Tarot Working, Temperance

Temperance

I sat with Temperance this week. There almost no activity for the greater part of the week in the informal stage. On Wednesday afternoon I had some time to scry the card.

I lit the candle and did the invocation as I have been doing. Soon I felt a warmth at the top of my head that spread down into the rest of my body. This was the mark of the arrival of the spirit.

I asked, “how can I use your energy in my life?” The Temperance angel draws her hands apart, the water between her vessels growing longer. She says, “expansion”. Her face changes to become a conglomerate of multiple faces. A figure appears below the stream of water and seems to be reaching toward the water as some of it falls in a shower. She says, “cleansing”. Then the figure disappears and the stream of water moves to flow over the angel’s midsection and I know it is over her womb. The water seems to be flowing out of both cups, meeting in the middle at the womb of the angel, and disappearing there. Then the angel draws her hands together so that the cups are rim to rim trapping the water between them. She says, “containment”.

I ask, “what lessons can you teach me?” At this her dress changes to resemble a high ocean wave. I can see just below its surface a fish gliding under the water. She says, “riding the wave”. Then she lifts her head, her eyes roll back, and her mouth opens slightly. I understand this to indicate religious ecstasy. Then she looks at me and smiles. A small cherub alights on her shoulder and leans toward her head. I can’t tell if it is whispering to her or not.

I ask, “are you my guardian angel?” She smiles and looks away.

I ask, “are you helpful with spirit work?” The image on the card moves in and out of focus and whips form and swirl around the outside of the card, like the air over hot asphalt. Then the angel’s face changes through several forms, people, devils, angels, beasts, before becoming the angel again. It seems that this answer is much more than a simple yes or no but it seems positive so I ask, “how can I use your energy in my spirit work?”. In response the image changes so that a hole opens in the angel’s midsection and the stream of water resembles a road. It seems another card is offering itself as a doorway.

I ask, “what is the flower at your brow?” At this I get a vision of wildflowers in early spring on the side of a rugged mountain. She says, “return of beauty, return of life in harshness, a balm”.

I ask, “what are your cups?” She gives me no answer. Multiple cherubs alight on her shoulders then fly away, leaving two behind, a gold cherub on her left shoulder and a blue one on her right shoulder. Is this an answer to my question? And if it is, is it too easy to think it simply represents duality? This will require more contemplation.

I ask, “what is the liquid passing between the cups?” The angel’s face changes to appear fanged and then it changes again to look like a skull face. This doesn’t seem like an answer so I look away from her face and look to the stream of water directly. I ask again but receive no answer.

I ask, “what is the purpose of the red book?” The cherub on her left shoulder, the gold one, puts a horn to his lips as if to blow but I hear no sound. [This question is based on some elements of my practice at the moment. A bit of UPG.]

I ask, “what is your message to me?” She says, “moderate your passions”. Then her face is replaced with a dog’s but it disappears quickly.

I ask, “are you an angel of heaven?” In response her image jumps into extremely sharp focus. She looks down at the stream of water between the cups and I see that it is made of multiple, striated layers all mingled together. I take this as not quite a no but perhaps it means something more like not only. Her eyes become windows and I can see stars in a night sky through them.

I ask, “where are you standing?” She gives no answer. The gold cherub leans in and whispers in her ear again. I ask, “what is that cherub saying to you?” The cherub flies off and she looks at me flatly saying nothing. I decide this is a good point to close the session. I thank her for her guidance and her wisdom. I call for her to be at peace, to be my ally, and to be a presence in my life.

When I snuff my candle there is no soot and no pain.