Temperance
Temperance is the fourteenth Major Arcana card, numbered XIV. It is one of the cardinal virtues portrayed in Tarot since its Italian origins, associated with balance and the harmonious blending of opposing forces.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-22
Historical fact
Temperance is one of the four cardinal virtues — along with Justice, Strength and, indirectly, Prudence — depicted in Tarot since 15th-century Italian decks, reflecting the medieval European philosophical and religious tradition of portraying cardinal virtues in sets of images. In Aleister Crowley's Thoth deck, the card was renamed 'Art.'
Interpretation — Rider-Waite-Smith / Golden Dawn
In the 1909 version, an angel with one foot on land and one in water pours liquid between two chalices. It represents balance, moderation, patience and the art of harmoniously combining opposing elements. Reversed, it's commonly read as excess, imbalance, or lack of self-control.
Interpretation — Thoth (Aleister Crowley)
In the Thoth deck, the card is renamed 'Art' and tied to the sign of Sagittarius. It represents the alchemy of combining opposites — not just passive moderation, but the active, creative process of fusing contrary forces into something new.
Curiosities
- The angel's stance, one foot in water and one on land, reappears almost identically in the following card, The Star — a deliberate visual repetition in the Rider-Waite version linking the two cards as a sequence of integration and healing following the abrupt transformation represented by Death.
- Unlike most of the cards Aleister Crowley renamed in the Thoth deck, whose new name usually signals a radical reinterpretation (like 'Lust' in place of Strength), 'Art' preserves the conceptual core of traditional Temperance, just with more explicit emphasis on the creative process.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Temperance a cardinal virtue in Tarot?
- Yes. Along with Justice and Strength, Temperance is among the cardinal virtues depicted in Tarot since 15th-century Italian decks, reflecting the medieval European philosophical tradition of portraying virtues in images.
- Why is Temperance called 'Art' in the Thoth deck?
- Aleister Crowley renamed the card 'Art' in the Thoth deck to emphasize the creative, alchemical process of combining opposing forces, rather than the more passive reading of simple moderation.
Sources
- Michael Dummett. The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City (1980).
- Arthur Edward Waite. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).
- Aleister Crowley. The Book of Thoth (1944).
- Stuart R. Kaplan. The Encyclopedia of Tarot (1978).