Temperance ~ Alchemical Marriage

Antiquarian Tarot's Temperance Card

Symbolism
Astrological Sign: Sagittarius, the archer & the centaur
Hebrew Letter: Samekh (meaning tent peg, support or foundation)
Color: Blue
Keyword: Verification
Golden Dawn Title: The Daughter of the Reconcilers, the Bringer Forth of Life
Meaning: Tempering, integrating, testing, blending, balancing, synthesizing, and/or adjusting two or more aspects of your life: spiritual & material, intellectual & intuitive, home & work, or your life with someone else’s. It is about alchemy or art, living ones life like art. Moderation. Healing. 

divineMusings…
The image of La Sphynge by Felicien Rops (Belgian 1833-1898) is used in this Temperance collage. This divine being has the torso of a female human, the wings of an eagle and the lower extremities of a lion. The union of Lion and Eagle represent the perfect alchemical blending of the forces of fire and water (respectively).  She is a Sagittarius, a centaur in her own manifestation.  She shows us qualities of our animal and human natures coming together as one.  What happens if we merge different aspects of ourselves?  Hopefully nothing quite so frightening as La Sphynge, but there is a beauty in reconciling opposing elements.  By refining and uniting different facets of our lives we can create a new, more whole way of Being.  It’s an art form, an act of alchemy, mixing a precise ratio of ingredients to create the perfect individual result.  It may be a healing process, or there may even be a complete physical transformation, perhaps that ancient alchemist’s wish of turning lead into gold.  The rainbow represents the practice of this alchemy.  It is the attainment of the transfiguration of the ignorant into the Illuminated. This is the real changing of lead into Gold.  This curve of colors epitomizes the Chakras. Energizing and balancing our internal rainbow assists in the path to our enlightenment.  This awakening to our Higher Self is exactly where we find the elusive Gold at the end of the rainbow.





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