Sage Leaves: The Temperance Card, Jungian Archetype
Healing Ancestral Wounds Through Tarot
🌿 This week in Sage Leaves… 🌿
Welcome, wise ones, to this week’s Sage Leaves, where the archetype of Temperance rises to meet us at the threshold of the season.
As October tips toward November and the veil grows thin, Temperance steps forward as a quiet teacher. The days shorten, the earth cools, and light begins its slow retreat. This is the season of inwardness, when we descend through our own layers to meet what lies beneath. Jung might have called this the time of integration, when the conscious and unconscious draw close enough to speak. The card of Temperance mirrors that descent—an angel blending the waters of above and below, spirit and matter, light and shadow.
As the veil thins at Samhain, the ancestral voices stir. Archetypes rarely shout; they move in cycles, return again and again, unveiling themselves in new forms. The angel of Temperance whispers that wholeness does not come through perfection but through relationship: with our lineage, with our shadow, with what we once resisted. In Jungian terms, this is the work of individuation: bringing all parts of the self into dialogue so the soul may become whole.
In this week’s Sage Leaves, you’ll also find the Tarotscope tracing the energetic patterns of the days ahead and offering guidance for walking with steadiness through this shifting season. And, as always, there may be liminal treasures waiting at the edges: an herbal blend to steady your breath, a note of plant lore, or a reflection born of your own questions.
Thank you for walking here with me—still becoming, still listening—as the earth moves through the cool days of autumn, the light thinning toward solstice, and we practice the alchemy of balance in both heart and season.
The Temperance Card in A Jungian View
In the Tarot, Temperance is a quiet card that carries deep psychological meaning. It often shows an angel pouring water between two cups, one silver and one gold. This image may look simple, but it is a perfect symbol of balance and integration. In Jungian terms, Temperance represents the process of bringing together opposing parts of the self into harmony. It is the card of synthesis, where conflict becomes cooperation.
Carl Jung believed that each person contains inner opposites. He called this the union of the conscious and the unconscious. In daily life, we experience it as the struggle between reason and emotion, will and surrender, light and shadow. Temperance shows what happens when we stop fighting those differences and instead learn from them. The angel’s act of blending the waters is a visual metaphor for what Jung described as the transcendent function, the psychological process through which two opposites come together to create a new, higher state of understanding.
The card’s angel stands with one foot on land and the other in water. That position reflects the link between the outer world of action and the inner world of feeling. Jung would say this is the meeting of the ego and the unconscious. The land represents practical, conscious awareness. The water represents emotion, intuition, and the depth of the psyche. Temperance invites us to stand in both realms at once without losing balance. The angel does not choose one over the other. Instead, it holds both gently and lets them inform each other.
In Jungian psychology, this balance is not a one-time achievement. It is an ongoing practice that Jung called individuation, the lifelong journey toward becoming a whole person. Temperance signals a moment on that journey when integration becomes possible. It tells us that the extremes within us—anger and peace, confidence and doubt, desire and restraint—can coexist. The key is not suppression but transformation. The card asks us to trust that our contradictions can yield wisdom if we handle them with patience.
Temperance is often linked to the alchemical image of mixing elements to create gold. Jung saw alchemy as an ancient language for psychological transformation. The alchemist’s task of uniting fire and water was not about laboratory work but about healing the split within the self. In this way, the Temperance card stands for the alchemical opus, the inner work of reconciling spirit and matter. The angel’s cups replace the alchemist’s crucible, and the liquid passing between them is the symbolic elixir that brings renewal.
“Temperance teaches that peace is not the absence of conflict
but the art of composition. Every drop of experience, whether bitter or sweet, can be poured into the same vessel to create meaning.”
This archetype can be called the Mediator or the Healer. It appears whenever a person or culture needs to restore balance after fragmentation. In our lives, Temperance emerges when we are ready to stop living at the edges of extremes. It guides us to moderation, patience, and the courage to blend what once felt irreconcilable. Jung would note that healing requires relationship—between inner and outer, masculine and feminine, thinking and feeling. Temperance models that relationship by showing movement and flow, not rigid control.
When Temperance enters a reading, it suggests that the psyche is seeking equilibrium. The unconscious offers material that the conscious mind is finally ready to integrate. It may feel like calm after turmoil, or like a fragile truce between parts of ourselves that used to argue. The angel reminds us that peace is not the absence of conflict but the art of composition. Every drop of experience, whether bitter or sweet, can be poured into the same vessel to create meaning.
