Temperance as Archetype

[degringolade]

 

Methods

First let’s talk about the layout I will be using.  The five-pointed star (with the single point upwards) is what I am building this homebrew method around.  

I placed the first card of the deck that was a major arcana (one of the twenty-two trumps) above the upward point and I am calling this the Archetype that I want to address in this “reading”.  

I am looking at the card of the major arcanum as being the “switchboard” for all of the cards that will follow.  It gives me a mental framework to help me understand the differing inputs that I need to deal with concerning the question that I am presenting.

At this point, I am not dealing with the problem of the card being inverted.  Now, this may well turn out to be a mistake, but right now, since I am actually running an experiment, I have to give up on the idea of right and wrong and see how this plays out.  If you stop by and are aghast that I would make such a rookie mistake, just keep your mouth shut.  I want to see the results without some know-it-all trying to tell me how wrong I am.

I suppose that I could have drawn a lot worse card for the year.  Consider the question that I was asking:

“What should be my focus for the year ahead (2023)?”

So “Temperance” is the mindset that I should use to organize my thoughts and actions.  Good.  Lets start with the simple definition.  Don’t think for a minute that I will have any truck with the Women’s Christian Temperance Society’s definition.  If you want to look at this word with the blighted eyes of a fucking Calvinist, you can just bloody well move on.

temperance

noun

moderation in action, thought, or feeling

Now comes the hard part.  I have a couple of books that I want to use to get a spread of what different folks think.  Like it or not, since I am a noob, I have to rely on others or I will probably come up with a way of thinking that is right off the rails.  So asking others ought to be the basis of my inquiries.  If you want, look back at anonymous, Case, Elphi, and Robinson.  There are no preferences here, just a way to look at the cards from a particular writer’s point of view. 

Anonymous:  

As always, the medieval Catholic theologians beat ideas into submission.  I would argue that Bernard of Clairvaux might be the worst of these (but remember, the competition is fierce).  Having been taught by Jesuits, I had a smattering of exposure to him, but Anonymous uses Bernard’s theorem of a traditional medieval theology taught that men and women were created in the image and likeness of God, but that this image has been corrupted, tarnished, and distorted—but not destroyed—by sin.

Anonymous also had quite a bit to say about guardian angels.  Now this is definitely passé in today’s worldview, but it is interesting to consider.  

Case:

Case also goes with the guardian angel theme.  I think that I could write a separate post about just this concept, but some medieval churchman has beaten me to it, so go look it up if you are interested.  The concept has some merit and lays down a pretty sound philosophical outlook on things.

The paragraph of Case that I feel provides the most direction is this:

The practical import of the picture is this:  We do nothing of ourselves.  The Holy Guardian Angel makes all the tests and trials which lead us along the path of attainment.  Know this, but act as if you were making the tests yourself.  The only correction necessary is the intellectual correction.  For practical purposes, the wise man acts as if he were doing things “on his own”.  He knows better, that’s all.

Elphi (and Mikituk/Greer):

Now these guys take a veering approach that I haven’t been able to wrap my head around yet.  Bringing in Lycanthropes and astral projection is a pretty big tangent to digest.  I will work on what they are trying to say here.  I can accept that there is a way to project a piece of yourself.  I can even accept that that projection can perform physical acts.  I just can’t see how this flows in with the teachings of the other folks.  

I think that my problem with Levi is his self-described action of screwing around with what he says because someone told him he was bad and wasn’t following their rules.  If you are trying to express the truth, deliberately misleading in order to preserve the truth to those who have designated themselves as the “elect” is bullshit.  It is why I am currently keeping him in low esteem.  

Robinson:

It seems that Robinson can live with the idea of a guardian angel.  She even seems to like the idea.  I think that she and Anonymous can be easily and happily reconciled.  

Overall:  

This really does talk about true temperance, which boils down to balance.  The concept of a guardian angel is very satisfying to me.  I suppose that I view the actions of a guardian angel (archetype) as a person that lubricates the tracks if you are on the right path and doesn’t lubricate the path if you stray.  It is still your effort and your free will being exercised, it merely helps