by estellew | Aug 7, 2015 | Major Arcana, Tarot
The Temperance card is the Daughter of the Reconcilers and Bringer-Forth of Life . Ruled by Sagittarius, it represents balance, creative power and transformation. Sagittarius is representative of the larger part of life that we often are unaware of or even ignore. It is a vision quest that is designed to bring out our true and unique artistry and let it have its place in the world, so that it can touch and expand not only ourselves, but others as well. The art of Temperance is that of blending the opposites, balancing discordant properties to create a third thing, one of beauty. There is much creativity with this card - it is a time of searching within yourself for the essence that makes you unique and bringing that out into the world and in your experience. The wellspring of sustaining life is within you and ready to be acknowledged. There is alchemy at work here and it is truly magical. In order to be whole we need to integrate both our light and our dark aspects. It is when we can do this successfully that we avert evil and suffering because we acknowledge these aspects in our own nature and therefore do not need to experience it 'out there'. This is a Mystery and can be the beginning of a lifetime of learning and a journey of becoming more of who you truly are. It is up to you now to create harmony in your surroundings and you have the energy and the will to manifest this now. This is a positive card, and one of great power, where you are...
by estellew | Aug 7, 2015 | Major Arcana, Tarot
The Temperance card is also known as the Daughter of the Reconcilers and the Bringer-Forth of Life. It is ruled by Sagittarius and represents balance of the opposites. moderation, refinement and creativity. The figure represented in the sign of Sagittarius gives us one clue to its meaning - Sagittarius being the Centaur, it is the merging of human and animal, man and horse, which also represents logic and instinct. The merging of the opposites always results in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. She is also standing with one foot on land and one in sea - fixed earth and mutable ocean, again a reference to balancing opposites. The Angel depicted in the card can be seen blending the contents of two vessels, and these are fire and water which are normally incompatible, This card also brings to mind the ancient Chinese symbol of the Yin and Yang, masculine and feminine and the importance of both concepts to an integrated wholeness. As the Bringer-Forth of Life, the Temperance card needs to merge the masculine and feminine to bring in something new, a new life and a new hope. And so when the Temperance card turns up for you in a reading it is to bring in something new, somthing that has not existed before. The opposites that it brings together are seemingly incompatible, and yet when they are brought together in the vessels of the Angel then a new form and way of being arises. Something that was not in your awareness, or in the field of possibility for you before is now coming and it takes life...
by estellew | Aug 7, 2015 | Major Arcana, Tarot
The Temperance card is also known as Daughter of the Reconcilers and the BringerForth of life and is ruled by Sagittarius. It represents the binding together of fire and water and the unification of opposites. But what does this mean in real terms? She represents unity and harmony of opposing factors, so that what otherwise seem at war are married together in a complementary way instead - conscious and unconscious, active and receptive, male and female, attraction rather than repulsion, a merging of heart and mind in a way that brings peace and balance and joy rather than irritation and conflict. This is a popular alchemical motif, the fiery red masculine essence blended with the cool white feminine essence that results in the alchemist's goal - pure gold. Of course this is a metaphor as Sagittarius (the Centaur) is a metaphor, blending human and animal forms to create something neither human or animal, but a new form. So what does all this point to? It is a sign not to be too one-sided, but to see from both sides and understand that there are always two sides to any conflict, and to take sides is not what is required now. This card is not a practical card, not a card of action nor a card of battling with the feelings. It is a spiritual card and calls you to walk the road that will bring the most harmony to all involved. It is time for a new way of looking at your life, at any issues you have been battling. Resistance just sets up more of the same, so...
by estellew | Aug 10, 2015 | Major Arcana, Tarot
Known also as the Lord of the Gates of Matter and Child of the Forces of Time, the card of the Devil is aligned with Capricorn. Capricorn is goal oriented and once a goal is in sight, then this sign has the tenacity and stamina to pursue it. The sign of Capricorn, the Goat, has links with Pan, the Greek God of merriment, sensuality, fields and groves, spring and fertility. When he appears in a reading, he indicates that we are caught in the grip of something, often an addiction, sometimes a habit that is hard to break. The card of the Devil often shows the Horned One holding a man and a woman in chains and this points to the nature of this card when we are hooked by habits and beliefs that are not so good for us. It's like we get stuck in a rut and don't know how to get out of it any more, and yet we can break the chains ourselves and indeed, we are the only ones who can. In fact, once we realise that the chains are of our own making, we can dissolve them. This card not only represents habits that are hard to break, but it also represents that quality or feeling we all possess (or that possesses us!) from time to time and that is guilt. Guilt is one of the most insidious emotions and also one of the most useless and destructive. It is tied to the past but follows us into the present and also taints our future. It is something that we do to ourselves and it...
by estellew | Aug 10, 2015 | Major Arcana, Tarot
The Tower is the Lord of the Hosts of the Mighty and is ruled by Mars. It represents sudden change, destruction of old forms and destructive ambition. The Tower is one of those cards we don't usually seek in the Tarot - the imagery does not seem pleasant nor promise an easy time of things. There is fire & flame, destruction & ruin, and let's be honest - who wants that? And yet The Tower is a card that describes a necessary process of decay and atrophy that must occur before the fresh new world can be born. When The Tower appears in a reading you can be certain that there will be destruction of old forms, structures, beliefs and plans. Sometimes this will be welcome - more often the changes brought on by The Tower bring feelings of fear, uncertainty, resistance and even grief for what must leave to make way for the new. There is a reluctance to let go of what must be released, those things that no longer serve, but which hold us back from the growth that we need to move on to a higher stage of consciousness. And if we are completely honest with ourselves, then we can see what needs to go - we have seen the writing on the wall. And if they have been destroyed, the old things that no longer serve us, then you need to find some meaning in their passing so that the loss doesn't destroy you too. We tend to love to cling to our certainty, the known is often preferable to the unknown and untried, no...
