The Tarot of Eli 2, LLC: The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot- Key 14-Temperance & The Archeon Tarot - Key 14- Temperance

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The Rider-Waite-Smith Key 14-Temperance card is named the Intelligence of probation or trial, by Dr. Paul Foster Case, founder of the Builders of The Adytum (B.O.T.A.). He is referring to the testing through which every aspirant must pass before they can reach the heights of Initiation (the mountains behind the Temperance Image). The object is to determine one's temper and/or strength, much like the act of tempering metal or glass and thereby, creating the right combination of flexibility and strength. There is a distinct quality of equilibration, as the aspirant must be perfectly balanced with reference to all their vehicles (Spirit-Mind-Body).

Temperance (ATU XIV): The Intelligence of Probation or Trial

Hebrew Letter: Samekh – “Prop” or “Support”
Path on the Tree of Life: Yesod (Foundation) to Tiphareth (Beauty)

⚖️ The Concept of “Temperance” as Trial and Alchemical Tempering

Dr. Paul Foster Case’s attribution of the title “Intelligence of Probation or Trial” to the Fourteenth Key isn't merely poetic—it is deeply alchemical and initiatory. This path (Samekh) runs from Yesod (the Moon/astral subconscious) to Tiphareth (the Solar Self, or Christic/Higher Self). This means the aspirant is leaving the shadowy world of subconscious impressions and must pass through a trial of equilibration and purification in order to attain the divine harmony of Tiphareth.

The "trial" here is the conscious navigation of duality, symbolized by the blending of fire and water in the card imagery. This is not a mundane task—the Temperance Angel is a solar being (often archangel Michael or Raphael and/or your Solar Self), capable of performing the impossible fusion of opposites.

🜔 Tempering as an Alchemical Process

To "temper" means to strengthen by controlled exposure to stress or heat—whether one is dealing with metals, emotions, or spirit. In alchemy, this corresponds to the process of:

• Calcination (burning away the ego impurities),

• Distillation (purifying the essence),

• Cohobation (reblending the refined elements).

Thus, the aspirant undergoes inner friction not for punishment, but purification.

🜄🜂 The Act of Pouring Between Cups: The Balancing of Energies

In the RWS and Thoth decks, the angel pours liquid between two chalices—one of Fire and one of Water (often subtly indicated). This represents the equilibration of opposites—male and female, active and passive, force and form, Nephesh and Neshamah, and perhaps even the left and right pillars of the Tree of Life.

The aspirant must learn how to hold opposites within themselves without division—thus becoming a vessel capable of union.

Crowley called this card "Art" in the Thoth Deck, highlighting the Great Work as the blending of incompatible substances to create a perfected whole. In Jungian terms, it’s the sacred coniunctio, the alchemical wedding.

⛰️ The Mountains in the Background: Symbol of Initiation

Behind the angel stands a path that leads to a distant mountain range—a symbol of spiritual attainment or enlightenment. Mountains are always seen as places where the divine and mortal meet (Sinai, Olympus, Meru).

To reach the summit of these Initiatory heights (Tiphareth), the aspirant must pass through the trial of internal equilibrium. This is echoed in Eastern traditions too—like the Middle Path in Buddhism or the Sushumna Nadi between Ida and Pingala.

🜁 Temperance and the Body of Light

The path of Samekh is one of building the Rainbow Body or the Body of Light. In the Golden Dawn and Thelema, this path is deeply associated with The Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel, wherein the Self becomes integrated and whole enough to commune with its Divine Twin (the Tipherethic Higher Self).

This "probation" tests the purity and balance of the lower vehicles—astral (Yesod), emotional, and mental bodies—so they may be refined enough to bear the influx of Solar Intelligence.

🜍 Summary of Key Insights

🌄 Temperance and the Celestial Identity: Integration, Not Conflict

In the Rider-Waite-Smith Temperance card, the angel stands beneath a cloudless sky—a clear blue firmament symbolic of unclouded consciousness and divine serenity. A radiant halo of wisdom encircles the angel’s head, reflecting the enlightened state of the Solar Self—the Higher Intellect or Neshamah—that governs with divine proportion and poise.

The imagery suggests that the "middle path" is not merely compromise, but a precise act of internal harmony between all levels of the psyche. This is not about suppressing one side of ourselves in favor of the other, but learning the alchemical art of blending spirit and instinct, fire and water, in service of the Great Work.