Temperance, then, is the psychological art of wholeness. It teaches that true strength lies not in dominance but in harmony. In Jungian language, it is the symbol of individuation made visible. In spiritual language, it is the grace of the soul learning to hold opposites. Both perspectives agree on one truth: balance is not passive. It is the steady act of creation.
Reflection Prompt:
When have you experienced two opposing parts of yourself—reason and emotion, confidence and doubt—trying to coexist?
How might you, like the angel in Temperance, begin to pour gently between them until they inform rather than oppose each other?
🌿Sage Leaves Weekly Tarotscope
Tarotscope for October 28-November 3, 2025
This week’s spread carries the unmistakable rhythm of transformation. From the tender promise of the Ace of Cups to the stark release of the 10 of Swords and the fresh leap of The Fool, the cards trace a journey of endings and beginnings. As Samhain nears, you are reminded that every threshold requires both courage and surrender, and that what falls away clears the path for what is waiting to be born.
The Cards of the Week
Tuesday: King of Swords | Mars in Scorpio Trine Jupiter in Cancer
Wednesday: Ten of Pentacles | Mercury Enters Sagittarius
Thursday: The Lovers | Mercury in Sagittarius Sextile Pluto in Aquarius
Friday: Seven of Pentacles | Samhain
Saturday: Ace of Cups
Sunday: Queen of Cups | Venus in Libra Square Jupiter in Cancer
Monday: The Emperor | Mars in Scorpio Trine Neptune in Pisces
Two Major Arcana, The Lovers and The Emperor, anchor this week’s cycle. Two Pentacles, two Cups, and two court cards frame the movement from intellect to emotion and from contemplation to command.
Tuesday – King of Swords
The week begins with clarity and purpose. The King of Swords asks you to lead with discernment; his presence signals the importance of clear judgment and rational thought. Mars in Scorpio trine Jupiter in Cancer infuses courage into intellect. You may find yourself making strategic decisions that require both honesty and tact. This king faces forward, confronting truth directly. He encourages you to speak precisely, to plan wisely, and to wield words as instruments of integrity.
Wednesday – Ten of Pentacles
Mercury enters Sagittarius, expanding thought beyond the immediate horizon. The Ten of Pentacles brings focus to legacy, wealth, and shared achievement. This card reminds you that success is rarely solitary; it is the fruit of collective effort. Family, community, or professional networks play a role in grounding what began as the King’s vision. Today favors practical organization and gratitude for inherited wisdom. You are both beneficiary and steward. The Pentacles here speak of durability—what is earned, maintained, and passed onward.
Thursday – The Lovers
When The Lovers appears, choice becomes sacred. Mercury in Sagittarius sextile Pluto in Aquarius deepens conversation and invites transformation through truth. You stand at a crossroads that involves integrity, not indulgence. Partnerships of all kinds may mirror your inner dialogue between logic and desire. This is a day to align with values that resonate from the core outward. The Lovers reveal the heart as a compass. Every decision made from authenticity draws you closer to harmony with yourself and with others.
Friday – Seven of Pentacles | Samhain
As the veil thins, the Seven of Pentacles brings reflection. You pause amid the work to measure progress. Patience is your ally; growth is slower than ambition but surer than haste. On Samhain, when ancestral voices stir, you may sense their quiet counsel reminding you that every harvest contains the seeds of future labor. Look carefully at what has matured and what still sleeps beneath the soil. You are the gardener of both prosperity and persistence. Endings here are compost for beginnings yet unseen.
Saturday – Ace of Cups
The emotional current rises. The Ace of Cups ushers in renewal, a soft tide of compassion and intuitive clarity. After the patience of Friday, this card refreshes the heart. It offers you permission to receive—love, inspiration, forgiveness, or creative flow. You may feel a sense of cleansing as though the spirit refills its vessel. The week’s logic and labor find emotional release; the inner well begins to overflow. Drink deeply from it and let gratitude become your prayer.
Sunday – Queen of Cups
Venus in Libra squares Jupiter in Cancer, expanding empathy to its limits. The Queen of Cups balances that tide through emotional intelligence. Her calm surface hides vast depth. She invites you to hold space without losing yourself in another’s story. Nurture, but also protect, your psychic boundaries. This queen gazes back toward The Lovers and Ace of Cups—a reflection of love refined by understanding. You may find yourself guiding or consoling others, transforming sensitivity into strength. Listen inwardly; intuition is the week’s truest authority.
