14 Temperance

Number 14 3^rd Chakra, power -connected to 4^th Chakra, heart

Now that we've contemplated death, or have gone through an ego-death experience, it's time to consider how the quality of temperance in our lives may help to soften or even avoid the harshness of a blow that only comes about as a means to awaken us. To temper means to strengthen by means of alloying our spirits with added elements. If we have an addiction for example, we must find philosophical concepts and take actions which will give us the capacity to dissolve our need to sustain a self-destructive pattern. We replace one need – the desire for sensory gratification – with another – the desire or need to heal and become a more whole and healthy person. The angel mixing the waters from one chalice to another represents this alchemical process – she is creating balance – one foot on land, the other in water, and her wings are opened, allowing the wind to carry her aloft. This card is an icon to health, to balance, to wholeness. All the elements are present and equally represented – earth, water, fire and air. A halo of radiance surrounds her head, showing mental vitality which emanates from her entire being, not just her mind. Flowers are in bloom at her feet, and the pathway open to her leads upward, toward the sun. Without temperance we become at the mercy of our base needs; they become dominant and slowly destroy us. We must be careful about the concepts we adopt; they inform and justify our actions, and have far-reaching effects. When we're young for example, it may be 'cool' to start smoking. 'Cool' is a concept which exerts a powerful force upon us, especially as we're growing up. To break the habit, it will require another, overriding idea to take hold of us and give us the strength – temperance – to succeed. And so it goes, at all life's levels we need inner stamina and resolve to become fully mature, fully alive, complete human beings.

By Ananda G. Brady copyright 2011