Maroon Tarot - Temperance

Hi.

I looked up the word 'Temperance' in the dictionary, because I wanted to understand why that card (of any deck, really) has the images for it, that it does.

Well: For The Maroon Tarot: Temperance's card is of a hummingbird feeding from a flower...I'm sure it's just me...but could someone help me figure out how/why this image relates to temperance?

Thanks, a tarot newbie, here

Silverlyn

Maroon Tarot's Image for Temperance

You know, I hadn’t really thought about this until I saw your question and it got me to thinking. Why could a hummingbird feeding from a flower relate to Temperance?

The image on the card seems to catch a moment in time when the “perfect balance” or the “precise mixture” is just about to be achieved (it looks to me as if the bird is poised, just about to drink from the flower.) On the level of two organisms, it shows what balance or combination much be achieved (on any number of levels) for things to “work right.”

The bird needs the nectar that the flower offers and the flower needs the bird to assist in pollination. Each organism is born and develops separately and then comes together in “perfect order” for a moment in time when everything is working “just the way it should.”

If you think about what has to happen to have this all come together, it really is amazing. The flower’s seed must survive and germinate and grow to the right stage in its life to be ready for pollination. The bird must hatch and survive and develop into an adult bird capable of extracting nectar. There have to be the right population (in number and kind) of flowers and hummingbirds. Then at one precise moment they come together, almost to form a third entity, a different combination, if only for a moment – and that combination is exquisitely “just right.” And maybe that is one idea or “snapshot” of Temperance.

This card – with its image from nature - makes me think about another example from nature and how the balance of things can be tipped, and also sometimes restored, with patience, compassion and reconciliation. With the wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone Park biologists discovered balances within the ecosystem there that we (humans) had not even been aware of. For a period of around 80 years the wolf did not inhabit the park, having been eradicated by man from that ecosystem. After the wolf was reintroduced in the late 1990’s we discovered that certain plant and fish populations benefited. It was found that when the wolf was absent the elk were consuming many of the smaller aspen trees and many of the willow bushes that grew close to the rivers. With the wolf gone, the elk lived in the park with very few natural predators and were free to browse almost anywhere. Because of this, there was less vegetation at the river bank and thus there was less shelter and shade for fish - and fewer fish and their offspring were able to survive. When the wolf was brought back to the park and began to prey upon the elk again an order - a fruitful combination, a beautiful balance - was restored.

For me, that brings perhaps another aspect of Temperance to mind – that of moderation. You have to have the right number of elk and wolves. The wolves cannot take too many elk or they will starve in the end; the elk need the wolves to keep their numbers to the correct level or they will starve (too many elk for their range.) Temperance is also perhaps about wise management, compromise, and give and take. You can’t take too much or too little – Temperance, perhaps, could be understanding how much to give or take in any given situation.

An ecosystem, of course, is only one example of a way you could think about some of the qualities of Temperance. But the image on the Temperance card from the Maroon Tarot Deck got me to thinking of Temperance in terms of nature and how nature can illuminate supernatural or spiritual truths. It makes me think of “As above, so below.” (Or maybe vice versa!)

Wow!

......Wow, Tink. Thank you for such an articulate, very well-thought-out and intellegent analysis of the Maroon Temperance card meaning

It was such a pleasure to read your article/answer. The way you brought up points such as wolves to elk balance-ratios, etc. really opened up my eyes in understanding this card a lot better

I did have a tad bit of inkling it was to due with the perfect, delicate balance and poise of the hummingbird, and perhaps not drinking too much of the nectar came to mind, as well.

I am looking forward to more discussions with you on this (and other) decks

BB,

Silverlyn

One More Thought on Temperance

I’m really glad you brought up the question, Silverlyn! It got me to thinking about that card - and I guess that is the purpose of the study group, right? ;-)

I was thinking a little more about the image on the Maroon Tarot Temperance card and while Temperance could represent the moment when an exquisitely perfect balance leaps into being (and the balance itself,) it could also represent the PROCESS that creates the balance in the first place.

Mother Nature, again, might provide example for this. Perhaps you could say that she uses Temperance to bring things into the correct balance.

The idea of Temperance as a process made me think about the idea that while Temperance itself is a very “positive” and necessary thing, it also contains some discomfort and even some sacrifice. Sometimes the “bigger picture” or the “ultimate goal” must be considered when you are contemplating Temperance. In the Yellowstone example, some individual elk and wolves and willows and fish are going to give up their lives to maintain the balance of that ecosystem. That brings to mind the meanings of Temperance of cooperation and compassion and forgiveness.

I also thought about “tempering” steel in order to strengthen or harden it. The steel is heated to just the right temperature and then plunged into water to cool it at just the right moment. This process itself is a balance (the ratio of heating and cooling) but the intense heating and instant cooling might be considered “momentous” for the steel itself. It is becoming “better,” more fit for its purpose, but it is changing into something else – that in itself might be a bit earth-shattering for the steel! The steel has to give up, through a very extreme process, what it was before in order to move forward. This brings to mind the meaning of Temperance of purification, cleansing or strengthening of the soul.

In summary, to me it seems that Temperance could refer to a balance or combination or to the process (or even processor – i.e. a blacksmith?) that brings about that particular balance or combination.

....but the intense heating and instant cooling might be considered “momentous” for the steel itself.

It is becoming “better,” more fit for its purpose, but it is changing into something else – that in itself might be a bit earth-shattering for the steel!

The steel has to give up, through a very extreme process, what it was before in order to move forward.

This brings to mind the meaning of Temperance of purification, cleansing or strengthening of the soul.

Click to expand...

I agree with you. The steel becoming 'better' is such a relative term, too. Because really, the steel is only 'changing' but if to 'better' or not, is in the opinions of the beholders

imho

This is fun! We should discuss more of the Maroon cards!

if I may chime in, when I first noticed the Maroon tarot, it was the temperance card that made me gasp, and I thought it was the most perfect example of "temperance" I'd ever seen. It helped me understand the concept as it relates to the tarot cards. Now, this may be corny, but there's a needlework I've had tucked away for years now...it's hummingbirds and fuschia flowers and the little poem goes "nature in her finest hour, the kiss of life twixt flight and flower" ... (ahem, blushing) but anyway..... it speaks to the balance. Two completely unrelated beings, flora and fauna, both need each other, both offering up their best efforts to each other. In a moment of perfect stillness, the hummingbird wouldn't drink in a gale storm, or if predators were lurking. The flower has grown and produced sugar-- of no use to the flower, but an offering to the little bird for a favour granted.... ah, sublime!

mmmm, sublime a picture is is, indeed