Welcome back to my series on the tarot cards that confuse the crap out of me. We've done The High Priestess, The Moon and Judgement, and this week it's Temperance's turn.

Why Temperance confuses me

For a long time, my problem with Temperance was how subtle it is. So many cards arrive with a bit of drama. The Tower comes crashing down, The Chariot charges forward, Death turns up and everyone panics. Then there's Temperance, calmly pouring liquid from one cup into another like nothing much is happening. Early on I'd pull it in a reading and think, JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO, WOULD YA?

Writing this series, I've started to notice a pattern, much to my bewilderment. The cards I find most confusing tend to be the passive ones. They're less about doing something and more about being somewhere, or noticing something. I think that's exactly why they're hard. When we pull a card, most of us are really looking for instructions (or permission to just do the thing we already want to do, go on admit it!). Cards like Temperance don't hand you a to do list and that can be frustrating until you learn to read them differently.

How I read Temperance now

Over the years, Temperance has become one of the most creative cards in the deck for me. The catch is that it's about the creative process rather than the finished creation. Think about what the figure is doing, mixing, blending, working out the right balance. That's what making anything of value really looks like. The big reveal belongs to other cards. Temperance is the absorbed, happy middle bit where you're experimenting, playing and figuring it out as you go.

That middle bit is my favourite place to be. Painting a tarot deck takes a ridiculous amount of time, and I wouldn't trade a minute of it. The hours spent mixing colours and working out how a card wants to look are the part I love more than almost anything.

The other big thing I read in Temperance is staying grounded through every stage of that process. The excitement at the start when everything feels possible. The long stretch in the middle when you're deep in it. The nervous, thrilling moment near the end when you finally see it coming together. Temperance asks you to keep your feet on the ground through all of it, so you can enjoy each stage for what it is instead of rushing to the finish line.

Temperance in my decks

I've now painted Temperance twice, once for The Falling Card Tarot and once for my new deck, Concertina Tarot, which is coming soon. Painting the same card twice was a real treat. It was a chance to have another go at a card I've grown to love and to find a new way to show such a gentle card. Looking at the two side by side, I can see how much my own reading of Temperance has shifted over the years, which feels fitting for a card about a process that's still unfolding.

To sum it up

If Temperance turns up in your reading and you're tempted to shrug it off as boring, give it another look. It might be telling you that the messy, in between stage you're in right now is the important part. Keep mixing, keep adjusting and keep your feet on the ground. The finished thing will come.

If you'd like to sit with Temperance and the rest of the deck yourself, you can find The Falling Card Tarot here: The Falling Card Tarot

Do you find Temperance confusing too? I'd love to hear how you read it.