Temperance

What the card means

Upright

Balance by blending rather than by giving up: two different things combined in a proportion make a third. The card is about the slow and the exact - what is done drop by drop and does not have to be redone. It often speaks of recovery and of reconciliation.

Reversed

Extremes instead of measure: all of it or none. Or trying to combine what will not combine and being surprised it does not hold. Sometimes haste where what was needed was a drip rather than a bucket.

Love and relationships

Upright

A relationship in which two people are wearing in, and wearing in well. A compromise that shortchanges nobody. Good for making up after a quarrel.

Reversed

Extremes: closeness to the point of losing yourself, then cold. Or partners who simply do not blend, however often it is tried.

Work and business

Upright

Work that asks for precision and patience. Collaboration where different skills add up. Not the time to hurry the process.

Reversed

Working in bursts and burning out. Or a team assembled from incompatible people in the hope that it knits.

Money

Upright

A gradual levelling out: debts come down, income settles. Good for the methodical, poor for the large step.

Reversed

Splurging, then economising on everything. Both cost more than an even outlay.

The card's advice

Blend rather than choose. Take from both sides and find the proportion - there is one. And give it time: what is made drop by drop holds.

As the card of the day

An even day. Good for what needs care, and for recovering. Poor for sudden moves and for all-or-nothing.

What is depicted

An angel stands with one foot in the water and one on land, pouring from cup to cup - and the stream runs upward, which cannot happen. A path goes back towards mountains and a rising sun. A solar sign on the brow, a square and triangle at the breast.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Sagittarius - what aims far and travels long.

With other cards

• Temperance + The Devil — measure against excess; here measure wins.
• Temperance + The Star — quiet recovery; the best pairing there is for coming back to yourself.
• Temperance + Eight of Wands — fast and exact at once - rare, but it happens.