Monday – The Emperor
Mars in Scorpio trine Neptune in Pisces crowns the week with structured vision. The Emperor stands at the threshold of action, anchoring all that has been learned. Where The Lovers chose alignment, the Emperor enacts it. He mirrors the King of Swords from Tuesday, both facing outward, guardians of intellect and order. This is a moment to set boundaries, finalize plans, and claim responsibility for the form your intentions will take. Leadership now must be ethical as well as firm. Through discipline, imagination finds architecture.
Overarching Themes
The arc from King of Swords to The Emperor tells a story of authority evolving from thought into embodiment. What begins as an idea matures into structure. You move from discerning mind to commanding presence. Between these two sentinels flows a river of Cups and Pentacles, a balance between emotional depth and material stability.
The recurring Ace of Cups signals renewal through love and inner grace. Each appearance refills the vessel of feeling, urging you to approach logic with compassion and work with tenderness. The pairing of Pentacles—Ten and Seven—highlights continuity between heritage and personal effort. You inherit wisdom but must still cultivate it. The week invites gratitude for what endures and patience for what is ripening.
Two Major Arcana shape the soul’s progression. The Lovers asks you to commit from the heart; The Emperor asks you to give that commitment form. Together they describe integration of inner and outer power. Choice leads to consequence; emotion leads to embodiment. This is the alchemy of maturity.
Numerology
Numerologically, tens and sevens echo completion and assessment. The presence of two Cups and two Pentacles emphasizes equilibrium between feeling and function. The message is clear: wholeness arises when intellect, emotion, labor, and structure work in concert.
At Samhain’s threshold, you stand between past and future. The ancestors watch as you balance inheritance and intention, passion and prudence. The King of Swords and The Emperor bookend this week like marble statues, reminders that wisdom must serve both heart and order. Within their gaze, the Queen of Cups teaches compassion and the Ace of Cups restores faith. You are asked to lead with clarity, to build with care, and to remember that every act of power is also an act of stewardship.
Reflection: Where in your life are intellect and emotion seeking reconciliation this week?
Can you, like the King of Swords and the Queen of Cups, hold truth and tenderness together long enough to let them inform rather than oppose each other?
As The Lovers choose with the heart and The Emperor builds with intention, what are you ready to commit to—not just in feeling, but in form?
A Seasonal Meditation
Close your eyes and imagine the soft hush of late autumn settling over the land. The fields are bare now; the last leaves drift down, whispering stories of what has been. The air carries a faint scent of woodsmoke and distant rain. You stand at the crossroads between light and shadow, a place where endings and beginnings blur.
Breathe in the steadiness of the earth beneath you; breathe out the residue of haste. Let the rhythm of your breath mirror the cycle of the week: clarity to compassion, choice to creation, thought to structure. Feel the quiet confidence of The Emperor within you, shaping form from inspiration. Feel the open vessel of The Ace of Cups, filling again with life’s small miracles.
Each inhalation becomes an act of receiving; each exhalation, an act of release. You are part of the same equilibrium that moves through the turning year. What you cultivate now, in patience and awareness, will germinate when the light returns.
Hold still for a moment longer. Sense the ancestors nearby, steady as stones. They do not ask you to rush; they ask you to listen. The heart’s water, the mind’s air, the body’s earth, and the soul’s fire—all balance within you. When you rise, carry that balance into the world like a lantern against the growing dark.
As the wheel turns toward Samhain and the year leans into its darker half, may the Death card remind you that release is not destruction but preparation. The Ace of Cups opens the heart, the Fool invites you into renewal, and the Pentacles courts ground your steps as you cross the thresholds ahead. Let this week be a time to honor endings, welcome beginnings, and walk with steadiness into the fertile mystery of the season.
May you find the courage to release what has ended, the grace to welcome what begins, and the wisdom to walk gently between the two.
Until next week, may the cards guide you gently,
—Dr. Winkler
That’s it for this week! Look for Sage Leaves in your inbox on Tuesday afternoons (North American time.) We look forward to exploring more about Tarot, Healing and more! Take care, be well, and good-bye for now!