XIV
Temperance
We are reminded of the maxim “as above, so below”. The harmonising and balance created by nature, with which we can merge to create our own personal sense of equilibrium. Yet nature also shows us how finely balanced this status quo actually is. It appears it doesn’t take much too upset that balance, and when it is disturbed the effects can be far reaching. An excess of solar energy can lead to forest fires and intense devastation. Too much rain and we encounter floods with potential loss of land mass. Yet with a blink of one eye, or the flutter of one eyelash, nature has a way of tilting our world the other way again in an instant. If we are on the edge when this happens we are open to the full extreme of what she throws at us. If we find ourselves in the centre, we experience a strange sense of calm and serenity.
I guess our lady here is showing us we have the ability to either put ourselves in the centre, or on the edge as we wish. It is when we are in the centre or are ‘centred’ we are at one with the energies around us. If we are ‘out of sorts’ or not in that special place we are vulnerable to those energies. Sometimes that balance can only be bought about by the marriage of extremes. Fire and water are excellent examples as shown here. Is the fire heating the water, or is the water dampening the flames? Two extremes having their energies diluted by the other. It is this marriage which is creating the safe environment for our lady at the centre….