Temperance

What Temperance means

Three of the four classical virtues survive in the majors, and this is the one whose name has aged worst. Temperance was never abstinence; it meant proportion, in the sense of tempering a metal or cutting wine to make it drinkable. Time is its ingredient. The alchemists who owned this vocabulary measured their work in months, and nothing they did could be hurried without spoiling. What it offers is accuracy — the right ratio is a finding, arrived at by trial, not a compromise struck between two positions, and the distance between those two things is most of the card.

Upright

The next answer is a blend rather than a swing between extremes. Adjust the mixture patiently until it supports the life you want to keep living.

Reversed

The ingredients are out of proportion. Restore one daily rhythm, one relationship, or one promise before attempting a total reset.

A question to sit with

Where would a small adjustment create relief?

Traditional attribution

Sagittarius. Attributions follow the Golden Dawn with Waite's numbering.