Temperance

Temperance refers to the ability to hold yourself in balance, to regulate your nervous system. Another title is art, and it is truly the art of living well. Although for all those addicted to dopamine highs it will often be seen as dull. Temperance is the art of avoiding the highs and lows by self-control coming from within. Its practice in life is not something that calls for incidental discipline and displays of strength or power, but a state sought after on a near-permanent basis. The greater the control, the more powerful the energy. Ultimately it is the only state that leads to self-transcendence. Very few will manage to completely rise to the call, which is why temperance is portrayed as an angel, for it is the work of angels, requiring superhuman strength. The image here departs from the angelic, and depicts another level still, where fierce contrasts are sought after and permitted to arise in perfect balance.