XIV Temperance

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

I’ve chosen Mary Oliver to represent the 14th tarot archetype, Temperance. To temper means “to bring to a suitable and desirable state by blending.” In the original tarot art, the Temperance card shows an angel pouring liquid from one vessel into another. The angel of temperance represents the delicate and precise dance of balance. Mary Oliver‘s poetry and life beautifully explored humanity’s relationship with the natural world, and balancing living fully with the wisdom of solitude.