🕊️ The False Egregore of Internal Conflict

Modern psychology and popular spirituality often depict the human soul as being caught in a battle between a “higher angel” and a “lower animal,” where one must triumph over the other. This dualism is misleading and ultimately harmful.

This is an egregore—an artificial construct of collective belief—born from fear-based paradigms.

In truth, according to the Western Hermetic Qabalah, we are not animals attempting to become divine. We are divine beings undergoing a human incarnation.

The Nephesh, or "animal soul," is not an enemy to be conquered—it is a sacred and vital expression of embodied awareness, the vehicle of breath, emotion, and instinct. It is the raw energy that fuels the magician’s ascent. Without it, there is no vessel to contain the Light.

To castigate the Nephesh is like cursing the soil that grows the sacred vine. Rather, we are called to sanctify it, to incorporate the Nephesh into the full expression of the Soul (Neshamah, Ruach, Chiah, Yechidah), forming a harmonized vessel of the Celestial Will.

🌞 You Are Not Becoming Divine—You Are Remembering You Always Were

The Temperance angel is not “other”—it is the symbolic representation of your eternal Self, the Solar Being who existed before incarnation and shall exist after death.

• In Hermetic Qabalah, this corresponds to Tiphareth, the seat of the Higher Self.

• In Gnostic and Platonic terms, it is the Pleromatic Identity—the divine emanation sent into matter to awaken and transform it.

• In the teachings of Aleister Crowley, it is the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel—not a separate entity, but your truest Self beyond the Veil of Form.

We are not the result of some accidental animal evolution. We are Celestial Intelligence experiencing the illusion of mortality. This mortal shell, this Nephesh, is not a cage—it is the crucible through which the gold of spirit is refined.

🜔 The Alchemical Task: Integration of the Whole Self

Therefore, Temperance speaks not of conflict, but of sacred integration:

• The Nephesh is not to be destroyed—it is to be alchemized.

• The Ruach (reasoning mind) is not to dominate—but to serve as the artisan of the blending.

• The Neshamah (Higher Soul) is not aloof—it descends, like the angel, to offer guidance through wisdom and grace.

This is the true Tempering—a fusion that yields not domination but coherence, not repression but transmutation.

✨ Final Statement

You are not a human being seeking spiritual experiences—you are a Celestial Being, temporarily veiled in flesh, seeking to awaken your divine memory through the art of inner harmony.

The Temperance card is a daily invitation to walk that path—not in war with the self, but in sacred equilibrium, as the living Chalice of the One Light.

The Temperance card, of the RWS Tarot, displays the vital life force (Plasma) shown as water that is poured from one cup to another, implying that one opposite is tempered or mediated by the other. This principle is far reaching and practical, since within the context of any given experience we learn to consciously bring opposites into play.

At the most mundane level, this card implies "counting to ten" when anger flares, helping us avoid doing anything rash. Or it can mean counting our blessings when life is going wrong.

At a more subtle level, this is an invocation of another point of view. This inner self-debate helps us to realize and neutralize the emotional or intellectual significance of a situation and to see as a wise observer.

This card points out the realization that there are dualities in everything, and the wheel of life spins so that we function in pendulum swings from happy to sad, from love to hate, and from thoughtful to emotional. Therefore, between the Devil (shadow/nephesh) and Angel (light/Neshamah) within us all, stands the Aware conscious observer (Rauch), who must become the "middle path" in action.

The 3rd level of this card is much more refined as it refers to the wave interaction of those positive and negative sexual energies consciously through Tantric Yoga, or certain little understood Jewish or Christian meditational practices.; a process symbolized in the past by using alchemical and other symbolic terms.

The White Robes of the- Angel represent purity. At the breast of the Rider-Waite-Smith figure, is shown the displays white square with a red triangle in its center (a "secret" symbol for Tetragrammaton). The white square is the "symbol for the 4 square world of mankind" and the red triangle is the symbol for the universal element of fire/Plasma. Temperance is the uniting of the male (animus) and the female (anima) principles of fire and water together in an equal mixture in the brain.

Small communities grow great through harmony; great ones fall to pieces through discord.

-Sallust

The Archeon Tarot’s Key 14 (Temperance) offers a richly symbolic re-visioning of the archetype, especially when viewed through the lens of Western Hermetic Qabalah and alchemical integration.

