Temperance as Advice: Find the Middle Way

Written by Chaya the Medium.

Temperance as advice asks for balance over extremes. Here is how to apply it, and what the reversal says about excess.

If you want the short answer, Temperance as advice says: find the middle way. Blend the two options, slow down, and choose the sustainable path over the dramatic one.

What Temperance advises upright

Tina Gong's Temperance guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with balance, moderation, patience and purpose. In an advice position I read those meanings as an instruction: the attitude or action the card is asking of you, rather than a description of what will happen. The Major Arcana overview at Biddy Tarot is a useful second reference.

Upright, Temperance advises moderation and patience: compromise, pace yourself, mix the practical with the hopeful.

What Temperance is not asking you to do

Temperance is not asking you to have no opinion. Balance is a choice, not a refusal to choose.

Temperance reversed as advice

Reversed, Temperance as advice says something is out of proportion. Too much of one thing, too little of another. Restore the balance. A reversed card in an advice position is usually pointing at the habit that is getting in your way, not at a punishment.

Temperance as advice in love

In love, Temperance advises compromise and patience.

Temperance as advice for work and money

For work and money, it advises steady, moderate effort and avoiding all-or-nothing bets. Advice from a card is reflection. For decisions with legal, medical or financial weight, take it to someone qualified as well.

One step to take this week

Identify the extreme you have been swinging toward and take one deliberate step back toward the middle.

For comparison, Strength as advice and the Star as advice ask different things of you. The Temperance card meaning page covers the card in full, and Temperance as a yes or no, Temperance as feelings and Temperance as timing cover the other questions people most often ask of it. You can draw a card for yourself with the free daily tarot tool. For a personal interpretation, my guide to an online psychic reading explains how readings work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.