Temperance

From The Halloween Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood 10.12.16

 

 

What a happy witch – cooking up a bubbling brew of magic! Everything she needs is at hand; a shelf full of ingredients, books, measuring spoons, flowers for beauty, and of course her Familiar Black Cat. Her wise owl sits on her hat, a lizard (symbol of transformation) has blended right in with the shape and color of the vase, and a darling little bunny peeks out of her pocket as she mixes and blends her potion. Who knows what else is there in her cozy laboratory? She is well stocked to create her magic, her alchemy.

 

Our lives are an on-going recipe, a concoction, and magical brew of our experiences. Like the witch’s cauldron, we are each a vessel for the physical and spiritual ingredients that make us uniquely who we are. The spilled water on the floor is a reminder of spirit flowing through our lives, sometimes unseen but always there. We are constantly cooking up a new version of who we are. Like a tried and true recipe we have some very basic parts that don’t really change but become more refined as we practice our lives. Sometimes we have to just wing it, using whatever is at hand to make the right potion that allows for an immediate transformation. Like great chefs, we are the artisans of our own lives creating the magic that is uniquely our own. We present ourselves as works of art as we live, grow, learn, and interact with others.

 

In the Tarot the Temperance card brings a welcome balance. The previous card, Death, has caused us to experience that which must end in our lives, sometimes very painfully. The next card, the Devil, calls to us to go into the shadows and face that which we fear. Temperance gives us a break. We find equilibrium, stability, and beauty. We have tried, failed, tried, succeeded, and failed again. Now we have obtained a level of mastery where all our efforts, wisdom, experience, and risks have come to fruition. We get to feel the magic and know that WE are that magic. We are not stuck or confined to one version of ourselves. We can modify, alter, and re-write how we do this thing called life, all the while accommodating the external events that cause us to internally change. Our cauldron is always there, our familiars ever at hand to assist us in this life long – even eternal - alchemy.

 

In traditional Tarot, the Temperance card shows an angel blending the contents of two cups, pouring one into the other. This reminds us that our spiritual nature, our soul, our higher self, is participating with us in this great alchemy. We might get bogged down in 3-D living but our higher nature is always at work within us, guiding us, celebrating our delicious new recipes with us.

 

Fresh home-made bread right out of the oven has a mouth-watering aroma. If anyone is in the house they will be drawn like a magnet to the kitchen, begging for a piece of the yumminess. As we hone our alchemy we are like that luscious aroma, attracting into our lives that which we need to help us continue on the path of growth and beauty. There might be a few toadstools and toes of salamanders along the way, but hey – they are all part of the mix.

 

What’s cooking in your cauldron?

 

…Kathryn Ravenwood 10-12-16