🜔 Archeon Temperance: The Hermetic Marriage of Beast and Innocence

In the Archeon Tarot, the angel places a hand upon a tiger, while a lamb rests quietly behind them. This evocative tableau condenses an entire Hermetic initiatory process into a single snapshot. Here's how we can break this down in esoteric terms:

🐅 The Tiger: Nephesh / Instinctual Power / Chthonic Will

The tiger represents raw animal force, the Nephesh in Qabalistic psychology—the vital soul, deeply rooted in survival, sensation, sexuality, and instinct.

• In the uninitiated, this force is chaotic and self-serving.

• In the adept, this force is tamed and directed, becoming the fuel of the Great Work.

The angel placing a hand on the tiger is not dominating or fearing it—it’s a symbolic reclamation of the beast within, a gesture of sacred command without violence. This aligns with the alchemical maxim: “Coagula et solve”—combine and dissolve. The adept does not destroy the lower nature, but redeems and incorporates it.

In Hermetic alchemy, the tiger could even be seen as an emblem of sulfur—the fiery, passionate, volatile aspect of the soul.

🐑 The Lamb: Neshamah / Innocence / Divine Yielding

The lamb, placed behind the angel, is a potent symbol of innocence, spiritual purity, and sacrifice—but not submission. It represents the Neshamah, the higher, radiant aspect of the soul that is aligned with divine compassion and vision.

• The lamb is behind the angel—not subjugated, but supporting.

• This suggests that spiritual purity serves as the foundation of this alchemical integration.

The lamb is also the Christos, the sacrificial solar force (Tiphareth) which integrates opposites through love and will, not through force. The lamb gives the angel purpose and clarity; the tiger gives the angel power and drive.

👼 The Angel: The Alchemist of Self

The angel stands as the Ruach, or the central human reasoning soul that must mediate between the lower (Nephesh) and higher (Neshamah) selves.

• One hand on the beast (active),

• One glance toward the lamb (reflective),

• The angel represents the middle path of Samekh: the harmonizer of inner fire and inner peace.

Just like in Crowley's "Art" card, the Archeon angel is not merely blending elements—it is becoming the crucible, the living embodiment of the transmutation of extremes into wholeness.

🌄 Hermetic Integration: The Inner Trinity

The image, then, becomes an esoteric triad:

This is not a struggle, but a ritual of embrace, a sacramental equilibrium.

🜍 Final Hermetic Elucidation

The Archeon Temperance is a visualized alchemical ritual:
The angel of the middle path anchors the power of the beast through divine will, while standing upon the innocence of the soul.
This is not duality—but the sacred third thing that emerges from it. The angel is the artist of integration, the living temple of the Self.

Attributed to this card but not shown on either one, is the zodiac sign of Sagittarius which is the ninth astrological sign in the zodiac, and it is represented by the symbol of the Archer, often depicted as a centaur (half-human, half-horse) holding a bow and arrow. This sign falls between November 22 and December 21.

Here are some key traits and characteristics associated with Sagittarius:

1. Adventurous: Sagittarians are known for their love of adventure and exploration. They have a natural curiosity and desire to learn about the world around them. Traveling to unfamiliar places and experiencing diverse cultures to them.

2. Optimistic: Sagittarians tend to have an optimistic outlook on life. They are hopeful and see opportunities even in challenging situations. This positive attitude can be infectious and uplifting to those around them.

3. Honest: Honesty and bluntness are common traits of Sagittarius individuals. They value truth and can sometimes be brutally honest, which may come across as tactless to others.

4. Independent: They value their independence and freedom. Sagittarians don't like feeling tied down or restricted, and they often seek out experiences that allow them to maintain their autonomy.

5. Philosophical: Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of expansion and philosophy. As a result, Sagittarians tend to be philosophical and love exploring the deeper questions of life. They may have a strong interest in spirituality or higher knowledge.

6. Social: Sagittarians are typically outgoing and enjoy socializing with a wide range of people. They are friendly and have a knack for making friends easily.

7. Restless: Due to their love of adventure and exploration, Sagittarians can sometimes become restless when they feel stuck in routine or confined to one place for too long.

8. Impatient: They can be impatient and prefer quick results. Waiting for things to happen or for others to catch up with their ideas can be frustrating for them.

