The Rider - Waite Tarot Deck - Starbridge Centre

The Rider - Waite Tarot Deck
CARD 14: TEMPERANCE
Keyword:
Contemplation:
Progressive karma: The essence of life stems from God.
Integrity will attract us back to God.
YOUR LIFE`S ENERGIES, HOW DO THEY FLOW
An angel dressed in white, with a brilliant radiance around his head and the symbol of
Christ consciousness on his forehead reflecting a fully opened third eye, is standing at a
water pond. The symbol of tarot is on his chest: a dot in the center of a triangle
encompassed by an outer square, reflecting that spiritual laws are embedded in the tarot
as well as in the kabbala.
The angel has one foot in the water, the unconscious, and the other foot on firm ground,
the conscious, because the spiritual forces the angel represents are working equally well
in the conscious and in the unconscious. Yellow irises, flowers which are a symbol of
pride, are flowering at the waterside.
To the left, a path is emerging from the pond and is winding its way onwards through
distant hills to the sun, the higher Self. The path is the soul`s journey, reflecting the
continuity and unfoldment of purpose and qualities through endless lives, both the lives
that have passed and the lives to come. Or in other words: the path is the progressive
karma ultimately leading towards Self realisation.
The angel is continuously pouring life energy, the water of life, from one golden vessel into
another, and back again. One understanding is that the two vessels represent the root
chakra and the crown chakra, the poles between which our life energies constantly
fluctuate.
The constant pouring to and from of the water of life translates to EXPERIENCE gradually
being destilled into WISDOM. In this way the veil of maya, here represented by the purple
© 2005 Starbridge Centre Ulla and Erik Sandersen
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