainment.

This is the card of vibration, or radiant energy, of the tempering and modification of experience.

Just as Key 4, the Emperor, is the foundation of the physical, so Key 14 is the foundation of the mind — adding to 4 the power of 10.
Here Man has, in large measure, mastered his own thoughts and achieved mental balance. There is nothing in the cosmos but vibration, and all forms of vibration can be modified and managed by the adept. But we do nothing of ourselves alone.

Our guardian angel makes the tests and trials that lead us along the path of attainment.

As we learn to transfer the Life-force from the imagination (moon) into the activity of the conscious (sun), the will is developed and the imagination purified so that in pouring from the silver cup to the golden one we lose nothing.
This is another of the stages of occult progress that the Fool must take on the path to mastery.

Divinatory Meaning:
Adaptation, tempering, coordination, self-control, modification. Working in harmony with others, good management. What we have imagined will come to pass. Successful combinations will be achieved.

Reversed:
Competing interests, unfortunate combinations. Quarreling, corruption, separation.
Possibility of shipwreck or some other disaster.

Dascent Deck