9. Generous: Sagittarians are often generous with their time and resources. They enjoy helping others and can be quite charitable.

10. Sports and Physical Activity: Many Sagittarians have a strong interest in sports and physical activities. They have a lot of energy to burn and enjoy staying active.

It's important to note that while these traits are associated with Sagittarius individuals, everyone is unique, and not all Sagittarians will exhibit all these characteristics. Astrology offers general insights, but individual personalities can vary widely based on other factors in a person's birth chart.

On the RWS card, the Angel rests one foot on water signifying the cosmic mind stuff and the other foot is on land, signifying the "solid" world of physical manifestation.

The RWS Angel pours water from the cup in its left hand to the right. The cups are gold, because they represent the golden radiant light (Plasma/Solar Self) that all living creation comes from. The upper cup represents the self-consciousness, corresponding to the man in Key 6-The Lovers. The lower cup represents the Woman in Key 6-the Lovers and Subconsciousness. The stream of Plasmic mind stuff flows/vibrates between them in equilibrium (Plasma to crystalized plasma).

On both cards, the Angel is the I AM and/or the Greater Ego of the Soul-Tiphareth the 6th Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. Therefore, the Temperance figure is shown adapting and modifying the personal stream of psychic energy in the actions and reactions of the Solar-self-conscious and subconscious aspects of human personality. The belief here is that the Holy Guardian Angel (Higher-Self), makes all the tests and trials which lead us along the path of attainment.

Personalities must be tempered to handle the fiery emotional force of the Inner Sun/Son of God/Horus (Plasmic spark of Kundalini). The only correction necessary is the intellectual correction of both thought and emotion. Therefore, the wise person acts as if all tests and tempering of intellectual corrections are theirs alone for, they know each of us are not "alone" as knowledge flows from both "above and below".

The twin mountain peaks on the RWS Temperence represent Chokma-Wisdom and Binah-Understanding, and the yellow circle with a dot in the center on the angel's forehead as shown on the RWS Tarot Card represent the Sun referring to the Primal Will of Kether/Crown (God name of Eheieh-I Will Be). White is the color representing purity.

In the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, the golden crown is most prominently seen in The Ace of Swords, and the Temperance card hovering above a mountain range. This crown is a highly symbolic element and can be interpreted on multiple levels:

1. Divine Authority and Victory

• The crown represents divine authority and spiritual triumph, signaling a victory granted by higher powers. It reflects the idea of success that is not merely material but also spiritual and intellectual.
• As the sword is a symbol of clarity, truth, and intellect, the crown emphasizes the power and potential of these qualities when used rightly.

2. Attainment of Higher Consciousness

• Hovering above the mountains, the crown suggests transcendence and the achievement of higher consciousness. The mountains symbolize challenges and obstacles, and the crown indicates the reward for overcoming them through wisdom, determination, and intellect.

3. Enlightenment and Clarity

• Golden light is often associated with enlightenment, illumination, and divine insight. The crown signifies the potential for profound mental clarity and the ability to discern truth from illusion.
• In the context of the Ace of Swords, this can be interpreted as the mental clarity or inspiration that allows one to see through life's challenges.

4. Union of the Spiritual and Material

• The crown is adorned with a wreath (symbolizing victory) and often depicted with hanging elements (like yods in the Ace of Swords), representing divine blessings. This combination points to the harmonious blending of spiritual and material achievements.

5. A Call to Responsibility

• The crown can also imply the responsibility of power and knowledge. Just as a king or queen must rule wisely, the Ace of Swords challenges you to use truth, logic, and clarity ethically and constructively.

In summary, the golden crown above the mountains in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck encapsulates themes of victory, enlightenment, divine authority, and spiritual achievement. It encourages the seeker to use their intellectual and spiritual gifts to rise above challenges and attain higher understanding and success.

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When the Key 14-Temperance card is thrown in a divination. It implies:

• Dissolve and bind.
• Reunification of that which is dissolved (0=2, 2=1)
• The philosopher's stone is the goal.
• The search for the innermost core of being.
• The proper measure.
• Proportionality and harmony.
• Anima and Animus, blending into One.
• Achieving a beautiful balance.
• Moderation in all things of life.
• Harmony between the Spiritual and Physical Aspects.

If reversed:

• Excess (conflicts and dissipation).
• Tendency towards extremes.
• Disharmony towards mind and body.

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